When it comes to hair removal and skin waxing, this is one area where many people combine home and professional solutions. Some will wax certain areas of their body at home while leaving others to the pros; others will wax at home more commonly, but sprinkle in professional appointments every so often for advanced results.

At His & Hers Waxing, we’re proud to work directly with clients for all our men’s and women’s body waxing and facial waxing services in Millcreek and other parts of Utah, including those who combine our solutions with certain at-home waxing practices as well. While we encourage this sort of thing in certain circumstances, it’s also important to avoid common mistakes when self-waxing at home — not only do these risk hurting or irritating your skin, they may also create a situation where our pros have to “undo” the issues you’ve caused through improper techniques. In this two-part blog series, we’ll go over some of the most common mistakes associated with home waxing, plus how to steer clear of them at all costs.

Improper Preparation

First and foremost, it’s important to know that in nearly all waxing situations, you can’t simply jump straight into the waxing process without preparing your skin first. This means taking the time to go over the intended area with a pre-wax cleaner, which can often be purchased at certain pharmacies or beauty supply stores, but are also dissolved during professional solutions as well.

Once you’ve prepped the skin for waxing, give it some time to dry, and make sure to avoid any sort of moisturizer (including sunscreen) for a few hours prior to waxing, as this can interfere with the process.

Using too Much Wax

Another highly common mistake we see from at-home wax attempts is the use of too much wax, which is understandable considering how thick some of the wax solutions can appear. However, when you use too much wax during application, this means there’s more wax to remove after it freezes and adheres to your skin.

Not only does this prolong the process of removing hairs at home, but too much wax on the skin may also risk ripping hairs that have already been frozen and adhered, which will increase the risk of ingrown hairs or irritation.

Improper Heating for Liquid Wax

If you’re using a liquid wax product, you will have to heat this material up before use. It’s vital to attain the proper temperature so liquid wax will liquefy and spread easily, but also to ensure it doesn’t get too hot and burn your skin.

A liquid wax that appears watered down is often a sign you haven’t heated the material enough; if this is the case, we ask that you put it back in the microwave for another 5-10 seconds and try again. If the wax is heated too much, you’ll see clumps form in your wax as it cools — this means that you’ve heated it too much and should allow it time to cool down before applying.

For more on avoiding common mistakes while waxing your skin at home, or to learn about any of our body or facial waxing services in Millcreek or other areas of Utah, speak to the staff at His & Hers Waxing today.