DIY spa: hair removal
by Rosie Millard
Treatment Bikini wax and leg hair removal
Home cost £8 — Boots Bikini Waxing Kit, £4; Boots Hair Removing Cream, £4
Spa cost £42 — half-leg wax, £22; bikini line, £20
Home time 30 minutes
Spa time about an hour
Bikini line waxing is, let’s face it, not fun, to give or receive. I feel sorry for those women who spend their working hours ripping hair from our legs and, ahem, elsewhere. Plus, I find the sensation of soothing hot wax followed by the sharp sudden agony of follicular removal traumatic. So why not do it at home?
At least you’ll know when the shock is coming. You need to take a cup of tea into the bathroom with you. The cup of tea is to warm your hands. Your hands must then warm up the pre-waxed strips. Pull apart a strip and stick it to the desired region. You’ll find that the strips are small enough to cover the idiosyncratic contours of the area. Then, holding your skin taut, rip off the strip against the direction of the hair. You’ll find out which direction is the right one because it’s the one that is most painful. If the rip doesn’t cause an involuntary gasp, it’s the wrong way.
Home waxing is, I’ll admit, uncomfortable but strangely compulsive. Indeed, after self-administering a Basic Bikini, I looked at the ten or so strips still waiting expectantly on the side of the bath. Then, humming a piece of bossa nova, I went for a Brazilian. Not the full Copacabana, but a charming landing strip somewhere in between.
Speed is the trick here. If you get into a grab, slap, rip, style rhythm you’ll be left with no hair in seconds. And an angry rash of naked flesh, but the four soothing wipes thoughtfully provided calmed everything down while getting rid of the wax residue. Plus, you don’t have to revisit the area for about four weeks.
I then squirted Boots Moisturising Hair Removing Cream on to my calves, sat down, drank the tea with relief, and read the paper. The cream worked a treat; in fact, I got a bit cavalier and added a dot to a rather vile hair on my face.
Never mind Brazilians. “Can you remove this hair attached to a mole?” is, I suspect, a phrase that only the bravest of us could deliver to a beauty therapist.
Home Spa summary Hello, summer
Do it again? Absolutely
Verdict from Mr Millard: “Your legs look great. Must I mention the landing strip?”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,8123-2269069,00.html