When I hear there is a new restaurant in town, I put all other business aside to get in those doors the first week it is open.
On the other hand, when it comes to the latest/trendiest/hottest beauty procedures, I have been hitting the snooze alarm for years. In a nutshell, I am late to the game of adulting when it comes to women's aesthetics.
Why am I late to the game?
A. Because for years I didn't even know there was a game; and
B. when I was made aware of said game, it sounded wretchedly painful.
What? You're going to stick a bunch of tiny needles in my face? What do you mean
I might lose some skin during this hair removal procedure? You want to use chemicals on my face to blister off the old skin? Wait, you're using razors to cut tiny slits in my brows?
Like Punxsutawney Phil who sees his shadow and decides not to come out until further notice, I was blissfully happy in my cozy--and painless--den of ignorance. My plan was to wait till at least 2 dozen friends tried any procedure in question and to subsequently broach the topic, perhaps over cocktails or at a book club meeting. If they survived, I might try it.
That is, until I put some big girl panties on and tried sugaring (which seemed a lot less invasive than probing my friends about procedures to their faces, armpits, or nether regions in the name of beauty.)
Enter Leslie. She assured me that such sugar-waxing methods hearken back thousands of years to Egypt, Turkey, and Persia. Legend has it that the inspiration came from Alexander the Great, who insisted upon charging into battle clean shaven. His honey + oil depilatory ritual soon became the standard of beauty for the women of Alexandria.
Today it is a simple, all-natural concoction, much like the recipe for lollipops: sugar + water + lemon juice. When the room-temperature paste is applied against the grain of hair, the warm paste seeps into the hair follicles to wrap around the hair shaft. Then the sugar is removed using a flicking motion in the same direction as hair growth to reduce ingrown hairs.
Now my girlfriends are asking me for the intel. Does sugaring hurt? is the #1 question. Yes, a bit. But the pinch disappates quickly, unlike other hair removal methods.
But don't take my word for it. Go visit Leslie at Sugar + Comb. She'll answer all your questions and quell your doubts. Don't forget to tell her nakedepicurean sent you. 💋
