EXPERT SECRETS | DIY Sugar Wax

{Image from this etsy shop where you can buy sugar wax if you don't want to make it. We are not affiliated. I just like the way they look. Let me know if you buy the wax!}

Hello lovely reader. If you have questions after reading this post, see my follow up post on DIY Sugar Waxing with answers to the most common questions asked... leave a comment if you have more questions... we'll answer it!AND We'll be putting together a video for you as well so you can see it in action! Stay tuned. We'll post here when the video is live on the site.

DO YOU ever make your own beauty products? I do, when the mood strikes or I'm bored out of my skull and don't have anything else to do (not often)... hair oil, greek yogurt and avocado face mask, calendula toner (with flowers from my garden, natch), lavender water, baking soda and coconut oil facial exfoliant... 

My favorite, though, is homemade sugar wax or DIY sugaring (whatever you cal it).

It's so quick and easy, dirt cheap (you have all the ingredients stocked in your pantry already, swear), non-toxic, hurts less than both strip and hard wax, and rinses clean off, so you don't have sticky spots on your skin when finished; it doesn't clog your pores (Hello?! It dissolves in hot water), and if you have a spill, it's super easy to get off the floor/carpet/clothes (unlike regular wax).

My little sister (the boxer-nail tech-college student) gave me this recipe after a moment of insipration struck while watching the movie Caramel.

Sugar Wax Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

Seriously. That's it.  [I'm as liable to drizzle it over a slice of cake as I am to use it as a depilator.]

MAKE IT

Simmer all ingredients in sauce pan on medium-high heat until amber, but don't scorch.

Cool until you can handle the wax without it being too runny or sticky.

USE IT

• Clean yer skin where you're planning to wax. For real. Unless you want infections or spots or any number of things.
• When the sugar wax has cooled to the non-runny/sticky point, scoop about an 1/8 of a cup out of the pan and start to work it between your fingers until it has a bit of a pearly sheen to it and a texture like taffy (you'll know what I mean when you do it). This makes it pliable and easy to work with, which you need since you use the same piece repeatedly.  
• Rinse off hand you're not using to wax (you'll need that to hold your glass).
• Take a sip of wine/beer (you poured yourself a drink, right?) and make sure you've got the TV tuned to 30 Rock. 
• Get comfy on the couch with your sugar wax in one hand, drink in the other. 
• Load sugar wax onto thumb or index finger on non-drink hand.
• Next, apply the wad of sugar wax directly to hair, smoothing and smooshing it away from you in a bit of a ribbon in the opposite direction of hair growth (unlike traditional wax products).
• Then quickly (no sitting around) pull the sugar wax off your skin in direction hair grows. Be sure to work closely to the skin, not pulling the wax up and away from the skin.
• Keep doing the same thing all over using the same ball of sugar wax. This amount works for one full arm or one half leg (depending on how hirsute you are, sister).
• Take sip break.
• If necessary, repeate waxing in the same area (unlike with regular wax, this stuff doesn't irritate or pull off your skin).
• Sit back and marvel at your amazingly smooth skin.
• Decide what you're going to do with the $50 you saved on that salon leg wax.
• Pour a second drink to celebrate your clever DIY skills.

Frankly, that sounds like a better night, to me, than a night on the tiles... 

My age is showing, isn't it?

Comments

[Jessica]

Hi Christy, it'll be a light brown color, like amber (see this pic on the Poland Chamber of Commerce site. For realz.... http://www.chamberofcommerce.pl/images/buyamberpagepictures/amber.jpg). Watch it, though, because it goes too dark in like a frickin' blink of an eye and then it's unusable because it becomes brittle.

[IzziG]

Will it save in a jar like in the picture or do you have to use it that night?

[Susie Q]

I was just wondering how you store the left over wax (assuming there is some :P) and how you peel it off? Is it just with your hands or do you use some kind of cloth?

Please let me know ASAP as I would like to try it :)

Thanks

[beautywoome]

C, that's because it was cooked too long. There's a very quick moment when it goes from being cooked to exactly the right temperature (I think it's probably equivalent to the 'soft ball' stage of candy making) and when it instantly overcooks and then is too hot/too brittle once it cools and can't be re-heated. I'd recommend getting a candy thermometer, making sure the mixture never goes above 235F. When it hits that temp, turn off the hob, transfer pot to a cool hob and let it cool until it's touchable (common sense tip: don't touch or use sugar wax until you can touch it without burning yourself!!!).. Following those guidelines, and some regular practice (no one gets it on the first go. Swear).

Jackee-Lee, you can store it and it will heat back up. Squat mason jars are fine. I would recommend a storage receptacle that can be placed direction in a bath of hot water for re-heating. Don't microwave.

Aaria, you might just have sensitive skin. I know when I have certain areas of my body threaded, for example, I break out in those red bumps no matter how expert the threader, how high-quality the string and how clean the area is when we start. I'm not sure what you can do for them, but when I get them on my arms from waxing, I just exfoliate more regularly than I usually would and it seems to help them go away.

[Jessica Teas (née Gearhart)]

Hi Elsa, yep, you pull it off with your fingers. You sort of flick up the end, like you would with hard wax, and then grasp it between your thumb and the side of your index finger and pull/roll it off on a plane very close to the skin (you don't want to pull straight up) in the direction of hair growth.

Van City Book Girl, email me if you have any questions or hit and road bumps! It takes a few tries to really get the hang of it, like anything else worth doing in this world! But once you do, you'll be happy you did.

Jark, what an amazing tip! Thanks so much for sharing. I love it. Now THAT is the sort of beauty secret I feel is lost among modern Americans. Sure, we can pick up sugar waxing but we'd never know about spitting on the fingers. Brillliant, brilliant, brilliant. I might try to get some friends together for a waxing party. Great excuse to see people and more affordable than a meal out!

Smash, I'm not sure about the bikini line (as I haven't used it there), but I don't see why you couldn't. I know from waxing my bikini line at home with regular wax in the past, though, that it's not particularly easy to get all the angles. If you're going to attempt it, I say bright a bright light and a mirror!