At home waxing

 

This $5 coupon came to my apartment a few weeks ago and I decided to put it to use. I’m trying to save myself a bit of money by doing underarm self-waxing at home*. Let me just start this whole blog post by saying that some things should really be left up to the professionals. You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson the first time.

I also decided to pick up the Nair at home waxing roll-on kit. Days after I picked it up, I received a generic e-mail from Nair mentioning that the “Brazilian Spa Clay” hair removal was a new product. Huh! Look at me. Picking up newly launched items.

First up, I tried Nair’s Spa Clay roll-on wax.

What you get:

  • The Nair self roll-on wax device with a base  (basically the packaging it came in)
  • 10 Washable strips

How to use:

  • Heat the device in the microwave for 20 seconds
  • Apply the roll-on wax directly onto your desired area
  • Use supplied strips to pull the hair in the direction of growth

Sounds promising, right? Wrong. I wasted a full 45 minutes one Saturday afternoon trying to get each individual strand of hair off my underarms. You’re not supposed to go over the same section twice. I broke the rules. What was I even expecting? For it all to be so easy, quick, painless and have silky smooth pits for the rest of my entire life without hardship? Nuh uh friends.

My left underarm hair grows in all sorts of annoying directions. I don’t know why I even started with that side, I felt like wimping out half way through. I went over each patch of skin so often that I decided to stop otherwise I’d be taking off layers of skin, and not hair. The Nair wax wasn’t sticky enough. I must note, it wasn’t painful ripping the wax off. The muslin paper supplied kept sliding around on the wax.  To put it simply, it just didn’t work on my underarms. The instructions were quite clear. My arms were tired by the end of it, holding them above my head, glancing in the 10x zoomed mirror. It definitely was not worth $14.99. I do not recommend anyone else to go out and buy it. At least the muslin strips supplied could be rinsed off, and reused.

Final thoughts: Was it worth the hassle of $15 to do it at home? Absolutely not. This Nair product gets two thumbs down.

Next up to the podium? Veet EasyWax Electrical Roll-On Kit. Thank heavens my Shoppers Optimum points were put to use because this kit was pricy. I forget what it retails at but it was between $20-$30. The Veet EasyWax kit comes in a fancier package than Nair’s.

What you get:

  • Veet’s self-heating device with electrical cable and base
  • 1 Wax refill
  • (Notice how they did not supply any strips to remove the wax?)

How to use:

  • Plug in the device and wait for 30 minutes for it to heat
  • Apply the roll-on wax directly on your desired area
  • Use YOUR OWN strips to pull the hair in the direction of growth

I ended up having to wait 30+ minutes for the device to get to a liquid consistency as it was pretty solid when I opened the package. I expected that, however. I’d rank this pretty in the middle of line. Nothing to write home about, but it did work better than the Nair product. Since I have the wax warmer (shown below) I will not be repurchasing this item. Plus, it was super expensive!

NEXT UP:

Third time’s a charm. What I say in that scenario is third time’s a charm or three strikes and you’re out. Finally, the third product up to review is a Satin Smooth Professional Single Wax Warmer from the British Columbia based Flat Iron Experts. That was a mouthful.

This wax pot takes a long time to heat up, so be ready to do some chores around your house while waiting for the wax warmer to do its thing. The instructions said you should set it at high for 30 minutes as the wax melts. Then turn it down to “ready” for another 30 minutes and then it’s good to go.

You are supposed to stir the pot of wax, to heat evenly.

The first weekend I tried out this kit, I went to Sally’s Beauty Supply to pick up the supplies listed below, they also had the same wax cans as Flat Iron Experts. Then again Flat Iron Experts has free shipping to CAN/USA if you spend over $50 if there isn’t a Sally’s around you. Very convenient.

You also get these expensive Satin Smooth Protective Collars for the wax warmer, but they didn’t fit over top of the wax warmer at all. So when I run out of these collars, I’ll be using masking tape or something to cover up the sides of the warmer so it doesn’t get all sticky.

Good things come to those who wait. Right? Why didn’t I just use this wax warmer all along? Why did I go out and try two other products that I simply did not need to do? Probably to save money and do it inexpensively. Girls (guys?) trust me on this when I say you shouldn’t cheap out on hair removal.

My first go at the hot wax took about an hour for my underarms. First, I had no idea how much wax to scoop up with the stick, then I put on too much and some of it got on my bra. Panic attack set in, the wax was drying on my underarm, it needed the muslin cloth strip to be applied, but at the same time — wax was on my pretty bra!!! Dilemma. I got the hang of it all after I switched arms. I also recommend not going over the same area twice with the wax, or it’ll feel as if you got a burn. I’ve since used it three times there after, and each time I get better and quicker at it. Pro. Who wants me to wax them!?

I feel like the wax warmer is in a completely different league of its own, compared to the two other products up above. I’m all “hey girl hey” showing my underarms to the world, now that I have a profesh warmer. I have no shame.

 * I like having my underarms waxed as with a razor I feel like I get a  5 o’clock shadow, plus if I shave the next day I get razor burn! Thus: waxing = way better.

Have you ever waxed anything? Are you more of a fan of razors? Oooh, or have you ever gotten laser hair removal?

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Getting nutty with my hair

Today’s blog post? A rave about Macadamia natural oil line I’ve discovered. Conveniently enough, Flat Iron Experts sent me some of the products to try out! Bonus, saving my own money and trying out a product I’ve always wanted to purchase is a way better dealio! Right?

They sent me 3 Macadamia Hair Care products and I went to town on my hair immediately. My hand was a little shaky. Guess you could say I was more than a little excited to start using the products.

Macadamia Natural Oil Rejuvenating Shampoo. I found that the shampoo was more liquidity than my Aveda shampoo that I use on a regular basis. Of course, as everyone always says the Macadamia natural oil shampoo smells amazing and does wonders for my limp hair. I’d describe the scent as an Aveda hair salon. Hey, other hair salons smell different. Macadamia nut oil products smell earthy just like Aveda does, and I love that sort of smell.

The Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque is basically a conditioning mask which is quite an intense conditioner, you want to use this at most 2x a week. Using this alone changes my hair texture, I usually blow dry my hair straight with a brush. But with this conditioner I feel like I can blow dry my hair upside down and it doesn’t get frizzy.  I simply followed the directions on the jar and left it in my hair for 5-7 minutes while I was showering, and washed it out. You can use your regular conditioner on your ends, before using the mask (again, only on your ends). But I felt daring and just shampooed and put the mask in my hair directly after.

The Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment is comparable to argan and even Moroccan oil. However, you’ll have to be careful with the oil itself as it can get heavy if you use too much. Only use a tiny tiny amount and apply it only on your ends.

This is how much I use, and I use it when my hair is damp and towel dried, and then again after I’ve blow dried my hair to give it a bit more shine. If I was going to only choose one product to get, I’d suggest the oil since I like how sleek it makes your hair feeling, without making it look oily. Make sure that you apply it to the ends first, then working your way up to the roots. I’d even suggest not putting it on your roots at all, as it may get oily. But I’ve tried and tested and I can do so, to get the little fly-aways to tame down.

These products are perfect for me at this point right now as my hair is currently dyed. Think candy-corn (yes, three colors) but on a much more muted scale. I went on a hair dying spree from March to May, and my hair has been damaged from it a bit. My ends are dry and I’ve been trying my best to not use my hair straightener and I haven’t used it AT ALL in September or October. Are you proud of me? You’d think with the fine, flat hair that I have that this product would’ve been too intense, or heavy, or oily/greasy on my hair. But it isn’t. Everything in  moderation. I don’t pile anything on my hair, especially these products. The only thing that touches the roots of my hair is my shampoo. Everything else I apply on my hair whether it be in the shower, or any heat styling products always and only always goes at the ends of my hair – below my ears.

Macadamia nut oil products conditions my hair, makes it shinier, softer and more manageable. I’ll definitely keep this product in mind when I need to go out and purchase it after I’ve used it all up. I’ve even seen their products at Winners.

Do you use anything in your hair for styling or conditioning? What do you use?

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