What You Need To Know Before Your First Brazilian Waxing
I remember when I had my first ever Brazilian waxing appointment. I was nervous, it hurt, and it was over before I even knew it. All my life I’ve been lucky enough with eyebrows that don’t require that much maintenance and I’ve never been very hairy anywhere else. I’ve always stuck to shaving, but you can’t even imagine how much I hate shaving. So can’t a girl have both, smooth skin and not having to shave? Well, actually she can, but it might hurt a little tiny bit.
I’ve been curious about waxing ever since I got armpit hair, and when my friends came back from the salon all red and swollen, my curiosity grew even bigger. Waxing seemed fine and the long-term solution for unwanted hair, but the thought of it sent shivers down my spine.
I mean, having hot wax pouring on your skin to have clumps of hair ripped out of you? Not a fan. As if doing it in my legs didn’t hurt enough, let alone having a Brazilian or bikini wax. Pure torture I thought.
However, one day, my best friend told me all about Brazilian waxing, and as I gasped in horror, she convinced me it’s not as bad as it sounds. Well then I said “What the hell?” and had my first Brazilian wax, and yes Sharon, IT IS that bad. But being hairless for 3-4 weeks and not having to maneuver a razor down there once a week was all the way worth it. Since then, I’m converted and have aligned myself with other brave, bold, and empowering women whose pain tolerance is infinite when it comes to grooming their “hoo-ha.”
But first of all, if you’re thinking of ditching shaving altogether and move to wax, you need to know what it is.
What is Brazilian waxing?
While we all know what a bikini wax is, you know, using hot wax to get rid of hair that would be visible when you wear a bikini. Well, the Brazilian is kinda the same thing, it just removes more hair. A standard bikini wax will leave you with an amount of hair whereas the Brazilian wax will leave you completely bare from front to back. And its name derives thanks to the ultra-skimpy bikinis Brazilian women wear that require extreme grooming. According to a recent study, more than half of women remove all their pubic hair, so if you decide to go completely bare, you’re not alone.
Brazilian waxing dates back to 1987 when a group of sisters introduced the hair removal method that has gained so much popularity over the past few years.
As I do with everything (except guys, sometimes), I create a list where I see if pros outweigh the cons. So, bare with me (pun intended) and let’s go together through the list of pros and cons of Brazilian waxing.
Pros of Brazilian waxing:
1. You’re hairless for longer
You know those black annoying little hairs that start growing RIGHT after you’ve shaved? That’s not going to happen with waxing. As the hair takes longer to grow back. Of course, everybody is different, take mine, for example, I can go a full month without needing to go back to the salon while my friend has to go back every 2-3 weeks.
2. Your hair won’t grow as thick after a while
When you start waxing regularly, you will see that your hair will start to grow back differently. That is because waxing makes the hair thinner and weaker. Which means, with every wax appointment passing by, you’ll have to deal with less hair every day. Thus, the pain will not be as great as it used to be in the beginning.
3. No more razor burns or cuts
Ah, my favorite one. Since I never fail to cut or burn myself when shaving with a razor, a nice thing about waxing is that you don’t have to even worry about that. This is actually the best part of shaving after being hairless for longer, as a razor burn when you’re wearing a bikini is just as unattractive as having little hairs sticking out.
Cons of Brazilian waxing:
1. You will be hairless
I know that is the whole point of waxing, but hear me out! Pubic hair is there for a reason. It helps your body against dirt and bacteria. By removing your pubic hair, you make your body prone to infections and STIs. The hair also serves as a cushion to protect your lady parts from friction that would possibly cause injury. If you’ve experienced chaffing on a part of your body, you know what I’m talking about and I’m assuming you don’t want that down there.
2. You have to let your hair grow before getting waxed
This one sucks, especially during the summer. Yeah, your skin will feel like a baby’s bottom for days after waxing, but, there will be more days when you’ll feel prickly and itchy from all the hair you have to grow out before getting waxed. Plus, it can cause you ingrown hairs. The newer hairs coming after strong hairs are removed can become trapped under the surface of the skin thus causing red itchy bumps we all know as ingrown hairs.
3. There’ll be tweezing too
Because not all your body hair is the same, there is hair that the wax can’t simply pick off. In that case, your waxer might ask you if you want them tweezed, or she will just start plucking them without asking like it happened to me. She will use precise tweezers to get ingrowns too. But in case you don’t want them tweezed, you should ask beforehand to be prepared.
Above everything, a girl doesn’t have to shave down there if she doesn’t want to, however, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have your vajayjay hairless too! If you ask me, it’s amazing not having to shave every day, and 15 minutes of pain and approximately $50 bucks a month so you can be free for the rest of the month, is totally worth it. But you be the judge and let us know if the pros of Brazilian waxing outweigh the cons.
P.s. Fun fact: Do not wax or shave if you’re heading to the Dead Sea in Palestine anytime soon, as the high level of salt will literally burn those open pores. 😉
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