Wax on, Wax off

Rating:  Use at your own risk As part of my new lifestyle as a housewife, I need to cut back on miscellaneous expenses.  One of the ways have been doing that is to increase the amount of time between my pedicures (monthly instead of bi-weekly) and give myself my own manicures.  (Pedicures should never be self-administered in my book.  Leave it to the professionals).  Along with these aesthetic cutbacks, I decided to try waxing my own eyebrows.  It should be known that I have been getting my eyebrows waxed for the last 15 years so needless to say, I pretty much know what I’m doing.  I’ve gone through other times of personal economic crises where I’ve just plucked my eyebrows myself, but it just never looks as nice as getting waxed.  We are heading off to 2 weddings this weekend so I decided to give home waxing a shot. At my local Walgreens, I picked up Sally Hansen Hair Remover Wax Strip Kit:  For Face, Brows & Bikini. The box promised quick and easy hair removal that would last up to 8 weeks.  “1-2-3 Hair Free!”  There are 3 different sizes of strips, none of which seemed appropriate for eyebrows.  The third step in the 9-step directions inside the box instructs the user to “Warm wax by rubbing strips briefly and gently between your hands. Peel apart.”  After doing so, I had a giant wax strip that didn’t seem to fit onto my eyebrow in any way that was going to give me the shape I wanted.  I tried using the strip in sections and just ended up with spotty removal and lots of wax all over my hands.  After a few frustrating attempts, I decided it would probably be best to cut the strips into tiny sections before peeling them apart.  This helped a little bit, but I was still not able to achieve the desired shape that is attainable with self applied wax.  After about 20 minutes, I was finished.  I had lots of clean up to do with the tweezers, and my shape was a little bit off, but I did get that smooth feeling that I could never get by just plucking.

Armed with this new confidence, I decided to go into unchartered territory:  my lip.  For the last 15 years I’ve relied on good old Jolene to keep my stache in check.  But bleaching takes 15-20 minutes and I was kind of in a hurry.  And I had lot of wax strips in front of me.  So I went for it.  Big mistake.  Yes it was fast, easy and relatively painless, but next time I decide to take the easy way out, someone please remind me of this picture. I don’t think I’ll be trying the bikini strips anytime soon. Final assessment:  Waxing is like Pedicures.  It should be left up to the professionals.  I’ll need to find another way to save $24 a month. What are your waxing preferences?