Smoov's first attempt at waxing.

by Smoov

In the search for a quick, easy and lasting way to hairless legs, I recently purchased a pack of Veet (used to be Immac) Cold Wax Strips to try. You can get Veet Wax Strips for Men in the more progressive pharmacy/drugstore outets (I saw some in Superdrug today, for instance) but I had already bought the ladies product. I did read somewhere that the only difference is the design on the box, and I suspect that to be true.

Anyway, I have been waiting for my leg hair to reach the required 2mm length since my last shave/blood-letting session and tonight I deemed them to be ripe for plucking.

You get 20 wax strips in a box, the wax covering an area measuring about 5cm x 15cm on each strip. The strips are joined together face to face, so you get 10 sheets in the box at first glance, and 2 sachets containing 'after battle' leg wipes.. The plan is that you take one of the 10 'sheets' and warm it between your hands until the two waxed sheets can be pulled apart. This is a bit of a fiddle first time round, but is easier with practice. You then smooth the wax strip down over the area to be stripped for about 10 seconds. The strip is smoothed down in the direction of hair growth, which means you smooth from top to bottom in the case of legs, basically. Then you immediately grasp the bottom of the strip, and pulling the the skin taut from below the strip with the other hand you pull the bottom of the strip smartly towards you, keeping your hand close to the leg at all times, like a very rapid peeling motion. You don't pull upwards, away from the surface of the leg. After you have done this, you need to re-coat the used strip by placing it face to face with the other wax strip and warming between your hands for a few seconds, before peeling the strips apart again and repeating the process. You can do this a few times before the strip ceases to be effective.

After you have removed a strip of hair you can remove any wax residue using the back of a used wax strip. For any obstinate residue you have to use one of the wipes provided. For some reason it stated that you must never use water, soap or alcohol to remove the wax residue, but you can use cotton wool impregnated with oil, so that's alright then.

My impressions are these: It's quite a fiddly, sticky job, and would take considerable time and practice to do a full leg hair removal. I have basically only done the front of one leg quite patchily. I stopped because my thigh became very red and blotchy - lumpy even (nettle sting type lumps). They say on the box that you should try a small test area first and wait 24 hours, but sod that. We're men, MANLY men, we're men in tights!, as the song goes, so I just waded in.

An hour after the event my leg is not lumpy as such, but still covered in red blotches. And quite a few hairs. Waxing is something that will need patience and practice to get right, but I am keen to persevere if it means 4 weeks of smoothness. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, if anyone knows a better method of long-term home hair removal than these wax strips I'd be very keen  to read about your experiences. Please leave a comment.

Oh, and for anyone wondering about the pain, well, on my 2mm stubble there wasn't any discomfort at all.

links: technorati