Tried homemade sugaring wax?

[mehrunissa]

I remember as a teenager in Europe, one of my Turkish friends told me that she and her mom used a homemade sugar wax.

It was such a simple recipe, I still remember it:

2 cups sugar ¼ cup water

¼ cup lemon juice

Mix the ingredients together in a saucepan and stir over a low heat setting. Make sure to avoid burning. The sugar should melt, and you'll end up with a thick brown liquid. Let it cool a little before using it.

If you store it in a microwavable container, you can use it again later by simply heating it up again.

Recently, I've been hearing about sugaring in salons and how supposedly it's less painful and easier on your skin, and that it's a good alternative for regular waxing if you have sensitive skin. I haven't tried it yet personally, because I'm a pansy, but I was wondering if anybody else has tried sugaring, at home or at salons? What was your experience compared to regular waxing?
If other people have had good experiences with it, maybe I'll buck up and try it myself!

I found this on shobhathreading.com:

Sugaring dates back to the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece. It is a form of hair removal that resembles waxing, but is actually much gentler and less painful to endure. Our sugaring treatments are available for all areas of the body, sans the face.

Sweet Facts About Sugaring:

• Secret Family Recipe - The unique sugar gel is completely homemade, consisting of only sugar and lemon juice, and looks like honey. (Natural ingredients mean natural reactions, which for most is no reaction at all!)
  
• Sensitivity & Pain - Sugar gel can be used on even the most sensitive skin; many claim it to be up to 50% less painful than waxing.
  
• Oh, How Sweet It Is! - Since sugar gel only adheres to your hair and not your skin, you can achieve optimal results, with minimal irritation. Now, many waxers are converting to sugaring.
  

It Takes Two To Tango - We love doing our part so that you are happily hair-free, but we also strongly encourage that you love yourself as much as we do. Below are a few self-help tips to harmonious hairlessness:

• Please do not wax/sugar if you have any of the following conditions: diabetes, varicose veins, phlebitis, recent scar tissue, acne, sunburned skin, moles, or any other dermatological ailments.
  
• Also if you are using any of the following medicines or products (which make your skin ultra-sensitive), we recommend not waxing: Retin-A, Accutane, Tetracycline, Glycolic Acid, and Alpha Hydroxy products.
  
• Oh, one more little warning, if you're pregnant - congratulations (!!!), but please consult with your physician before getting waxed.

 

[lavender]

I tried it once but it didn't work for me. Maybe I didn't do it right or something, but when I pulled the piece of cotton cloth ( I was asked to use a piece of cotton cloth to remove the hair after spreading a layer of the sugar solution on my skin), no hair came off! And since the sugar solution had dried up, it was painful to pull it out.

I have heard amazing stories about this method of hair removal. So I would love to hear if it worked for anyone else.

 

[Min]

I actually found a recipe similar to the product called Nads & was going to try it. I havent been able to get to the store though.

 

[SkinCareJunky]

I have tried this. It works great. As you are boiling the mixture..sometimes you may have to add more sugar...but it takes AWHILE. It should be a thick and gooey mixture in the end. Also..it should be very dark..a dark brown almost with hints of gold.

I've heard of this other wax (egyptian wax) where you do not even need wax strips. The wax ultimately shapes itself a ball which you can stretch and apply to your skin over and over again. I just wish someone had the recipe for that one.

 

[Min]

Halawa Sweet - Egyptian Hair Removal - Assalya

This is a very old, very famous Egyptian recipe for wax that is completely natural and extremely effective. It is basically caramel, right before it reaches the crystallising stage (so it also tastes great). It is relatively simple to make, but take care to observe the carmelizing of the sugar, because the window for the wax to be just right before burning is very small. Do not be frustrated if you burn a batch; even experienced makers do this all the time. The best thing to do is to watch is continuously once the colour changes to golden brown. You can eat it or you can use it as Hair Removal. Ingredients for Halawa Sweet, AKA Sweet, Egyptian Sugar Wax, or Hair Removal by Lucy Elsherif

1. Two cups of water

2. Three cups of sugar or three cups of honey

3. Two teaspoons of lemon juice

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil.

2. When its colour changes to golden brown, lower the heat and continue to simmer.

3. Keep a careful watch on the colour. Once it starts to change to brown, turn off the heat.

4. Allow to cool a little, then pour small quantities onto heavy duty plastic, of the cereal bag type. Plastic that is not heavy duty will melt. It is not a good idea to use a plate, as you will need to peel it off something pliable after it cools.

5. When it becomes cool enough to handle, pull a piece off the plastic and pull and stretch it. This will immediately cause it to change color, from a clear golden brown to an opaque gold. It should be easy to stretch and pull. If it is too hard, you have left it on the heat for too long and must make a new batch. If it is too liquid, it has not been heated enough and must be heated once more, or a new batch made.

It is now ready for use! Good luck in bearing the pain!

The trick is in knowing when to turn the heat off, and may take a few batches until mastered. One test is to take a drop on a spoon and hold it between your thumb and finger (cool it under water first!). It should stretch between them. If it too liquid to stretch, continue to heat, and if it stretches but is brittle, discard and repeat, reducing the time you leave it on the heat.

An easier, although more expensive, alternative is to use just three cups of honey and a few drops of lemon. Simmer for a few minutes until the colour changes then continue from step 4.

Making halawa isn't the difficult part, it's actually using it that is a pain. Good Luck ... Ahmed Eissa

Make sure you have the heat set low and do not stir it until all the sugar dissolves. After the sugar dissolves you can raise the heat. There is no guessing as to when the mixture is done if you buy a candy thermometer (not an expensive item) and bring the mixture to the hard ball sugar temperature of 350F to 360F. It will work every time no guess work there.

Zaky

How to use Halawa (sweet):

Using halawa gives smooth, silky results that last much longer than shaving or depilatory creams, two to four weeks depending on how heavy your hair normally is. Having said that, it is also pretty painful, especially the first time. After the first pull, however, the pain decreases considerably as the whole leg (or arm) is less sensitive to the pain.

You can use Halawa on the underarms and bikini area.

First, trim the hair with a scissors, then use Halawa. It is pretty painful, especially the first time, but Halawa gives smooth, silky results that last two to four weeks depending on how heavy your hair normally is.

How can I store the leftovers?

Eat it like candy, or you can wrap it in Saran wrap and store it for weeks at room temperature, not in refrigerator. When you ready to use it again, hold it at one end and put it on a low flame for seconds (until it become soft). Do not put it in a microwave or in a toaster.

To start the halawa piece should be soft and pliable. If it is not, warm it between your palms for about 30 seconds. Alternatively, you can add a COUPLE of drops of water to it and knead it in. If it becomes too sticky, you have added too much water and need either to start with a fresh piece or too add some fresh halawa to the one you already have. (If it is sticky and melty better start with a fresh piece!)

1-Stretch the halawa onto your leg in the direction of the hair growth

2-Press down firmly and pull back, jerking it off in one quick movement in the opposite direction of the hair growth

3- Repeat until the skin area is free of all hair, this may take 3-4 times

As I said before, first-timers may find this painful at the beginning.

Try to do it after a shower, so the skin area is free of any dirt or bacteria, and don't use any moisturizers before using halawa as this will make it more difficult. After finishing up, rinse the leg with clear cool water to remove any remaining halawa, and soothe your leg with azulene oil if desired.

To reduce the effect of ingrown hairs, use a loofah or scrub as the hair is growing back. I have also heard (but not yet tried) of a product called Tend Skin (www.tendskin.com) which is said to completely eliminate ingrown hairs through reverse osmosis.

http://members.cox.net/ahmedheissa/rechalaw.htm

 

[dolphin_gal]

That looked interesting since I have a g/f who always nicks herself while shaving. I google "egyptian wax" and came up with this site and this one. Pretty interesting. HTH

 

[SkinCareJunky]

thanks for the recipe min. i'm going to try the honey first.

 

[AngelaMH]

I've made some before that worked well. It had both honey and sugar in it though. Of course I lost the recipe and when I tried to make it again I ended up with a really hard chunk. :icon_scratch:

 

[SexxyKitten]

i think i'm going to give this a shot sometime...look for my post on how to get the wax that will have adhered itself to every surface in my apartment off shortly after :hehe:

 

[LVA]

i've been meaning to try this but never got around to it .... if it's as good as some ppl say. ... i could end up saving a lot of money .. and my bf could stop telling to waste money on wax ... hee hee

 

[suzukigrrl]

Oh that is just what I've been looking for!! Thanks for brining this up!

 

[mehrunissa]

I'm going to try and cook up a small batch tonight, using Min's recipe, because obviously it's a little bit more complicated than just stirring it up and heating it. I'm excited! I hope I don't screw it up.

 

[lavender]

Let us know how it goes!

 

[mehrunissa]

I whipped it up tonight instead of last night, but whew. It's still cooling and thickening up as I'm writing this. It took me almost three hours to do, and when I took it off the stove, I still wasn't sure if it was done. The recipe said to check for a golden brown color, reduce the heat, wait till it's brown, turn the heat off. I was looking for that, but it wasn't happening - just changed to a really pale amber. It didn't change color drastically until it started cooling.

So for any of you ladies thinking about attempting the recipe, test it by dipping a spoon in and let it cool until you can safely touch it. The wax should stick like a thick syrup to your finger, and after a few seconds you should be able to roll it up like putty.

Anyway, it probably took me so long because I was being extra careful, using a really low heat setting...Next time, I'm going straight to medium-low heat and staying there.

I'm going to see if I can use the wax tomorrow - hopefully, it'll still be pliable. I tried some on my arm while it was still semi-runny, and dang it hurt!

 

[Jennifer]

let us know how it works out!

thanks for posting. that's interesting! i'd love to give it a shot sometime.

 

[Satin]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[xXxBeckyxXx]

Thanx for posting! i think i might try it.

 

[monniej]

great post! thanks mehrunissa!

 

[wahingo]

Thanx for the reciepie will try it soon

 

[Leony]

Thanks Nisa!