Gossip Ghoul: Wax On

Monday, August 12, 2013

Wax On

There's an ongoing debate: waxing vs. shaving. Since it's summer, it's time to show off one's legs with shorts, skirts, swimsuits, et cetera, but nobody wants to bare hairy legs. At least I don't. Waxing and shaving are both means to remove body hair, and in my experience, most women prefer one over the other. Shaving is the easier option, and it doesn't take too long; but good razors are freaking expensive and have to be replaced frequently, and shaving has to be redone every single day. Waxing, on the other hand, can cause lots of burns and pain by placing hot wax on your skin and using it to rip a whole strip of hairs out. However, waxing only needs to be done once every one or two months, leaving legs smooth and fabulous for a while.

Picture from Ulta.com

Being the lazy girl I am, I found the idea of defuzzing my legs only once every six weeks very appealing when I was a sophomore in college, so I bought myself a home wax kit. My dorm room was right next to the handicapped bathroom, which hardly anyone used, so I knew I wouldn't be disturbed if I spread out a towel on the floor and went to work there. Don't ask me why the handicapped bathroom was on the third floor of a building with no elevators; it's something I've never understood. At the time, though, I didn't really care why because it was much closer than the community bathroom and showers.

Picture from Ulta.com. This is the brand of kit I used, actually.

I put on a tank top and shorts while the wax heated up in my microwave, then I moved the wax, the paper strips, and the wooden popsicle stick things (to dispense and spread the wax) all into the handicapped bathroom. That was my first mistake right there. You see, wax needs to be kept hot the whole time you're using it. That's why they sell wax warmers, which I did not know at the time. Moving into a room without a microwave for the duration of my waxing was just asking for trouble. I should have realized the wax was too cool when I smoothed the wax onto a small section of my left calve; I was just relieved not to be burnt.

I pressed on the paper strip as instructed in the direction of the hair growth, waited a few moments, and, with a deep breath and wince of anticipation, pulled it off. Well, the wax was still on my leg and stuck to my skin and the hairs which were still fully on there. I tried again with a different strip, but it didn't help. Then I attempted to use paper towels to pry the wax off, but that was to no avail. That's when I started to panic. I left everything and raced down the hall to the showers. Luckily there was one free, so I jumped in, stripped, and tried scraping the wax off with my fingernails in the hope that the water would loosen the wax. Another big mistake. With purple wax-covered fingers, I threw my clothes on over my dripping wet body and sprinted back to the handicapped bathroom. I got the instructions wet and sticky as I frantically read through them again, trying to figure out how the hell to get the wax off.

Fortunately, another girl from the dorm found me, a packing, freaked-out mess, and asked me if I'd tried the oil. It turns out there was a tiny bottle of vitamin E oil in the box that I hadn't noticed. I poured some of the oil on my leg and hands and wiped off the wax in clumps with paper towels rather easily. It was pretty embarrassing. Immediately afterward I got back in the shower, rinsed the oily residue off my legs, and shaved.