Sugar Wax - the store cupboard alternative to waxing

Sugaring - the easy, store-cupboard alternative to waxing!

Summer holidays are looming and if you're anything like me, you're just starting to think about exposing your legs to what little sunshine there has been.

During a recent coffee with friends, we started discussing various hair removal forms.  Most of us had been salon waxers pre-kids, but limited finances meant we'd all started investigating different options.

'S' was a long term epilator who loved the results but had switched to shaving as she didn't have the time to commit to keeping fuzz-free.  'C' who recently purchased an epilator, described it as 'a new form of torture, specially for girls' but said that a glass of wine helped ease the pain!

For me, it's not just the expense of getting my legs done, it's also the time commitment.  My own legs were a fairly grim state, but I was loathe to shave them, having had a bad reaction recently which left me with horribly scabby legs for a few weeks.

I had a bit of a surf on Amazon, looking at home-waxing kits...which lead me to sugaring kits.  Now in the dim and distant past I do remember using a sugaring kit at home, but one of the Amazon comments related to a DIY sugaring wax, which sparked my interest. 

So - I youtubed it and lo and behold there are a million recipes out there for sugar waxing.  Basically you make toffee, apply it to your legs and then rip it off, taking the hair with it.  Really.

Here's the recipe I used:

• 2 cups GRANULATED sugar
• quarter cup water
• quarter lemon juice (I used an old jif squeezy bottle from the back of the cupboard, brilliant way to use it up, it tastes horrible!) 

Method

1. Mix together water, sugar, and lemon juice in a decent sized pan - it will bubble up quite a bit and you don't want it boiling over.
2. Heat on a med - high flame until the mixture boils, then turn heat down slightly and stirring occasionally, heat on a medium flame until the mixture turns a golden brown - about 10 - 15 minutes.
3. When the mixture is a good, fairly dark amber colour, switch it off and carefully pour into a microwaveable container.  I used two old jam jars but I've seen people recommending a silicone baking dish which would cool it quicker and be easier to access.
4. Let the sugar wax cool until it has hardened a little bit, I left mine for about 45 minutes - but be extremely careful, remember this is basically toffee and will burn a LOT if it's too hot.
5. Once the wax had cooled, you can add some essential oil - I used my lavender & chamomile fresh wipes oil as it is soothing and smells great! 

Application

Once you've made your sugar wax, you can use it in two different ways:

With a Muslin 

This is the method that worked best for me.  Just like a wax you apply the sugar wax (I used one of the kids Ikea plastic knives, but you could use a lollipop stick or spatula if you've got one around - alternatively you can buy them cheaply online).

I also used an old muslin for removing the wax.  I didn't cut it into strips, just moved the muslin about. Afterwards, I soaked it overnight in cold water and bunged it in the washing machine this morning and the wax came out no problem. 

1. Firstly wash your legs to ensure they're grease free.  I used ordinary soap and water for this.  Dry your legs and rub on some cornflour or talc to ensure that they're dry.
2. Smear the warm sugar wax on in the direction of hair growth (down my leg for example).  
3. Press over the wax with a muslin, also in direction of hair growth.
4. In the opposite direction of hair growth (so from the bottom of your leg for example) rip the muslin strip upwards towards your face (not outwards away from your body, stay close to your body).
5. Hair gone! 
6. Afterwards I cleaned my legs again with a cheeky wipe, soaked in cold water and some teatree and teatree lemon essential oil - to close my pores and hopefully prevent any spots. 

I found that this did a really good job for me, although next time, I'll try doing it in daylight so I can see the hair better as I missed a few!

As sugar putty

There are some great tutorials on you tube about rolling the sugar wax into a ball, smearing it onto your leg and then ripping it off.  I found this method a bit trickier, but I'm sure that like anything, practice makes perfect!