1. Time it right. Make your appointment for the midpoint of your cycle, right around the time you’re ovulating. “Hormonal shifts, extra blood flow—almost everyone feels more discomfort right before, during, and after her period,” says Jodi Shays, owner of Queen Bee Salon & Spa in Los Angeles.

2. Don’t be a baby. Experienced waxers will testify that there’s a psychological component to managing the pain. It’s best to accept that some areas simply hurt more than others. The upper lip is notoriously nasty. The underarm? Weirdly not so much. If you’re extra sensitive, take an Advil or Motrin about a half hour before your appointment.

3. And don’t be a lush. A drink (or two) may calm your nerves before the treatment, but that alcohol is going to make the pain feel that much worse during the wax.

4. Avoid ingrowns. They’re painful to look at, and even more painful to deal with. But exfoliating and moisturizing regularly and thoroughly will minimize nasty ingrown hairs—not just right after waxing, but beforehand, too.

5. Get the red out. If your legs look sunburned for days after a wax, your “skin barrier was probably thinned by exfoliation,” says dermatologist Leslie Baumann. Apply a 1 percent hydrocortisone cream three times a day and take Advil every four hours.

How To Get A Great Wax

Treat Your Post Shaving, Waxing & Laser Hair Treatment With These Products

1. PREPARE YOURSELF
If you’re waxing anywhere on your face, don’t use retinol products, Accutane, or some antibiotics for the week beforehand. The morning before your appointment, exfoliate but skip the lotion.

Want more? Check out more tips on how to book your appointment, best manage the pain, choose the best wax for you, and how long you should let your hair grow beforehand over at Allure.

So many options have been offered to us on how we should whisk away those nagging hairs that poke through our hose & our undies (if we let it go too far), but then what do you do after the hair is gone via wax, shave or laser? You can use Whish Pomegranate Shave Savour Hair Inhibiting Gel ($26, whishbodyproducts.com) to replenish your skin’s moisture level and to also slow hair growth. For you natural gals, yes, it’s made with natural and organic ingredients.

A second post-laser treatment product that you can try is the gentle moisturizer called Avene Cream for Intolerant Skin ($19.50, skindirect.com). If you’ve got hypersensitive skin you can rejoice because this product is specifically made with the least amount of ingredients to minimize any irritation. It’s fragrance-free, colorant-free and paraben-free.

Click here to learn about a product that inhibits hair growth and how it works.

Hue Knew It? I did.

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The practice of threading hair has slowly been taking root in the United States.  This sanitary method of hair removal removes the entire hair follicle, revealing lasting results.  The detail required for hair threading makes it only suitable for the face, and one of the better options for facial hair removal.

Threading works by gliding thread across one’s face and trapping individual hairs while doing so.  Although this sounds painful, it feels a lot like tweezing.  One perk is that it is so much faster.  Each hair is still tended to individually, but they are removed one after the other, making getting eyebrows done take about 2 minutes.  Threading can be done for any hairs on the face, making it an easy and quick solution.

Unlike shaving or waxing, threading is extremely accessible.  All that is necessary is some thread and someone who knows what they are doing.  It’s sanitary in that after you’re done, you throw away the thread.  There is no reusing or any sharing involved.  Because of the detail involved in threading, it is a lot easier to shape your eyebrows the way that you want to.  With waxing, the materials are not as managable and it is harder to give your eyebrows the definition that you want.

So give it a shot! Get some thread and find someone at a salon that is familiar with this method.  This short process could change your life, and you may never have to deal with sticky wax and popsicle sticks again!

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We had no idea that waxing was such a crazy (and let’s be honest, gross) profession. These poor ladies are dealing with some serious stuff: insane clients, dirty butts and more. Here are some stories straight from the waxers’ mouths, courtesy of shine.com:

Check them out below, and pray that you haven’t committed one of these faux pas (ew!).

Waxing Secret No.1: Trust us, they’ve seen worse …

Waxers are pretty tough, so copious amounts of hair or a little screaming isn’t going to faze them. However, there is something you can do that will gross out your waxer: not clean up beforehand. Shays says at least twice a week she has to send a client to the bathroom with a wet wipe because they have poop (yes, poop!) on them. Nacion says unfortunately, about 10 percent of her customers don’t freshen up before their appointments (even if they’ve been to the gym or just got off a 12-hour flight) — and it’s usually the people who think they’re fine that need it the most.

Waxing Secret No. 2: Why it’s so important to keep clean:

Shays shares a story of one of her clients: “One client had been waxing with me for about five years with no problems, and then she got a new boyfriend. She went in for a Brazilian and called five days later saying she was really itchy and she thought she had gotten an infection from the waxing. She went to the doctor and it turned out that her new boyfriend had dirty hands and staph bacteria on his penis and he had given her an infection.”

The moral of the story? Waxing removes the top layer of skin, making it easy for bacteria to get in. A good waxing salon will keep you safe while you’re there, but then it’s on you to keep yourself germ free.

Waxing Secret No.3: You want me to do what?!

Waxers get some pretty odd requests, but they’re almost always happy to oblige. They often get asked to make shapes in pubic hair (triangles and hearts are common and pretty easy to do) and Shays says one woman asked for an arrow pointing down (maybe her partner has a poor sense of direction?). Barshop says her craziest request was from a client who wanted a skull made from Swarovski crystals applied to her bikini area for her wedding day (wonder what message she was trying to send?).

Waxing Secret No.4: What you should know about a Brazilian wax:

Turns out, some people don’t know that a Brazilian wax means everything (yes, everything) gets taken off. A good waxer will explain to you what a Brazilian entails the first time you get one, but even after doing that, they say some women are shocked when the waxer heads towards their rear.

Barshop says one client freaked out and froze after she had applied the wax, she refused to let Barshop pull the strip. They had to cut the wax out of her hair. She eventually opted for laser hair removal instead.

Want more secrets? Click here

The best way to get rid of unwanted hair

Click here to find out what male celebrity waxes his legs

Want to find out the best ways to get rid of unwanted hair? From legs to brows, the pros reveal the best ways to deal with unwanted hair:

LEGS
Ideal Option: Shaving

Ouch Factor: None

Why It’s Best: Convenience and speed make this the go-to grooming method for N.Y.C. dermatologist Doris Day. “There’s also very little risk of ingrown hairs and irritation,” she says. “Waxing makes more sense in winter since you have to allow the hair to grow out before removing it.”

Do cosmetics companies overlook black women.

Do It Right

* Reach for the razor within 10 minutes of stepping into the shower; otherwise, the skin swells and you won’t be able to get a close shave.
* Look for a shaving cream that contains enough moisturizers, such as jojoba oil or shea butter.
* A multi-blade razor reduces the number of times you have to sweep an area and staves off uncomfortable razor burn. Try the five-blade Venus Embrace ($12; at drugstores).
* Irritation results from a dull blade and too much pressure. There’s no need to press down — let the razor glide over skin. And toss your razor after three to five uses.
* Hang your razor upright to fully dry — a damp blade encourages bacteria growth.

BIKINI LINE
Ideal Option: Professional Wax

Ouch Factor: Like ripping off a Band-Aid over and over

Why It’s Best: “Results last longer than other methods, and the coarse hair tends to grow back sparser over time due to follicle trauma,” says Day. However, the bikini area is extremely sensitive, so waxing is best left to a specialist.

DIY: Manicure and pedicure

Get It Done

* Exfoliate with a gentle scrub such as True Blue Spa Naked In The Buff ($18; bathandbodyworks.com) a day before waxing to remove dead skin that can clog pores and cause ingrown hairs.
* Hair should be 1/4″ to 1/2″ long for the best grip.
* Apply a salicylic acid treatment immediately after waxing, as well as every other day, to keep your pores clear and stay bump-free.

Click here for more.

(From instyle.com)

Here are HelloBeautiful we love to hear what you have to say! This week Diddy was all the rage in gossip land and RudyT88 gave us a comment on the Diddy Waxes His Legs story that we couldn’t forget!

“Diddy is what white people call a douche bag”

So what do you all think, is Diddy a Douchebag?

Think you have something better to say? Speak on our hottest stories and tell us what you think! Then you too can be featured in the next comment of the week!

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When I first read the article below, my first reaction was “oh HELL no.” Being from New Jersey and an avid fan of the Brazilian wax for the past 7 years or so, I couldn’t imagine what I do with my crotch being the business of anyone but me and my aesthetician. However, apparently some people are looking to make going bare illegal in New Jersey. Thank god I moved to New York!

[From Philly.com]

TRENTON, NJ – Things could get hairy in New Jersey this summer for women who sport revealing bikinis or a little bit less.

The painful Brazilian wax and its intimate derivatives are in danger of being stripped from salon and spa menus if a recent proposal to ban genital waxing is passed by the state’s Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling.

Cherry Hill salon owner Linda Orsuto said that women would “go ballistic” if the proposal passed. She said that some women would resort to waxing themselves, visiting unlicensed salons or traveling to other states, including Pennsylvania, in a quest to remain bare down there.

“The clients are going to freak,” said Orsuto, who owns 800 West Salon & Spa, on Route 70. “It’s a hot issue, and we’re going to have to do something.”

New Jersey statutes allow waxing of the face, neck, arms, legs and abdomen, but officials say that genital waxing has always been illegal, although not spelled out.

Regardless, almost every salon in South Jersey, from Atlantic City casinos to suburban strip malls, has been breaking the law for years by ridding women, and some men, of their pubic hair for $50 to $60 a session.

Jeff Lamm, a spokesman for New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs, said that the proposal would specifically ban genital waxing, and was prompted by complaints to the board from two women who were injured and hospitalized. One of them sued. Lamm said that the state only investigates infractions if consumers complain.

Two South Jersey hospitals and a handful of dermatologists didn’t return requests for comment, and another hospital declined.

Dr. Eric Bernstein, a Philadelphia dermatologist, said that genital waxing could irritate or tear the skin and result in infections.

“But you can get an infection from almost anything,” he added. “The state is probably just looking out for the residents’ best interest, but they’ll have to enforce it.”

I say NO.

NO NO NO.

I actually almost thought this was a joke, until I remembered that some laws really are this ridiculous. But what I do know is, if this proposal is passed, not only will there be thousands of pissed off women roaming around New Jersey, but there will be even more pissed off men dealing with their girlfriends’ botched self-wax jobs, harsh shaving stubble, and the “I’ve given up” super-bush.

But hey – this report says hairy women have better sex!

Some guys don’t mind a little hair. Others say, “NO MORE BUSH!!!”