Being a woman has never been an easy job; in fact it has always been a painful one. Whether it was the suffocating fashion ordeal of wearing a corset in the Victorian era or the 1970s punk era of piercing every inch of the body, beauty in every era has involved a lot of tangible and palpitating physical pain for women. But, women find it absolutely worth it; a single compliment blossoms their faces into a supreme glow of happiness. All the pain and hard work is worth it if someone just mentions how beautiful they look. It is famously known that a woman is born but a lady is made; a lot of deliberation goes into turning a woman into a diva and the process involves an ample amount of excruciating physical discomfort. It is not an easy job to walk around in an eight inch stilettos; but women carry it off with grace and feminine valor. Not even an ounce of indisposition can be witnessed when women wear huge and bulky hats or squeeze inside a pair of skinny jeans or keep up with pilates just to maintain that perfect body or go through starvation by going on a diet, only to fit into through their Saturday night body-hugging dress! Not to forget the twitching-ominous pain of plucking the eyebrows or the painstakingly detailed vexation of putting on and putting off of the fake eyelashes or the cumbersome process of wearing acrylic fingernails, it seems that bodily suffering is in women’s daily routine. But, ask any woman, the pain that stands out and surpasses all the other pains involved in the process of beautification is, waxing. Just its mention must have given you ladies shudders, bringing back the memory of your last waxing sessions’ ‘ouchs’ and ‘aaaaahhs’! Waxing is a very atrocious ordeal, anything that can relieve from its agony will be considered god sent. There is in fact a less painful and more natural alternative to waxing; it is called sugaring. But which one is better performance wise, is an on-going argument. Let us know better about sugaring and waxing in this article.
Image: digipam@flickr
Difference Between Sugaring And Waxing
- Basic Difference: Although sugaring and waxing have the similar purpose, that is the removal of bodily hair, there is a basic difference in the technique. Sugaring is an old Middle Eastern hair removal technique where a sugar paste is used to remove the hair. Waxing, on the other hand, is stripping off the hair with a hot solution generally made of artificial products.
- Natural Vs Artificial: Though sugaring and waxing share the same epilating objective, these two hair removal techniques primarily differ in their constitution. While sugaring is all about natural ingredients like sugar, lemon juice, water and essential oils that are always gentle on skin, waxing is more or less an artificial process that bets on resins, artificial fragrances, dyes, chemicals, and preservatives to satisfy the goal. These synthetic products are rarely ever skin-friendly and do more harm than good to the skin.
- Application: Sugaring and waxing differ from each other in more ways than one. Even their mode of application is quite unalike. Sugaring gel or paste is usually applied lukewarm and is peeled off in the direction of hair growth as opposed to its waxing counterpart that is applied warm and is pulled off against the hair growth. This makes sugaring less risky than waxing, which makes the skin prone to burns, cuts, tears and infections.
- Expertise Vs Inexpertness: Sugaring paste is easy on skin and gently removes the dead skin layers, without stripping off the skin, unlike waxing. Also, sugaring covers the entire skin length at a time than waxing, which usually targets a small area at one go. However, sugaring needs expert hands since it requires extensive layering at a single go and needs to be peeled off gently and in the right way. Waxing, on the other hand, can be done without any expertise in it. It is a simple process, all one has to do is put it on a small area and remove it off with a strip.
- Hygienically: Sugaring and waxing also vary from each other in terms of personal hygiene. Since sugar gel is usually made of all-natural ingredients, it is generally free from bacteria that make the skin less susceptible to infection and allergies. Wax, on the other hand, is seen as the breeding ground for bacteria and often runs the risk of rashes and bumps. Also, wax is messy, sticky and difficult to clean than the sugary counterpart.
- Cost-Wise: Sugaring, with all its goodness and advantages comes a little pricey than the more cost-convenient wax. The primary reason for this is that sugaring is more time-consuming than waxing and needs expert hands to get the desired result.
- Pain-o-meter: In the waxing technique, the hot wax is applied in the direction of the hair, but its removal is in the opposite direction to the hair growth that causes a lot of pain. But, in the sugaring technique, the sugar paste is put in the same direction as the hair growth and also peeled off in the same direction, which puts the skin through less strain and causes a lot less pain.
- Consistency: The consistency of sugaring paste depends on the weather conditions, body temperature and the air temperature. Sometimes the paste is much softer and can be used on the larger areas like arms and legs; the other times it is thicker and can be used like Brazilian wax. To work around these different consistencies of the sugaring paste becomes a cumbersome process for the beautician. On the other hand, external factors do not have much effect on the wax and its consistency makes it quite convenient to use.
- Suitability: Due to the use of natural ingredients in the sugaring technique, it is fit for the use on sensitive parts of the body, like: upper lip, chest, bikini, genital areas, etc. Waxing has always proven to be a bit harsh for the sensitive areas. Therefore, sugaring is recommended for sensitive parts of the body and also for the people with sensitive skin.