At-home sugaring - not for the weak!

After hearing wonderful reviews of Parissa Body Sugar at-home kit (mainly that sugaring wasn't as painful as waxing), I decided this was the newest product I had to try...right that minute.

Once the kids were in bed I ran out to buy it, eager to get started. However, like any sugaring product you have to grow out the hair a fair bit - 1/4 inch! Since I normally shave my legs, I realized this was going to take a while to use. So, much to Keith's dismay, I had hairy legs for weeks (by the way, summer is not the best time to embark on growing out your leg hair).

I do realize that since I normally shave my legs, that waxing/body sugaring may not show optimal results the first few times because the hair is different lengths, more coarse, and not used to being yanked out by the root. I have had professional waxes in the past, but haven't really tried it at home before. I really hate the maintenance involved in shaving though - so I thought wax/body sugar may help me by stretching out my leg maintenance by a few more weeks (lazy, I know!)

A few weeks later, I deemed my legs hairy enough, so I heated up the sugar kit, plunked myself down in front of a movie and prepared to experience this product.

First, I won't lie - it takes a strong woman to not only get waxed/sugared - but to do it to yourself! After the first strip, I was reminded why I don't regularly wax. Every subsequent strip removed required many deep breaths and a fearful hand. I don't know why I really was swayed into thinking sugaring would hurt less than waxing - the end result is the same! You are still yanking hair out of your legs by the root! That will always hurt!

After I finished one leg, I was too chicken to do another. Keith suggested I shave the other to use as a comparison for how the hair grew out.

Here is my overall review of the product:

Pro's:

• The kit strips are washable. So, as gross as I found it to wash off my leg hair clinging to the sugaring solution - they rinsed off easily and looked like new with minimal effort (I contemplated just throwing them in the washing machine - but realized that may get the sticky solution all over the machine and instead opted to rinse them in the sink)
• The sugar solution is water soluble (which is better than wax, where if you chicken out partway through, you can't wash it off!)
• The results of my one waxed leg really did last a long time. It was at least a month until I needed to shave them and probably would have been about 6 weeks before the hair was long enough to repeat (as the product claims). Since it was only my first time, I suspect that had something to do with it. The hair was just as coarse as the shaved leg.
• The Azulene oil was delightful and really did soothe my legs after sugaring
• Extremely minimal ingrown hairs afterwards, which is a risk with waxing/sugaring. I think I had only one on the whole leg!

Con's:

• It hurt like hell. I have a pretty good threshold for pain - I mean, I birthed my kids (one of which was back labour without a working epidural!). Thus, it takes a lot of strength to pull your own hair out. I would prefer having a professional do it where you don't have time to think before they pull it off!
• I did ensure I was using proper technique (which I do recommend reading up on if you haven't done sugaring yourself), yet I still bruised on my shin bone and my leg felt very tender for a few days.
• It was a bit messy for a novice. In this case though, sugar kits are good because any spills clean up nicely
• I was a bit slow and the solution needed to be reheated mid-leg (but I am too lazy to go down to my microwave again!)

I won't say I hated the product, because that would be far from the truth. I really did like the results and the kit was easy to use and cleaned up nicely. The water soluble aspect alone was enough to sell me on sugaring over waxing. Now, a big issue of mine is saying I love/hate a product before I use it more than twice. I always find that a sample gives great results, but when you actually use the product a few more times, you realize how you really feel about it. While I kept the kit in my bathroom, I have to apologize because this is one product I am not sure I can try again. I will stick to the painless, but more tedious, shaving protocol!