Minimizing Wax Residue

You can take steps before your waxing session, in order to ensure you don’t end up with any residue. These points listed below will hopefully help to eliminate unwanted wax:

1. Moisturise Skin– Keep your skin as moisturised as possible. Dry skin is more prone to suffer from residual wax patches. To avoid this, moisturise your skin a day before you intend to wax, as this will keep it hydrated and flexible. When choosing your moisturiser try to opt for a water-based one as this will prevent excessive oiliness.
   
   
2. Hair Length– Hair that is too long can become a messy, when wax is applied to it and the hair can get tangled amidst the wax which would increase the chances of sticky post-waxing session messes. Before you wax, ensure that the hair is no more no shorter than 3mm and no longer than 5mm, as this is the ideal length for effective waxing.
   
   
3. Home Waxing Kits– If you have chosen to wax at home, you can take some simple but vital measures to prevent waxy residue. Here are some key points:
   
   • Make sure the area that needs to be waxed is clean and has been exfoliated a day in advance (so there is no dry, flaky skin for the wax to cling to).
   
   • Before you apply the wax, try put some powder on your skin, as this absorbs sweat and also prevents extra wax from sticking to the skin. It is also crucial to ensure that the wax is warm and thin (runny honey consistency) when you start application – cold, hard wax tends to be sticky and stodgy, which makes it more prone to clinging to your skin. Lastly,
   
   • When you pull off the wax strip, ensure you do so in one quick, firm and fluid movement.

Tips to Remove Wax Residue Left on the Skin

Warm water
Put a bowl with some water in the microwave so that it gets nice and hot. Dip a clean washcloth in the warm water, and hold it over the sticky patch for about a minute, to loosen up the wax. Then, simply wipe the wax off with the a normal cloth.

If the wax patch is particularly stubborn, you can also add a few drops of hand washing soap to the warm water, and then apply it to your skin – the warmth of the water, coupled with the slippery/foamy properties of the soap, will make for quick and easy wax residue removal.

Alcohol
Soak a clean cotton ball/pad in some alcohol, and rub it in gentle circles over the sticky residue until the area is clean and wax-free. Alcohol does tend to dry out the skin, so make sure you moisturise the area.

Oil
This is probably the most effective method. Select any oil (other than an essential oil, obviously) – this can be mineral oil, almond oil, olive oil, or even a massage oil. Dip a cotton ball/pad into it, and hold it against the waxy residue for a few seconds, before rubbing gently to remove the sticky patch.

To make this method even more effective, you might consider warming the oil before using it. Simply pour a small amount into a bowl, warm it up (very slightly, as it shouldn’t be too hot otherwise will burn your skin!), and then apply it to the wax residue using a clean cotton ball.

Petroleum Jelly
Spread a thick, generous layer of petroleum jelly all over the sticky patch, let it sit for a while, and then after 3-5 minutes, wipe it all off with a clean cotton pad – the wax residue will come right off.

Ice
This is not the best method, as it can cause some damage to the skin, but worth a shot if you are dealing with a particularly stubborn patch of wax. Take ice cube or two, and hold it against the sticky wax patch for 10-30 seconds. This will help the wax to shrink and become hard and brittle. It will then be easier to pick at and will flake off your skin. But if it is still stuck then try another method instead of scraping at it and risking damaging your skin.