Is Body Sugaring Painful?
We do a lot of things for beauty. We’ll use chemical peels that remove dead cells from the skin, and expensive creams full of ingredients we can’t pronounce. Some of us will spend hours plucking stray hairs from our faces and eyebrows, or tearing them out with scorching-hot wax strips.
Just like these other (more painful) processes, body sugaring takes some time to get used to. But when it’s done right, it barely hurts at all – and the more you do it, the less painful it becomes. Why is that? Let’s dig a little deeper and find out!
What Happens When You Use Body Sugar?
First, let’s understand what happens when you get your hair removed with body sugar.
If you’ve read some of our other blogs, you’ll know that our paste is made of just three ingredients: lemon juice, sugar, and water. This creates the sticky paste you’ll see us using around the salon. At a lukewarm temperature, this paste is super flexible, and it can work its way into really small spaces – like, say, the hair follicles on your skin. When this happens, the paste totally surrounds each hair, getting a good grip to help lubricate the surrounding skin and pull the hair out completely.
Just as important is how we apply the paste. We always put it on against the direction of hair growth, so that when we go back to flick it off, it goes in the same direction that the hair is growing. This little detail makes all the difference: less breakage and resistance for us, smoother skin and less discomfort for you!
Which Hurts More: Sugaring or Waxing?
Did you know that the waxing scene in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” is real? It’s true – waxing has a reputation for pain! While we’re sure there are waxers out there who can move quickly and make the process less painful, it’s also telling that we’ve all had waxing done before…and now we stick to sugaring.
In general, waxing hurts more for a few different reasons:
- The wax has to be hotter and can irritate or burn the skin
- The hair is pulled in the opposite direction of growth, which can break hairs (leading to ingrowns) and inflame follicles
- When the hair is pulled out fully, it is not lubricated as it exits the skin, causing irritation
- Wax is stickier than sugar, and often pulls off skin cells, both living and dead
- Wax can harden if it is left on the skin, pulling and causing discomfort as it dries
So... Does Body Sugaring Hurt?
Every person is different, and depending on your skin's condition and how your hair grows – how thick it is, what stage of growth it’s at, and how often you come in for a sugar sesh – your experience will be different. But our goal here at Sucré is to make the whole process fun and manageable for everyone. Whether you’re a man or a woman, you may have shied away from hair removal in the past, but we pride ourselves on delivering the closest thing to a pain-free hair removal service you can find in Calgary, Edmonton, or Kelowna.
When it comes to sugaring, the first visit (especially for Brazilian services) is definitely the most difficult. But our clients say that by the third visit, just a month or so later, the pain has dropped by about 80%! This is because the deep-rooted hair you used to shave has diminished, and the new growth is much finer and softer, so it’s easier to remove.
At the end of the day, we could talk a lot about why we think body sugaring doesn’t hurt…but the best way for you to be sure is to come try it out for yourself! We’ll never pull off huge patches of hair at once, and we’re totally okay to go a little slower as you get a feel for it. After all, we remember our first sugaring session too…and now here we are, helping other get a taste of those sweet results.
When you’re ready to book your spot, hit us up in Calgary on 17 Avenue, Crowfoot, and McKenzie Towne, in Kelowna just a few minutes north of Kelowna’s Bernard Ave entertainment district – near the intersection of Richter St and Clement Ave, and in Edmonton on Whyte Ave and West Block Drive. We can’t wait to see you and help you experience the amazing world of body sugaring!