Things You Should Do and Not to Do After a Wax

Cleanse skin again using Witch Hazel. Witch Hazel is soothing and antiseptic.

Use a towel to wrap some ice cubes to the area after waxing. This will help with redness and discomfort.

Use a hydrating product, such as baby oil, to help clean up residual wax, and also moisturize the skin.

Use moisturizer ever day after waxing. Apply cooling lotion such as aloe vera. You can extract gel from fresh aloe vera leaves.

Use a mineral based make-up to hide any redness. This type of make-up allows the skin to breathe.

If skin is not red and inflamed the next day, gently exfoliate to prevent pimples and ingrown hairs from forming. DO NOT exfoliate within 24 hours after waxing.

Keep hands away from waxed area to prevent bacteria driven pimples.

Avoid any public water areas such as hot tubs, saunas, pools, and spas while the skin is healing to prevent infections.

Take showers instead of bathing for a few days.

Don’t exercise enough to cause heavy perspiring.

Avoid tight clothing if the bikini area was waxed.

Do not squeeze any pimples! To do so will cause more pimples. Instead apply a pimple medication.

Don’t get waxed just before menses when the skin is more vascular.

Don't drink stimulants like alcohol or caffeinated drinks a few hours before waxing, because this will make the skin more sensitive.

Getting to know what to do after waxing and what to avoid after it are helpful. But for some people, you may be allergic to some ingredients. Know the signs of an allergic reaction such as redness, hives, irritation, blisters or itching. Although most reactions are not severe, some people can have a more serious reaction like anaphylactic shock. Know how to deal with them for better management. 

Redness

The most common reaction, especially for face waxing is redness. There is nothing more embarrassing than going out after having an upper lip waxed and showing the world a red, inflamed moustache!

What to do: For this reaction, try icing the area for about 10 minutes to close pores and reduce redness and swelling.

Pimples and Bumps

The second most common reactions after waxing, especially of the face are pimples and bumps. These too, can be embarrassing especially if one waxes before a special event and has a moustache of pimples. The pimples are usually caused by bacteria.

What to do: It is important to cleanse the area to be waxed, hands, fingers, and fingernails scrubbed. What to do after waxing is to keep hands away from the waxed area, and cleanse the area gently again. Another cause of bumps could be ingrown hairs, exfoliation will help prevent those.

Hives, or Allergic Reaction

The third most common reaction is hives. These come from an allergic reaction to one or several of the ingredients in the wax itself. This happens because something in the ingredients may cause an allergic reaction.

Making sure to read the ingredients for artificial colors, fragrance, and flower essences like Lavender, is very important to those with sensitive skin. Hives are itchy bumps that usually subside within hours. However, taking a Benadryl pill may be helpful to quickly calm the hives.

It is not recommended that one waxes their own bikini area, it simply isn’t possible to get the right technique due to the awkwardness of the position. That is better left to the professionals that do waxing. Be sure that the waxing salon uses sanitary methods, and ask about the wax ingredients.

Moisturize the days before you wax and before you wax. 

Carefully follow the wax instructions. Check temperature against you wrist, and ensure that the wax has the consistency of honey. If you are using wax strips, warm them between your hands. Make sure you are in a comfortable position when you begin waxing.

Always wax in the direction that the hair naturally grows. This way you are making sure the wax will bond with the hair securely. After applying the wax, press the cloth over firmly, waiting a few seconds, then pulling off the strip parallel to the skin, not up. Hold your skin taut with the other hand to avoid too much pulling of the skin. The ideal length for waxing hair is about ¼ to ¾ off an inch so you may need to trim it if it’s longer than that.