sugaring?

[Calista]

I´m sick and tired of shaving and I am thinking of trying the sugar method. I heard this was gentler and easier than waxing? Frankly, I have never had much success with those store-bought waxing strips for the facial area.

The recipe I have is this:

200g brown sugar
200g lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1 tsp sunflower seed oil

Is this any good? Please share your experiences reg. sugaring! :flower:

ETA: I want to epilate my legs, not my face.

[eiyela]

And you plan to boil this, right? It does seem like a bit too much liquid compared to most recipes I've seen. It was specifically for the facial area?

[Calista]

It is for use on the entire body (more specifically on the legs, I think), and yes, you are supposed to boil it until it has the consistency of caramel. Then you spread it on your legs, smooth a strip of cloth (old t-shirt or something like that) on top and pull.

I found this recipe on www.Chefkoch.de (http://chatter.thebeautybottle.com/www.Chefkoch.de), and it is supposed to hurt less than waxing (but why?). It is also supposed to taste yummy! :boggle:

[eiyela]

I had this recipe:

INGREDIENTS
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
¼ cup water

It worked rather well, but I didn't think it hurt less than waxing. It did make excellent candy, though.:whoohoo: Like lemon pastilles.

[Calista]

I guess I´ll take a little less juice then.

How long does the stubble have to be for the sugaring to be effective? I can´t wait to get going...

[eiyela]

About the same as for waxing, though I did notice it took just a tad more of the shorter hairs. It's essentially the same process, except the cleanup afterwards is easier (dissolves in water!:whoohoo:).

[kimberlily]

I tried the sugar & lemon juice recipe. All it did was hurt. No hairs came out. I had better luck with waxing, but I got really bad ingrowns so I'm back to shaving.

[BBGrrl]

Kimberlily I am sorry that it hurt. when I do mine it hurts but not bad. I don't use strips with mine. I use the same recipe as the regular sugar recipe but I simmer it till it turns amber. when it cools I can pick it up with my fingers and I form it into a ball (it should hold it shape for at least 10 seconds) spred it on the area I want to remove the hair from and then flick it off in the direction of the hair growth. Because it is with the hair growth I don't get the breakage. I can remove hair that is 2 days after a shave and it exfoliates the skin beautifly. Oh don't forget you need to put a light powdering down first or it gets stuck. If it starts to stick stop working with that ball. If it sticks stop working with that area. Knees are the hardest part of the leg, the sugar seems to have problems with dry knees.

[Hairstorm]

I've used a store bought kit (Sally Hansen, I think) and it only removed thin, unnoticable hairs. :rolleyes:

[Calista]

Alright, now I mustered the courage to actually get going. I dumped all of the sugar (200gr.) and most of the lemon juice (150ml, cause eiyela said 200 was a bit too much) in the pot and brought it to the boil. Oh yes, added some salt as well. I let it boil and boil and boil until it was really, really dark brown. Now it´s sitting there in the pot, dark brown and still completely liquid! Surely that´s not how it´s supposed to be? What did I do wrong?

[saracuda]

I wanna try! I wonder if it really works...

[Calista]

Well, you´d better wait until somebody has sorted out my little problem. Right now the stuff looks as though I could mix it with water and get a lovely lemonade... :lafhard:

[saracuda]

My little leg hairs are so white you can't see them anyway! I'd just like to sugar so I have smooth legs.

[snowbear]

Well, you´d better wait until somebody has sorted out my little problem. Right now the stuff looks as though I could mix it with water and get a lovely lemonade... :lafhard: Mmmm, sounds yummy! But that probably wasn't the answer you were looking for.
I found this (http://www.pioneerthinking.com/bodysugaring.html)recipie on Pioneer Thinking, maybe it'll work better?

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
Half a lemon for the juice
1/4 cup honey
A little bit of Molasses if you have any like a drizzle
Cornstarch (to powder with for tautness making it more effective)
Something to spread the mixture with like a tongue depressor, popsicle stick, cheese spreader or spatula.
Cotton fabric (any old thing you can find or buy some strips at a store)
Mix lemon, sugar, and honey in a bowl. Microwave on high for about 2-3 minutes, until it bubbles into a smooth consistency. I find this a lot simpler then turning on the stove, but it would be safer if you watched over the heat on the stove. If you use the stove use LOW heat. Now move away from the mixture and go do something while it cools a little down so you can touch it safely. A little bit warmer though is better though to use.

Microwave it for 20 seconds if you find the need to. The NADS commercial said re heating isn’t necessary, but it’s no big deal doing so and I find it is necessary as all sugaring products do need just a little heating.

Make sure your legs or where ever you wish to place it is clean and dry. Then dust area with cornstarch so it’s more effective as it draws out oil. Spread a thin layer on your leg. Cover with a strip of fabric, and rubbing the strip the opposite way of hair growth, about 3 times.

Grab the fabric end and pull it off very quickly against the direction of the hair growth or the other way if you wish. It will hurt, but after awhile it’s a lot less painful. I’m sure you’re strong enough to withstand pain. Reheat the mix if it gets too hard to spread. This stores for a long time. I just use a vitamin E face cream container that’s plastic since that’s fairly big which costs only a buck at the dollar store. Just make sure it's clean and oil free. You could also use a glass jar as well.

[Calista]

Thanks snowbear - I see your recipe has got even less liquid to it than eiyela´s and way less than mine.

I just boiled the stuff again for quite some time, and I think now it´s more like it should be. I´ll report back presently.

[Calista]

Ooooooookaaaaayyyyyy...

I tried to use the stuff last night, but obviously it still wasn´t - uhm, solid enough, so I boiled it again this a.m. Now it is very, very sticky (ok, that´s the point about the whole thing, isn´t it?). I can hardly spread it on my legs. Then I place a strip of cotton cloth on top, massage a little and pull. Ouch! All hairs removed. BUT I cannot spread it really thin, so I need a lot of sugar for a tiny patch of skin. Also I cannot use the strip twice in a row - it just won´t pull out any more hairs. Not sure if that is because it is too cold already or if the sugar is "saturated" with hairs (I don´t think so actually - plenty of room left for more hairs to be caught). I need to rewarm the whole pot frequently (after each strip as a matter of fact). The whole process is ultra-messy, too - long wisps of sugar everywhere, like little bits of spider web.

Any more suggestions, guys? I´m almost ready to return to shaving.

ETA: The stuff also removed my fake tan.

[SunCat]

The one and only time I tried sugaring it left my skin red and bleeding was was very painful. I used Nads and sent it back the next day. I am not into pain for vain.

[BBGrrl]

Yes this stuff takes off fake tan very well. You can make it less sticky with less lemon juice. I can't help with the strips. I have never sugared that way. It thickens up by cooking it on low heat. I can pull out my training book if you would like more info.