On the list of things I thought I'd have to learn to do all on my own during this time, waxing [1] my nether region was nowhere near the top. But alas, there I was two weeks ago spread eagle in my bathroom, trying to rip the hair out of my bikini area despite not having a clue what I was doing. Desperate times really do call for desperate measures, I guess.
Hair removal is a personal choice, and I have a lot of respect for people who have the discipline to wax themselves [2] on the regular. I've been getting Brazilian waxes since I was 17 years old, and even though I know exactly what to expect from my aesthetician every time I lie down under that painfully bright florescent light — sit in the butterfly position, take a series of deep breath, put your knees to your chest so she can reach that area — I've never felt like I had the strength, the patience, or the attention to detail to do it on my own.
Still, a few weeks into social distancing, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and, to my surprise, it didn't end in disaster.
The Experience
I started off by making sure my skin was clean and free of anything that would make it hard for the wax to stick, like lotions and creams. Then I applied baby powder to the area, an important step that — I learned the hard way once before — if you don't do, the wax will stick to your skin and make the removal process even more painful.
After that, I applied the wax and removed it in small sections, in the opposite direction of hair growth, to make it easier on myself. It wasn't as painful as I was expecting it to be, and for the most part, I was able to remove all of the hair in the area without having to give it a second pass. The hardest part was honestly trying to contort my body into all kinds of different positions so that I could apply the wax thoroughly without making a mess all over my bathroom.
I'll admit that, when I go see my aesthetician, the process usually takes fewer than 20 minutes, mostly because she works in much larger sections than I did, but this ended up taking me close to an hour altogether.
Once I decided that I was finished, I made sure my skin was wax-free and then followed up with some baby oil and an ingrown hair serum.
Happy as I am that this didn't end terribly, the jury's still out on whether or not I'll try waxing myself again. The thought of it still makes me a little nervous, so for now, I'll just admire how smooth my skin is and cross that bridge when I get to it.