It might sound crazy, but thousands of guys are getting into the DIY spirit and attending to their Brazilian waxes at home. With extortionate salon prices, a budget-friendly option is to invest in quality tools, man up, and do the task yourself. While it does take some patience and perseverance, it’s really not that challenging. Male Standard will be by your side, as un-awkwardly as possible, to guide you step-by-step of the way.
Note: Make sure you read the entire guide first before waxing on and waxing off, you don’t want to miss anything critical, a mistake is not something easy to explain to friends!
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What you will need:
- A wax kit (the cost of one salon treatment) including Brazilian hard wax, spatulas, cooling gel, cleansing gel, and instructional DVD
- Plenty of floor space
- A mirror for waxing
- A towel
- Latex gloves
- Olive oil
Step 1: Preparing the Area
First things first, prepare the area. This may include taking a shower, as you want the area to be clean to prevent infection. You can also trim back the hair using men’s razors, but you will want to keep at least 2 mm of growth in place. If you have less, it will have to wait until next weekend. If you wax without enough hair, you risk pulling off skin instead. With clean hands, apply the tea tree oil or cleansing gel to intimately clean the area.
Check before moving forward:
- Is the wax warm and gooey?
- Is the area clean and the towel laid on the floor?
- Is there a mirror located at your feet so you can see what you are doing?
Great! Now that you are ready, make sure you have all of the equipment and enough space to move, to hand. Once you start, it is easier to reach out than move around.
Step 2: Applying the Wax
If you haven’t done so already, play around with the wax to get a feel for the consistency and how it sticks to the wooden spatula. The last thing you want to do is dribble wax on yourself when moving to the Nether regions. It should stick to the stick, with enough time for you to turn it and then melt off. If it doesn’t do this, allow it to sit for longer (most hard waxes take 45 minutes to one hour to set correctly).
Take the spatula, dip it in the wax, and ensure a small amount is on the stick, you don’t want to overload the stick with too much wax, or it won’t come off. Apply the wax to the top of the pubic region, from wherever you will be starting, and smooth the wax on. It is best to start from the top and work down so you can see where you are going. Once the first section is on, wait for a few minutes for the wax to set. It will go hard, so make sure you peel the wax back in one corner to give you something to lift.
Important: Double dipping is when you add the spatula back into the wax pot after applying the wax to the body. This can cause infection, even when not sharing wax. Always use a new dipstick, or spatula, when applying new wax. They give you hundreds free for a reason!
Step 3: Removing the Wax
No doubt this is the part that’s going to worry you the most, so go ahead and get it done with sooner than later. Once you are confident the wax is fully set (you can tap it), then pull back in one fluid motion against the hair grain. This will prevent ingrown hairs and infection later. Depending on your pain threshold, you might want to add some of the soothing gel to the area with clean hands. It’s best to continue quickly, and get it out of the way. It will hurt less overall that way.
Step 4: Removing Hair from the Scrotum
There’s no simple way to put this, if you are going to wax your balls, listen closely. This area has saggy skin, which is not ideal for waxing. This part is a two-hand operation, and requires you to look in the mirror, and pull back the skin until it is smooth. You will want to work in smaller sections against you best judgement here, and apply the wax in quarter inch or less amounts so that you are only removing hair from taught skin. Do not throw wax at them and hope for the best!
Tip: Before you lean forward, make sure that you use an old towel or cloth strip to remove any small pieces of wax. This is a great time to check if you missed any areas, and will stop you from sticking to your stomach.
Step 5. Tidying Up
Once you have moved from top to bottom, and front to back (if you catch my drift), you will want to make sure that you haven’t missed any spots. Go back with a dab of wax if there are areas, or use baby powder to map out the route ahead of time. This will highlight the places that have been waxed, and you shouldn’t have any left when you are done. If there are small hairs, use tweezers (you’re officially a masochist now), or shave them away. It will take one or two waxes for your hair to all grow and go away.
So what’s with the olive oil? Well, olive oil breaks down wax and is a great way to clean up any dried on or residual wax on the body or wax pot. You should always look after your tools, as this will help avoid staining or leaving lumps of telltale wax in the bathroom. Avoid waxing in the bedroom, as we haven’t found a way to get wax out of carpet. Even NASA is stumped. If you plan to share your wax pot, or borrow someone else’s, follow the cardinal rule of double dipping – don’t do it!
Leave a comment below and let us know if you are daring enough to give home waxing a shot, or if you have ever been to a salon. The more experiences to tally up again, the better for others coming into the waxing arena!
