ah, the joys of waxing..........not.........sugar waxing!!!!!!!!!!!

Green Living > Personal Care > Skin Care > Ancient Egyptian Art of Body Sugaring

Ancient Egyptian Art of Body Sugaring

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by Annie Berthold-Bond
Body sugaring is a method for removing body hair that is a cheap, homemade alternative to waxing (or shaving). The theory behind body sugaring is that the hair is removed by the root, and when it grows back there will be less of it, and it will be softer and not stubbly as it is if a razor had been used.
SIMPLE SOLUTION: Body sugaring is done by making a paste of sugar, water, and lemon juice that has been heated to the softball candy stage.
After you have let the paste cool enough so that it won't burn, you spread it on your skin, cover it with cotton strips of cloth, and then rip the cloth off like one does a bandaid. Most find sugaring less painful than waxing.

Due to many requests from readers for this recipe, I have looked hard for what I have finally found and give you here, what I think is the best formula:

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

Equipment: Candy thermometer

Combine the ingredients in a heavy saucepan, and heat on low using a candy thermometer. Watch the mixture very carefully so that it doesn't boil over. Heat the mixture to 250 F on the candy thermometer; this is the hardball candy stage.

Remove from the heat and let cool enough to pour into a jar without breaking or melting the jar. (Note that this jar will be reheated in the future. Make sure it is safe for whatever for of reheating you plan to do -- in the microwave, or in a pan of water. Rip clean cotton fabric in 1" inch strips. Make sure the cotton isn't too coarsely woven.

This next step is very critical: let the mixture cool enough so that it won't burn your skin. The first time I did this I didn't let the blend cool enough and I burned myself! Test the mixture on the palm of your hand, knowing that is much tougher than the sensitive skin under your arms.

Using a dull knife or Popsicle stick, spread the cooled sugar onto your skin. Cover with the cloth strips, let set for a few minutes, and then rip off quickly as you would a bandaid.

In the future you can reheat the mixture to a warm and not hot temperature (see above), and reuse. Note that reheating will thicken the paste.

3 Comments add a comment »
Si Qureshi
Wednesday July 4, 2007, 2:13 PM

I went to a new salon today to get my underarms waxed. i have very sensitive skin and my hair is very dark and stubburn i had 1 underarm waxed but the hair just would not budge so the therapist recommended using sugaring so i had the other underarm done with sugaring i am amazed and have told all my friends about it my skin is smooth and soft and it hurt alot less when i was having it done. whereas the underarm that i had waxed is still painful and sore. i am completely amazed at how brilliant suagring is i just had to read up on it. would i recomment it??? MOST DEFINETLY BY A LONG SHOT.

just the thoughts of ripping my hair out is painful lol

I've only heard wonderful things about sugar waxing. It is meant to be a lot better for your skin than regular waxing (because it is water soluble and doesn't need to be removed with oil like regular wax does). I guess there are a lot less chemicals in sugar wax than in regular wax too (typically).

> and then rip off quickly as you would a bandaid.

hrm. there is my problem right there. i'm a pull it slowly kinda girl. so.... epilation it is, i guess.

(you know... the machine is a little louder than i remember it being. i do wonder what the neighbours think / how much it annoys them. i should turn the machine on and see if i can hear it outside my room with my door closed... i had a guy friend who wanted to try it on his face... i wouldn't reccomend it incase he gets a rash... but maybe he will let me epilate his chest or something lol.

does it sound like a vibrator??????

hmm. i don't know what a vibrator sounds like lol. i guess it sounds like a guys electric razor only it takes a while longer to do your legs and stuff...

but... that occurred to me too. maybe i'll do my legs in the shared bathroom so people can see what i'm up to lol.

i understand that some of them are awfully loud.

they sound like the men's shaver lol

What if you got hungry while you were waxing and ended up eating the sugar mixture? It actually sounds kinda tasty lol!!!! How very interesting....I had never heard of sugar waxing.

*Off topic here but did anyone see the Friend's episode where Monica and Phoebe were waxing their legs and screaming and Chandler and Joey came in thinking they were getting attacked, and then Ross and Rachel were fighting so the other 4 were stuck in Monica's room and they ate the wax cuz it was organic? Ok yes. I am a Friend's addict. I admit it. This thread reminded me of that teee heeeeee.

Thanks for sharing the recipe Fay!