DIY eyebrow waxing success!

I arrived rather late at the eyebrow waxing scene. I remember my friends telling me about their waxes in 10th grade. I wasn't very observant and couldn't really see the difference it made. Then came the formal - the equivalent of the prom - in 12th grade. I got my nails done (for the first time), I was going to get professional hair & makeup on the day (for the first time), and for the first time, I wanted to try out this eyebrow waxing.

I was quite anxious when I told mum about it. Mum was very (very) traditional and said, "In my day, only girls getting ready to get married waxed their eyebrows. Waxing eyebrows is a sign that you are getting married." But she was liberal enough to take me to a beauty salon and we paid the $12 for me to get an eyebrow wax.

"...WOW...", I remember saying over and over again on the car on the way back. I could see a HUGE difference. My eyebrows were arched and defined for once. They actually enhanced the overall look of my face. Of course, I had to quash the slight guilt I was feeling for having done something that I was traditionally not supposed to do (what can I say, I was very impressionable back then).

Over the years since, I have always loved getting an eyebrow wax. Almost everytime, I am amazed at the result. Eyebrows frame your eyes and face. I would say second to clear, smooth skin, eyebrows make the most difference to enhancing the beauty of your face.

There was only one problem: professional salon waxes were expensive. $15 to $25 is the price range where I live. So, I only got my eyebrows done once or twice a year. For special occasions. Please don't cringe.

If only there was a way to achieve salon results at home. Tweezing is only useful for tidying up of waxed eyebrows. There is no way I can tweeze a clean, defined line. I've seen this product on TV that claims to allow eyebrow waxing at home. So I waited for the product to go on sale at my local supermarket, and finally bought one.

It's called "Nad's natural hair removal facial wand". (RRP US$9.99)

I also bought a tub of "Nad's natural hair removal gel". The gel wax in both products is identical. The facial wand just contains the gel in a lip-gloss-like applicator for precise shaping. (RRP US$19.99)

I was very hopeful about this product - it is a unique gel wax that improves upon the disadvantages of conventional wax. It exists as a gel at room temperature, so no heating is needed. I never liked the conventional wax that needed microwave heating, because it meant you had to work quickly before the wax set solid. Also, once conventional wax is applied to the skin, there's no return. You pretty much have to wax the area (you can use baby oil to try to rub it off, but it's very slow and mineral oil is bad for your skin). Any mess you make on the table, on your hands, also need to be rubbed off with baby oil.

Nad's gel wax, however, is water soluble. It felt like honey, and rinses off very easily with warm water. This was absolutely necessary for my eyebrows, as I could just rinse off the gel if I wasn't happy with the shape  and try again. A strip of fabric is pressed over the gel and then ripped off along with gel and unwanted hair. The gel never solidifies and is still soft after removal. I don't know if that's the reason, but this was the most painless wax I've ever had.

So I took my time, consulted a beauty manual for the ideal eyebrow shape, and drew a precise shape with the facial wand. Then, I took a deep breathe and stripped away the wax. The wax removed all the hair I wanted to remove. I looked in the mirror, and lo and behold, there were the shaped, defined eyebrows I wanted. Because I took such painstaking care, the shape and thickness was better than any salon results I've ever had! I was so impressed with myself and with the product. Then, I trimmed some of my longer hairs with a pair of small scissors (I used cuticle scissors) and the process was complete. My eyebrows were groomed once again, and best of all, I knew I could do it regularly with minimal cost.

So if you're looking to save a decent amount of money or you never got what you wanted at beauty salons, then I highly recommend this product and some DIY. It takes a lot of courage, but I am so glad I did it!

Just a final tip for additional savings: when you run out of gel in the facial wand, don't buy another new one. The facial wand is quite expensive considering you get much more gel in the tub (12 oz in the tub vs 0.2 oz in the wand). You only need the applicator tip on the facial wand anyway, so just use a popsicle stick and dab some gel from the tub onto the applicator tip. I tried it and it works just as well.

Product website: http://www.nads.com.au/ (select your country in the pull down tab)


This is the applicator tip:

And the gel in the tub: