Ah, Sugar!

I love sugar.

So, when Face to Face NYC informed me that I could use this sweet goodness in order to make my girlie bits smooth and soft, I was, well, intrigued.

Sugaring has existed in the Middle East for thousands of years, but is very new to our parts. (In fact, only a few salons in the city do the treatment.) An alternative to waxing, it is a form of hair removal using all natural (and edible) ingredients — sugar and honey. Sugar has huge antiseptic and healing properties, as well, which means that if you have super sensitive skin, the redness will go away much sooner.

Sugaring also hurts way less than waxing, though your first time applying it to your bikini area is going to hurt, no matter what. Especially for a girl who has always shaved (My aestician explained to me that this is because shaving an area for years gives it a “beard-like” result, regrowth-wise, and makes removing that hair sort of like ripping a band-aid from skin. Repeatedly.)

That said, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. (Images of writhing legs and cries for my mommy were in my thoughts all day.) It did hurt, and sting a bit after, but the entire process took about a half hour, and I will not have regrowth for about a month. This is very nice when you are used to daily visits with your razor. And even nicer, sugaring weakens the hair root, so less will grow back and when it does grow back, it will be thinner, softer, and much more agreeable to the sugar. (ie: next time, I may not even need those tylenol beforehand!)

Lessons I learned during my very first Brazillian bikini sugaring:

1 - Apparently my naughty bits were very excited to meet the sugar, and parts got moist. Even more interestingly, this is very common. (You’d think being naked in front of a stranger with hot substances would give the area pause…) The problem with this is that when you are sugaring, the area must be completely dry and oil-free. Otherwise, the sugar sort of sticks and has to be dried with powder to be removed. I hope I don’t turn into a baked good.

2 -Because sugaring involves completely organic, water-soluable ingredients, it also can remove dead skin cells. So, while you think you are just getting your hair yanked out, you are really getting a great exfoliation as well. I love 2-4-1 deals.

3 - Let your hair grow before waxing/sugaring! I only stopped shaving about a week ago, and because of that, there were some fine blonde hairs too short to get. Without enough regrowth, you can’t get your best results. And, by the way, if you have too much regrowth, you better trim, or you’ll have trouble as well.

Much like giving birth, the euphoria of the results was so plentiful that I was able to hit two parties immediately after with a bounce in my steps and forget the pain — which was in itself not nearly as bad as the hype. If you do go to Face to Face, ask for Diane. She’s super sweet and happily will talk you through things. Which is pretty nice, with the whole stranger pouring hot liquids on your privates, aspect.

For more information on your own sugaring (since you know you want one now too…)

Face to Face NYC
20 west 20th street
suite 603
new york city 10011
212.633.0404
info@facetofacenyc.com