Cons: Ingrown hairs can still be a problem. The hair is trying to grow up and out of the follicle but our skin sometimes can grow over and the hair gets stuck. Exfoliating with mits in a circular motion, up towards the heart or using a body scrub made from sea salt or sugar can help remove the dead skin so the hair doesn’t get trapped.

2) Waxing can be uncomfortable, each body part has a different sensation and each person has a different pain threshold (no caffeine within 2 hours prior and taking Tylenol or ibuprofen can help.

3) Redness and even sometimes bleeding can occur. Redness happens mainly on the face and bleeding primarily on very coarse hair and the main areas are back and chest for men, sometimes pubic hair and brows. It’s very miniscule but can freak people out if they aren’t warned. Redness on face can last up to 24 hours in very unusual cases, 1-3 hours is more common.

4) Bruising the only time this can happen is for women when they are near their cycle or pregnant, it’s very rare for this to occur. Also if you have an inexperienced waxer and they pull up towards the ceiling this can cause bruising.

Pros: You only need to wax every 4-6 weeks on average to allow all three stages of hair growth to come back, some people will come in every three because they hate the hair growth and want it gone. Shaving is something people do 1-2 times a day to 3-4 times a week depending on how much hair they have and how fast it grows back. Waxing pulls the hair out at the root (think about it like a weed in a garden) the hair will grow back but it takes a while for the root to grow and then become long enough to be pulled out again.

2) The more you pull it out the less likely it will be to grow back over time, waxing weakens the hair follicle unlike shaving which cuts it at the thickest part of the hair shaft therefore growing back thick and prickly.

3) The hair will grow back thinner and less coarse. Everyone is different and it can depend on your ethnic background on how long it takes for your hair to thin out and soften up. People of Irish, French and German decent as well as Mediterranean blooded people tend to have coarser, darker, thicker hair so blame your genetics for that one.

4) If all the stages of your hair have grown out properly and you have been patient and waited then you will love the feeling of freshly waxed skin. It’s smooth and you feel clean with no razor rash or burns.

So there you have it in a nutshell, waxing is awesome and worth the discomfort that goes away quickly. My suggestion if you are hesitant is to ease into slowly. Starting out with one major body part at a time or a few small ones.