Waxing in Laval

There is a brief pull at the moment of removal, more noticeable on the bikini area and the underarms where the skin is thinner. It lasts a second and the sensation drops as soon as the next area starts. One thing genuinely helps: breathing out at the moment of removal rather than holding your breath. Tell us if you are apprehensive and the pace adapts.

Yes, and it is what makes the most difference to the result. Hair that is too short slides under the strip and stays put, which leaves an area half done. Leave ideally 5 to 7 mm of length. Depending on your regrowth, that often works out to about two weeks without shaving. If you shaved three days ago, better to move the appointment.

It depends on your regrowth, and regrowth depends on the area. We give you your own interval at the end of the session, from what we have just seen on your skin and your hair. One thing matters more than the frequency: sticking to the same method. Avoid shaving between two waxes, and let the hair get back to a workable length before your appointment. Shaving does not change the biological cycle, but hair that is too short simply will not all be caught by the wax, and the result looks less even.

Better to plan for the day before. The redness generally goes within a few hours, sometimes a day on the bikini area or the underarms, and the heat of exercise or a sauna brings it back. The skin has just been through something and can stay more reactive for a while, to friction, to heat and to fragranced products. A fragrance-free soothing cream works very well.

Regular exfoliation, but not straight away. Exfoliating the same day irritates skin that has already been through something. After two or three days you can go back to gentle exfoliation, if your skin takes it. Do not rub an area that is still red or irritated. Ingrown hairs appear when the new growth stays trapped or curls back into the skin. If redness lasts beyond twenty-four hours or comes with bumps, tell us.

No, on healthy skin and with the right technique. What damages is a build-up of bad practice: going over the same spot several times, pulling without holding the skin taut, working on irritated skin. On healthy skin and with the right technique, reactions are usually temporary: redness, tenderness or small spots around the follicles. Ingrown hairs, folliculitis, stronger irritation or a change in pigmentation can happen to some people even so. There is one real change, though not the one people imagine: after years of pulling the hair out at the root, some follicles produce a finer hair.

No, not on the area being treated. Wax and tweezers pull the hair out of its follicle, and that hair is exactly what the laser aims at: without it, the session has no target. On an area under a plan, shave instead, following your esthetician's instructions. Wax stays useful on other areas, and once the plan is over.

Ask yourself two questions: the colour of your hair, and how much time you want to give this over the coming years. Dark hair and a wish to stop thinking about it, the laser is the right choice, even though it calls for a series over several months. A result today, light hair, pregnancy or no wish to commit to a plan, that is wax. Plenty of people use both, depending on the area. And if your hair is light and you want to be done with it, electrolysis is what to look at.