I am not an expert when it comes to waxing since I’ve only had my eyebrows waxed! I don’t like pain, and I don’t like the fact that hair always comes back after waxing, so that’s why I haven’t embraced waxing. I kind of skipped the whole waxing thing, and jumped into laser hair removal, which I’ll talk about soon. Anyway, I have been getting my eyebrows waxed for years, though. It’s amazing how a few less hairs can make you look so much better! And I know eyebrow shapes come and go, but I am not into bushy brows, so you will never see me with those! And I don’t like the super skinny brows, so I go for ones in between.
Eyebrow Waxing Mishaps
My whole eyebrow waxing experience had been going along great until about two years ago. I didn’t usually stick with one waxer, so I’d just go to whoever was available, until I found someone good, but inevitably they’d be gone when I’d go back in a month or two! The problems began when I had my eyebrows done, and it hurt way more than normal, and then when I was done my skin was flaming red! Yikes! A few months later I went to someone else (obviously) and something similar happened - my face was bleeding in a few tiny spots, and again the skin was bright red. Then a few months after that I had the worst experience of all - after the waxing a big stripe under my eyebrow was sort of shiny and raw looking, but it wasn’t so bad that I freaked out. The Esthetician said it was fine. It was burning like crazy (I had to ice it) and later that day it looked like a giant chunk of flesh was missing from my face! I should have gone back to the salon to complain but didn’t. I then Googled “eyebrow waxing raw” or something like that, and found I wasn’t the only one that has had layers of skin ripped off! The red gash took about two weeks to go away, but luckily it didn’t leave a scar.
How To Avoid A Horrible Waxing
After the last “mishap” I read that if the wax is too hot, that can cause the skin to be ripped off during the waxing. It then dawned on me that the three times I had a problem, the wax was always really hot and stung when it was applied. I know it’s supposed to be somewhat hot, but wax too hot can cause a problem.
You are not supposed to be using retinoids or AHAs if you get waxed. I stopped using them 5 days before each waxing. I know I probably should have waited longer, but I don’t put Differin (the retinoid I use) under my eyebrows, so I don’t see how that could have been the problem.
I went to yet another Esthetician and explained to her my skin had been ripped off and that I would give up waxing if I my skin was just “too sensitive.” She told me that she uses hard wax, rather than the typical wax, and that it would be rather gentle. Sure enough, she did my eyebrows, and the skin wasn’t even pink afterwards! It didn’t hurt as much as the regular wax either. I went to her another time with great success, and then she moved across town (of course). The Esthetician that took her place also used hard wax, and I also had great results. I’ve been going to her ever since. Yay! So, if you have sensitive skin, find someone that uses Hard Wax! Also, I am convinced it wasn’t just my skin that was the problem. One Esthetician told me I had “thin skin” but I think the bigger problem is the skill of the Esthetician. I also got folliculitis once from a waxing. That’s where the follicle gets inflamed, and it almost looks like pimples. Supposedly you can prevent this by waxing in the “correct” direction. I’m still by no means an expert about waxing, but I now know how to get good results! I just worry that all this waxing will permanently damage my hair follicles, and that if I ever do decide I want giant bushy brows, I won’t be able to grow them:( Oh and if you’re looking for a good tweezers to use for stray hairs between waxings, get the Tweezerman!
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September 5th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Thanks for the tip! I keep wanting to get my ‘brows waxed, but pain is scary!
September 6th, 2007 at 10:22 am
I am so glad you wrote this. I am in serious need of getting my eyebrows groomed but my experience three months ago left me emotionally scarred and scared. I went to a new eyebrow lady (my old one moved to LA (she was great -no pain and fabulous shaping) ) .
Tthis new one, not only burned my eyebrow skin area,but she managed to drop some of the wax on to my eyelashes (brings a whole new meaning to pain). She over plucked and by the time she was finished my eyebrow area was flaming red and worse than that she shaped them horribly. I was missing eyebrow hair above the inner corner of my eye. Thank God for bangs :) Anyhow, the eyebrow hair has grown back but I am terrified to have them done again. My sister recommended her Esthetician - I’m going to give her a try and am printing this post to take with me. I’ll let you know how it goes.
September 6th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I’m sorry you had a horrible mishap with eyebrow waxing too! I think it’s sort of an art to be able to do them well. I know finding the right Esthetician can make all the difference in the world. And the hard wax seemed to be the answer for me, unless I just happened to get a good esthetician. But the hard wax doesn’t go on hot, and it doesn’t seem to rip at your skin as much. It does drip more than the regular wax, though.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Well I’m having this problem with my eyebrows so I’ve just come here and read about your problems and I’m just hoping you can help! I used ready-to-use wax strips for eyebrows and face and afterwards they were red and a little swelled. There was one hair left so I put ice on my eyebrow to try and reduce the swelling, then pluck the hair. I woke up the next day (today) and now the eyebrow which I put ice on is BRIGHT RED and stings a little whenever I move it or touch it!! It’s all dry and just looks terrible! I’m thinking that I have sensitive skin on my face and now I have no idea how to get rid of this mark which looks almost like a hicky (love bite) above my eye!!! HELP!!!! =]
February 24th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Naomi,
I think your eyebrows should be okay in a few days, or it might take a week to go away. You probably ended up pulling up some skin with the waxing. That’s happened to me several times, because the wax that was used at the salon was too hot. When I went to a salon that only used hard wax, I never had a problem again.
I’m not sure if there is anything that would help the pain or your skin (neosporin, etc.) I personally would just leave the area alone, and just know the pain will soon be gone, and the scab might take a week to go away. I covered mine up with makeup, even though it’s probably not the best idea to put makeup on the wound.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Personally, I would try to find a good threader. I had this done once with excellent results. But skilled technicians are hard to find.
Stay away from walk-in nail places. I will never wax again. The last time I had this done (June 2007), I was burned. The technician not only waxed my brows, but eyelids!!. She pulled off a large strip of skin on my right brow that left a scar. She pulled off a smaller one on my left brow area. Even worse, my skin is now burned, stretched, dry and discolored. It has been more than a year, so it will not heal. In fact, I will probably have to pursue plastic surgery to eventually reduce the damage. It aged my eyelids about 10 years. I would caution anyone wanting a professionally groomed brow to go to a threader or to a professional shaper who uses tweezers.
Please don’t make the same mistake I did by trusting a walk-in waxing place.