Wedding Blog

I like a relatively hair-free me. And honestly, so does Mr. Cherry Pie, if you know what I mean. But waxing? Ouch. Been there, done that. Lost a bit of skin in the process.

If you’re like me and you enjoy regular Brazilians, brow shaping, or any other kind of hair removal, or if you’re considering something special for your wedding night, you might want to try a sweet alternative to waxing…sugaring.

Sugaring is a method of hair removal that’s been used for thousand of years. It’s thought to have been created by the Ancient Egyptians to remove body hair, which they considered unclean. (Really, can you blame them?)

A sugar paste is prepared, using nothing more than heated sugar, water, and lemon juice. It’s cheap, easy, and Earth-friendly! You can even make it yourself, but I personally prefer the competent hands of a seasoned professional to rip the hair from my pores.

The sugar solution is heated to a thick, sticky consistency and spread onto conditioned skin. It’s then either flicked away with a flip of the wrist or removed with strips of cloth similar to those used when waxing.

The differences between sugaring and waxing are few but critical:

1. Sugaring requires less hair—Only about 1/8 of an inch or 1 week of grow-back (from shaving, for example) is needed to remove hair with sugar
2. Sugaring is natural and sanitary—It’s just sugar and water, you could eat it…and might want to!
3. Sugaring is gentle—The sugar paste is warm, but not hot enough to burn. It will ONLY remove hair and dead skin, and won’t cause skin abrasions. It’s gentle enough to be used even on women’s tiny facial hairs.

So you don’t get the wrong idea, sugaring still hurts. After all, you are having hair ripped from your body by the roots. But it hurts less than waxing. And less is more.

After a few sessions, you kind of get used to it, and your hair isn’t growing back as thick any more either. One of the nice things about sugaring is that it leads to permanency, which means you won’t have to pluck those stray hairs forever.

I know, I know, I sound like a sugaring evangelist. There’s a sugaring place called the Sweet Spot in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood and, let me tell you, I am hooked. But I promise they’re not offering me any sweet (har, har) kickbacks for this post.

They do, however, make the best body scrub out there. Hands down…and I have tried many. This lovely concoction is made with chunky sugar and fruit oils to exfoliate and soften skin like nothing else. It smells great, too! Check it out:

Yummmmmmm. The sugar scrub is $22 for a big ol’ tub, and usually lasts me a couple of months (I use it every few days). If you’d like to try it, give the Sweet Spot a call or visit them at their store or online.

I’m planning on keeping my monthly regimen of sweetly sugarrific Brazilians and brow-shaping long past the wedding…it’s a habit that’s hard to break!

As I’ve become somewhat of a seasoned pro at having hair torn from all sorts of bits, feel free to pepper me with questions.

And do tell, what are your hair removal secrets?