A common statement that I hear from first time clients that have never waxed before or are 1st time Brazilian wax clients is that they have sensitive skin. After the wax 99.9% of these people didn’t even get redness to their skin which is a common symptom of sensitivity. In my practice, I’ve only noticed less then .1% of the people I’ve waxed, in my 10 years in the industry, truly experience a sensitive reaction to a wax and I’ll notify those people right away. Today I address what true sensitive skin is and what can be done to treat sensitive skin to strengthen it.
The Truth is waxes are not pleasant and are painful to most people. My thought is that people confuse “pain” for sensitivity. A person who is more susceptible to feeling pain is not the same as someone who has sensitive skin. Usually people who claim they have sensitive skin are just more likely to feel more pain but won’t even turn red or experience any type of irritation. Someone who has true sensitive skin usually has either a diagnosable skin condition like Rosacea or Eczema, are highly allergic to many things or has experienced trauma to their skin due to constant irritation or a procedure to their skin which cause an instant reaction when a stressor is present. People that take medication that makes their skin sensitive are not candidates for waxes because their skin has been made truly sensitive to any skin procedure due to medications that are blood thinners or make skin break easily or photo sensitive and they need to be aware of these sensitivity when taking these medications. People who take acne medication, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure among other diagnoses will have sensitive skin and are not candidates for skin procedures or waxes.
Another reason many people believe they have sensitive skin is because they have waxed their eyebrows at a location that does not use hygienic practices and immediately got a reaction. By unhygienic I mean they reuse the wax sticks on all their clients and do not disinfect tools. The reaction a person received from a place like this might just be a reaction to the spreading of bacteria and not necessarily the wax itself. This is actually quite dangerous going to places such as these because they are spreading bacteria and who knows what else diseases and bloodborne pathogens. To kill bacteria in a wax pot it would have to be at an extremely hot temperature and even so you can’t be 100% sure the bacteria has been done away with, which is why correct hygienic practices is of extreme importance.