One day a month that every woman loathes from the bottom of her heart is waxing day. As much as we love the beautiful, smooth skin afterwards, the process of getting there is quite a task.
Some of us can embrace themselves, body hair and all, for the beautiful goddesses they are. I admire them so much! I think they’re absolutely amazing. But personally for me, being waxed makes me feel more comfortable and self-confident. Getting waxed, however, is a whole other story.
Recently in the Beauty and Makeup Community in collaboration with Veet the campaign called #PullItOff saw lots of women sharing their funny and horror waxing stories. In one such post, Chandini Wig asked women what thoughts went on in their minds during waxing. I found some hilarious responses there. Those coupled with my personal experiences and those of my friends made me want to write this article! Here are relatable thoughts every woman has had while waxing.
Much like board exams, you wake up on waxing day with a sense of dread in the pit of your stomach. Your barely-awake mind hasn’t fully comprehended what the danger is but you know it is looming. In a few minutes, as you catch up with yourself, you remember. It is waxing day.
I mean it’s not that much hair anyway. I can totally go another week without a wax. I even bought that new full sleeve top. Isn’t body hair supposed to keep you warmer in winters? I can't argue with science. Yes, let me call and cancel…. you’ve thought it too, haven't you?
You stop the voice of reason in your head telling you that you don’t really need this. You armour up (read: put on loose clothes that you don’t mind getting wax on) and make your way to the parlour like a woman on a mission. Bollywood style war music plays in the background.
Every time that first layer of wax touches your skin, you can’t help but be astounded by how hot it is. The waxing lady doesn’t even blow on it unless you meekly ask her to! And once you do, she’ll do it a couple of times and then conveniently forget again. What even! You can’t stop wondering how many times it is socially acceptable to shudder every time the stick touches your body.
As the parlour aunty starts to press the wax strip on your body, you go into battle mode. You ball up your fists. You clench your jaw. You brace yourself for the impact that is going to come in 3…2…
No matter how many times you do it, there is no getting used to the time when the first strip of wax pulls the hair out of your skin. Your curse, swear, even tear up a little. You wonder how you didn’t remember it being this painful. Is your brain repressing these memories like trauma? But you don’t have too much time to dwell on it because the parlour aunty has moved on to the second strip already.
You’d think you can ignore the pain after the first few times but nothing like that happens. It hurts every single time. And when you feel the last one wasn’t too bad, a new one brings fresh tears to your eyes. Can a grown woman scream? Is that alright?
You look at the petite waxing lady straight in the eye to see if she's enjoying your pain as she ruthlessly pulls out strip after strip of your hair. And then goes back for seconds when the stubborn hair doesn’t come out. She shrugs and asks you if you’ve applied moisturiser when you know after that one horrifying experience, you 1000% have not.
Your arm is sore from being propped up. The waxing lady knows your body more intimately than your own mother. You feel like hours have passed since you stepped into the salon but somehow it still isn’t over. How much hair can a person possibly have?
Oh, the horrible patriarchy with its unattainable beauty standards. It should be criminal to have to go through all this to look pretty, man. Simply unacceptable. You know what, you’re not going to do this anymore. European women who embraced their natural armpits have life figured out. You’re going to be like them.
It is finally done. Your skin is clean, freshly soothed and moisturised. You feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. And the thought of European women and their underarms is far, far away from your head.
And as you dream of all those spaghetti tops and short skirts, you know that despite it all, you are going to come back next month, ready to pay to get tortured all over again.
You don’t have to peel your body raw, but if it makes you feel good about yourself then go for it. If you think that waxing is just an added expense that you can totally avoid, do that sister! But, don’t let anyone dictate you on how your body should look because that is for you to decide. For more fun and thoughtful posts head to our Beauty and Makeup community.