Parissa Express Wax Stripes

I’m not brave when it comes to pain. I’m that person at the doctor’s office who can’t stand still, who keeps taking deep breaths while telling themselves it’s going to be OK when all I have to do is get blood drawn! Seriously..AHH! Waxing and sugaring have thus similarly always given me slight anxiety. Of course they never end-up causing nearly as much pain as I build-up in my head… Why can’t we sometimes just learn to relax!?? Any case given that my last wax was a little over three weeks ago I’m due for a touch-up, so I thought why not be brave and frugal and do the little touching-up myself for once!? In comes Parissa Express Wax Stripes . No heating, messiness or spreading is involved and the stripes are clear so you can see exactly what you’re doing. I used their Bandes de Cire — Visage & Bikini (the front of the box I have is in French, but pretty self-explanatory!). More after the jump! 

The set comes with 8 double-sided stripes for $9, 1 vial azulene oil hair inhibitor, and instructions with pictures. Before going into the actual product, no matter what form of wax you use always make sure to do a patch test and wait 24 hours to see how your skin reacts, never clean your skin before waxing, wait till your hair is at least 1/4″, and when it’s hot like it is now or you’re sweating apply a little bit of powder (Shobha has a great one). Now onto the juicy stuff!

I’m not going to lie this was scary for me to do alone! I actually put the AC on so high to calm my nerves I was getting goosebumps! That said, the stripes are perfectly sized for touch-ups and the process is simple — warm the double-sided strip in your hands by rubbing, then separate the two stripes, place on skin, and pull-off in opposite direction of hair growth. Easy right? Yes! Painful and uncomfortable sitting on my bathroom floor? Yes! I tried two little stripes and that was all I could do. Everyone has things they splurge on and things they save on and despite how easy Parissa makes at-home waxing I’m just going to have to deal with the fact that waxing/surgaring is just something I’m going to have to do in the comfort of a salon!

No matter where/how you get waxed however I highly recommend using Shobha’s Ingrown Relief Lotion to prevent the bumps and ingrowns often associated with hair removal. Similarly Sweetspot Labs’ Gentle Wash  and On-the-Go Wipettes are daily musts for me — we gotta keep it clean and safe!