Sugar can be good for you...

Better than wax, anyway.

Last night I tried "sugaring", the traditional, home-made alternative to waxing. I don't have any pictures (because I was busy sugaring) - but I still have to report on the success of my experiment.

After doing a bit of reading, I started with this recipe but reduced it by a quarter. The recipe is so simple:

• white sugar;
• lemon juice; and
• water,

in proportions of 8:1:1, respectively. While it was boiling, I watched the mixture like a hawk and stirred continuously until I had a dark-caramel, sweet-smelling, bubbling mixture. To test the consistency, I dropped it into a glass of cold water and took it off the heat when it 'balled up' in the water.

When the mixture had cooled down sufficiently (by which I mean that it was not too hot when I applied it on the back of my hand - not just when I touched it with my finger) I experimented with a little bit on my leg. I used a strip of an old sheet as the backing. I think that it's best to do this in the bathroom where you can splash water around (and because tiles are easiest to clean sugar-mixture off!) 

In short, I found it far less painful and much easier than traditional at-home waxing. I've you've got an extra 20 minutes to cook up a sweet, toffee-like concoction and you don't mind DIY waxing, this is definitely worth a try.

I've been doing my own touch-ups for years with wax strips, which (in retrospect) seemed to stick to the skin as aggressively as they did to the hair itself. The sugar 'wax' on the other hand, peels right off the skin with minimal pain. And the best thing; it can be washed off the skin! Once you've made yourself a batch you can also re-heat and re-use it - the only precaution is really making sure that it's cool enough before you apply it to the skin. However, if it's still a bit hot (or if you make a mistake) you can just run it under water and it melts right off. And to top it all off, it uses ingredients which are cheap and readily available. Brilliant!

If you're interested, try this recipe here: http://www.ehow.com/way_5479075_homemade-sugaring-recipe.html or experiment with other online variations, such as those containing honey. Just make sure to see if you like it with a small batch first. Good luck!