Take time to make an educated laundry list of conditions to be cautious of before booking your next waxing treatment. Be careful if you:• are a smoker - anything that affects the circulatory system in any way will be more prone to fragile capillaries within the waxed area, . . . smoking, stress, etc.
• recently drank coffee or alcohol as they both stimulate the circulation and more prone to fragile capillaries and bruising.
• are pregnant - hormones have different influences on your skin and may react differently during pregnancy. You may also be more prone to uneven pigmentation on areas that are irritated from waxing.
• have diabetes - depending on the stage of diabetes, it is known that diabetics heal slower and are more prone to infection, and therefore, waxing is not a good idea. Often during waxing there may be bleeding from the hair follicle that would contribute to increasing the likelihood of infection.
• take blood thinners - those on blood thinners bleed easier and have a more difficult time healing. Waxing will cause fragile capillaries making it more suceptible to bruising.
• use strong exfoliators on your skin (salicylic acid, AHA) - if used before waxing the skin will be inflammed and irritated, and depending on the type of exfoliation, the skin's natural barrier against bacteria will have been removed. It takes about 72 hours for the acid mantle to replace itself after being stripped. If the barrier is not there the likelihood of breakouts and inflammation is high. Did you know waxing provides an exfoliation process?
