Whether you are plucking your hair or waxing your hair, the pull of the hair from the roots is always painful, and there is very little difference between these two methods; although, some people say that plucking is less painful because you are taking only one hair at a time, and waxing is more painful because you are ...
*Waxing is performed in one swift motion, making the process far quicker than tweezing. *Slower means a likelier more painful process. *Waxing can eliminate even those fine, baby hairs to create a smooth finish. Tweezing can grab a hold of thicker hairs but isn't always as successful as getting those delicate ones.
MYTH: Waxing will hurt, A LOT
The truth is that everyone's pain threshold is different, so what might be too much for some is barely noticeable for others. “It's like pulling off a plaster,” explains Danni, Senior Beauty Therapist at Regis Birmingham. “If done quickly and efficiently, it's not that painful.
Then there's the fact that waxing and threading last longer than plucking. With plucking you are likely to need your tweezers again after just 2 weeks. Why does threading and waxing last longer than plucking? It's because they remove the root along with the hair.
If you have sensitive skin, it's best to avoid waxing, tweezing, depilatories, and even laser removal or electrolysis, which may be too harsh and cause long-term damage. Trimming or carefully shaving are the best options.
Pros: Tweezing is useful for shaping eyebrows and removing stray hairs on the face and body. Cons: Besides being a slow and painful option, tweezing can break the hair instead of pulling it out, which can cause thicker regrowth. Also, there's a risk of infection if the tweezers are not properly sterilized.
However, repeated ripping of the hair from its follicle via waxing or plucking (which is essentially the same thing, when you think about it) will make hair grow back thicker, darker and coarser… and frequently, more plentiful and faster to re-grow.
Regeneration of hairs after plucking is a population-based behavior that depends on the density and distribution of the plucked follicles. Plucking hairs from high density areas (middle and far right) led to significant hair regeneration 12 days later. Lower density plucking failed to induce follicle regeneration.
“While there may be some degree of inflammation in the hair follicle from tweezing, generally tweezing is not considered a form of permanent hair removal and a new hair will be produced,” he says.
Shaving is not the only way ingrown hairs occur. Waxing and plucking hairs out also commonly cause ingrown hairs. Plucked hair grows back through the follicle. As such, it may not make it all the way to the surface of the skin before turning and clogging the follicle.
Take an aspirin or ibuprofen about 30 – 45 minutes before your wax. This is especially helpful when getting waxed above the lip, chest, bikini and genital areas- which top the list as the most pain-provoking areas.
The bottom line
Hard wax is gentler on your skin. It's better suited for sensitive areas, and is less painful to remove. Soft wax is better suited for large areas, like your legs or back. If you're new to waxing, you may want to start off with a waxing session from a licensed esthetician or dermatologist.
Some feel slight pain, some feel none. But the pain will never be completely unbearable and the discomfort is it's worth it and that it gets better with each session. If you're feeling uneasy, just speak with your wax pro before your appointment and she will provide you with a complete education on the process.
DO NOT pluck large areas: Prolonged plucking and repetitive plucking can irritate and damage skin. Use tweezers on small areas of skin, like eyebrows and chin.
If you have some noticeable hairs on your upper lip, chin or around your eyebrows, waxing is probably going to be the most efficient solution for removing several hairs at once, but if you have sensitive skin, or you only have a facial hair or two to remove, tweezing your facial hair is totally acceptable.
The positive being that tweezing gives a more long-lasting effect than shaving with the effect lasting for 4-5 days than the 2-3 days when you shave the underarm. Drawback : However, tweezing can be very painful as it involves plucking of hair and the underarm being a sensitive area, it can cause discomfort.
That gooey stuff could be a combination of oil secretions and dead skin cells that were present around the root of your hair also known as the hair follicle which has a bulb like shape at the end of the hair straid that was under the skin of your scalp and is perfectly normal. That is the pulp of the root.
Also known simply as "plucking," tweezing removes hair from the follicle and usually lasts anywhere from two to six weeks depending on the thickness and rate of your hair growth.
“When done correctly, plucking removes the entire hair from the follicle, keeping it from growing back for up to 6 weeks. If you tweeze with skill in an area such as the eyebrows, it can give you more control than waxing,” Gonzalez says. Here are some tips to tweeze safely.
Pulling out hair by your root may damage your follicle temporarily, but a new bulb will eventually form, and new hair will grow again through that follicle. According to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, it may take a few months or more than a year in some cases.
Compared to threading and shaving, hair will grow back slowly because it is removed from the root. But yes, with plucking, you can also witness thicker hair growing back. This is because post plucking, hair which grows back is outwards hanging and it is quite straight.
In biological terms, hair follicle looks like a tunnel-shaped structure situated in the epidermis (outer layer of the skin) [2]. Hair growth starts at the bottom of the hair follicle. The root of your hair is made up of protein (keratin) [3] and derives its nutrition by blood from the blood vessels on the skin.
Disadvantages of Tweezing:
Tweezing is not painless. Some individuals feel a sting with every hair that is pulled out of its follicle. Tweezing can also cause scarring, pitting, and ingrown hairs. Lastly, like waxing, tweezing requires some hair growth in order to grasp the hair to remove it.
Waxing can be painful depending on who you ask and their pain tolerance. Because the hair is removed at the root, some people say waxing is more painful than shaving. The hot wax can also burn your skin if you're not careful. Waxing can cause inflamed hair follicles, pain, redness, ingrown hairs and skin irritation.