You'll need: 200g of sugar, a heaped tablespoon of honey (not the runny kind), approximately 75ml of lemon juice, cornstarch (for dusting your skin) and strips of cotton fabric.
Place sugar, honey and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a rapid simmer. Stir it all the time until it is a medium caramel colour. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then transfer into a container and allow to cool further. You will notice it thickens as it cools.
If the cooled sugar mixture seems too thick to spread on your skin, you can reheat it a little, but...
be careful as it can get incredibly hot and we don't want anyone scalding themselves here!
The idea is to have smooth legs for summer, the blistered look is not so cool! Anyways you want it to be runny enough to be able to spread thinly - you could also reheat it completely and add in a bit of water or more lemon juice and then allow to cool again. Experiment.
I am gonna hazard a guess that you probably won't want to see my pasty and hairy legs, so no pics of the next steps I'm afraid! If you've waxed your legs before this procedure will be familiar: Dust your skin lightly with cornstarch. Then, using a spatula, spread a thin layer of sugaring onto your skin in the direction of hair growth. Take a fabric strip (I used an old bedsheet and cut strips approx 10 x 30 cm) and smooth it down well on top of the sugaring - also in the direction of hair growth. Take a deep breath, brace yourself, and rip the strip off against the hair growth in one quick move. Repeat until no hairs remain.
Because this is just sugar and lemon juice, the remains wash easily off the skin (handy if you find you want to chicken out after the first strip) and you can soak the used fabric strips in hot water for a while until the goop has dissolved, then rinse, dry and use again.
I also wax my eyebrows rather than plucking - much quicker! Just use a smaller spatula for accuracy, and smaller fabric strips. Unless you're a sucker for pain, I won't recommend attempting to do your bikini line or armpits (don't ask me how I know!) - I think that's a job best left for the professionals!
The sugaring can be stored for aaaaages in an airtight container.
I am gonna hazard a guess that you probably won't want to see my pasty and hairy legs, so no pics of the next steps I'm afraid! If you've waxed your legs before this procedure will be familiar: Dust your skin lightly with cornstarch. Then, using a spatula, spread a thin layer of sugaring onto your skin in the direction of hair growth. Take a fabric strip (I used an old bedsheet and cut strips approx 10 x 30 cm) and smooth it down well on top of the sugaring - also in the direction of hair growth. Take a deep breath, brace yourself, and rip the strip off against the hair growth in one quick move. Repeat until no hairs remain.
Because this is just sugar and lemon juice, the remains wash easily off the skin (handy if you find you want to chicken out after the first strip) and you can soak the used fabric strips in hot water for a while until the goop has dissolved, then rinse, dry and use again.
I also wax my eyebrows rather than plucking - much quicker! Just use a smaller spatula for accuracy, and smaller fabric strips. Unless you're a sucker for pain, I won't recommend attempting to do your bikini line or armpits (don't ask me how I know!) - I think that's a job best left for the professionals!
The sugaring can be stored for aaaaages in an airtight container.
Great, I`ll make my own after the exam is over.
ReplyDeleteNext, do you have a recipe for tan coloring , safe for skin?? I'd like to look a little healthy.
ReplyDeleteI will look it up...but, the grams = ? cups-wise in the U.S. recipe????
you are stinking kidding me. how do you come up with the most useful ideas. oh wow...i must give this a try.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Corrie
My question is do you refrigerate the leftovers or are they good at room temperature?
ReplyDeleteActually, it's best not to refrigerate the leftovers, keep them at room temp :) It's more likely to crystallize in the fridge!
ReplyDeleteThis is so so genius. I will most definitely be using this!!
ReplyDeleteNo way! This is awesome. I'm totally going to try this and I'll be linking in my next Bath and Beauty Roundup. Way cool!
ReplyDeleteI tried a conversion chart...I think the US recipe would be:
ReplyDelete1 cup sugar
1 heaping tablespoon of honey
1/3 cup lemon juice
Corrie
I googled 75ml and it said its 5 tablespoons.
DeleteThanks for taking the trouble to do the conversion Corrie! :)
ReplyDeleteYet another bit of great wisdom from you :o)
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know I used your camera strap tutorial and it was great. So easy to understand and great results. I've posted a pic on my blog.
thanks corrie
ReplyDeleteMy husbands family is arabic and my sister in law introduce me to this and I love it....is the best
ReplyDeleteIt is happy to see your posting. Yes really informative article. I will tell this information again to my friend, oh yes I suggest you to check my blog on www.top-hairremoval.blogspot.com , I hope the article on my blog will be usefull for you… and we can share each other. thank you… ;-)
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. Your photos are beautiful too! Not sure if I will try sugaring again since I prefer quick hot waxing, but it's still an informative post! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! THANK YOU!!! a couple of years ago I went to Paris to visit my aunt. One day we went to an arabic beauty salon and get our legs waxed with this thing!! Later, we tryied to make it at home, but we failed! Thank you so much for sharing this. I´ll have to try!
ReplyDeleteI've tried this and I LOVE it! Thank you for the awesome tip!!
ReplyDeleteWow, you're so clever! I wondered how to make this! I'll have to give it a try!
ReplyDeletePerfect. I will try this out. Thanks so much for this. I have never seen a more detailed sugar wax recipe. The awesome feedbacks tell me that this really works.
ReplyDeleteis it still okay without lemon?
ReplyDeletethank you thank you so muchh!!!
ReplyDeleteim so gonna try this wheni have time!!
its the clearest recipe ive read so far! its great! and i have used a lot of exclamation marks! wow!
It's really very good method and more useful to us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed recipe. Are you supposed to use it while its warm? How do you prefer to reheat it after you've stored it in a jar?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Such an interesting hair hair removal. A home made one? Gotta try it...
ReplyDeleteNice idea. I also had my Permanent Hair Removal And it so awesome. It gives me a good result. Try it too. And see how it well help you.
ReplyDeleteI tried it but it didn't work... don't know what I did wrong!!
ReplyDeletehow to reheat the mixture? i try a double boiler but i failed.it gets even thicker...?
ReplyDeleteHow, how did you even come up with this brilliant idea? I'd love to show this to my friend who's so into laser hair removal. West Palm Beach is where her personal choice of clinic is located. She could use this homemade wax too, if she's in Canada.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I'd go see my dermatologist. West Palm Beach sure has lots of certified ones.
I tried and failed miserably ):
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether it was because the wax was too runny or I dusted too much cornstarch on my leg.
I'm thinking of doing another attempt since the sugaring wax seems less runny now but it's in the refrigerator and it's cold. So I'm wondering if I can wax while it's cold?
And does it matter with the "direction of hair growth?" Help please!!
VERY painful but worked! THanks!!!
ReplyDeletehi what do i do if it is too thin?
ReplyDeleteis there an alternative to honey? i dont have any honey, so is there anything else i can use?
ReplyDeleteHm, that's certainly a useful little thing! The honey makes it sweet, and it's a nice and natural product as well. All in all, it seems like a nice DIY wax!
ReplyDeleteI disagree about the armpits... Today was the first day I tried it and it is amazingly simple and no less painful than the legs or top of feet. AND the best part... costs me virtually nothing to be hair free. For the arm pits, I started to apply the was at the base of my armpit and moved up towards my shoulder area. I applied the strip and rubbed upwards to ensure it covered all the hair. Then I ripped downward making sure I kept my 'ripping hand' close to my armpit so as to not pull the hairs outward but downward against their growth. Super easy! Best of luck to everyone.
ReplyDeleteYou should shave the area to be treated 1-3 days before treatment (some clinics will offer to do this for you).
ReplyDeleteThis is so awesome! I just tried it today, and I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for the recipe!
ReplyDeletei dont use any animal products or by-products.
ReplyDeletealternative to honey?
I was so excited when I found this. I love sugaring, but it is so expensive. Tried this, and it doesn't work. And, part of sugaring is not having to use wax strips. No pain, but this even with it not working was painful. Maybe I did it wrong...but good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.. also found it did not work.. it was exceptionally sore though. I actually have bruises on my leg on the patch that i tried
DeleteHow long does one wax job last for? I hate shaving!
ReplyDeleteAnd do I need to hold the skin taut for when I go to do my knees? Or is that a bad idea?
When I found out about sugaring I immediately tried it and make a sugar mixture based on the ingredients given. I followed your instructions then applied the sugar mixture on my legs, I am surprised that sugaring was less painful than waxing and much better than shaving. Thank you so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, its an Arabic tradition except for the touch of honey, very nice!
ReplyDeleteLaser hair removal is one of the effective ways in removing unwanted hair from the body. You can now be quiet selective in choosing the best technology that fits your need. More easy, less expensive and very safe method in removing unwanted hairs. For the details visit great website and see the results.
ReplyDeleteCan I use the baking sheet instead of cotton sheets?
ReplyDelete