Once it had cooled off, I found I only had a ten minute texture window before the syrup became too stiff. I wound up splitting the difference, using syrup that was slightly hotter than I would've liked but a lot stickier than I expected.

Once I had smeared the sugaring medium on to my skin, I covered it with a strip of muslin and rubbed vigorously for about ten seconds. Here's where I learned a very important thing about sugaring: you have to leave the muslin in place for a really long time. I mean, really long. You may be able to load your dishwasher in the time it takes the syrup to set. Of course, if you're doing your armpits it may not be possible to be so productive. The consequences of yanking the muslin off too early are pretty nasty. The syrup will still be slightly liquid and will stretch your skin without actually removing much. You'll be left with a candied dreadlock of half-pulled hair and will pretty much have to wash everything off and start over again. Also, if you're doing your legs you should plan to take a coffee break sometime in the middle to rinse the muslin strips.

If you can master the temperature and stay patient, the removal part of sugaring is indeed marginally less uncomfortable than waxing. Because the syrup coats each individual hair so thoroughly, I found I didn't have to hit the same area more than once. I also didn't have to tug my skin taut, which was a lot less irritating.
Next page