How to wax in the heat, when it's cold. You KNOW!
My friend and mentor, Lori Crete, of the Beauty Biz Club fame, recently sent me a 911 voice text. She was doing some waxing and it was very cold in her treatment room and things were not working as they should. She said, "you need to do a blog on this". And so, here we are. LOL
More than anything, I want y'all to be, and feel successful in any waxing situation.
It's no coinkydink that when the sun comes out, the hair comes off, and we are in the thick of it as we welcome in the summer!
Hair removal is a snap when all of the elements are aligned, but, what happens when they aren't?
When the weather heats up, the first thing we do is crank up the AC to cool things down.
Wax and temperature fluctuations don't really go well together. Wax and I are very much alike in this way. We are delicate little flowers when it comes to temperature changes.
My husband, Wes, says that I have a two degree comfort zone. One degree either way and I'm either boiling or freezing. It's true. I'm a girl that loves a blankie, but I can throw it off in a heartbeat.
In general, the perfect room temp when waxing is between 68-72 degrees (f).
Just because your wax warmer is set to a specific temp, does not mean it's going to keep that on a consistent basis. It often varies depending on the temperature and climate in the room, and on the quality of your ventilation system.
I'm sharing a few of the most common temperature snafus that can wreak havoc on a waxing service and what you can do to get out of an otherwise sticky situation.
Let's say you have the AC cranked to 64 degrees because it's 100+ outside. That cool air will have an effect on the temperature of the wax in your warmer, especially if said warmer is sitting directly under the AC vent.
When the wax is cold, application will be difficult. Instead of gliding on the skin, It will tend to just roll off the skin, or skip along without really depositing. Wax needs to be warm and melted to the correct consistency to do its job effectively. Even if it's a "low temperature" wax, it's still going to be fairly hot when melted.
To compensate for the cooler temp in the room, you'll need to raise your wax heater temperature to allow the wax to keep up and stay the perfect consistency. You may need to play with the temperature a bit to dial in that "sweet spot". All wax warmers have their own vibe, so what works for one may not work for all.
Additionally, when the room is cold it will cause the clients skin to be cold. When the skin is cold and the wax is cold, ain't nothing gonna stick to anything. Both skin and wax need to be warm to create that perfect scenario for a successful hair removal result.
I know what you're thinking, "It's hot outside, why would my clients skin be cold"? Yes that is true, however, your client has been running the AC in their vehicle, then they come in your room and it's cold, so it's cold on cold.
What to do? When a clients skin is cold, before applying the wax, you'll want to warm their skin and increase circulation. You may do this in one of two ways,
1. Apply a warm DRY towel to the area for a minute or so to warm
2. Use your gloved hands to warm the skin, by rubbing the area
It's worth noting that, because of the heat, your client may also arrive sticky and sweaty. That's a whole other can of worms. Wax won't stick to this situation either. You'll need to blot them off and apply dusting powder to absorb the excess moisture before laying down any wax.
These tips should help you through the worst that the summer can throw at you. If you have any other scenarios that you need help with, fire away, I'm happy to help.
Get waxing with confidence!