Full Leg Wax $60

After weeks of growing out the hair on my legs (ewww, i know...tmi) i finally went in for my leg waxing appointment. it's not uncommon for me to not shave my thighs, but to not shave the bottom half of my legs, for 4 weeks, is unheard of. even if i am not going to be in shorts, i just feel prettier when my legs are smooth. for this reason, having my legs waxed seemed like a good fit for me. the hair on my legs is blond, so even though you couldn't really see it, i felt like a monster, and missed wearing my skirts.
the first thing Kael did before waxing was wipe my legs down with an antiseptic (at least that's what i think it was), then she powdered my legs. she said that helped her see the hair better. she had this handy tool that looked like a deodorant stick, and she rolled the warm wax on my leg, the same way you would apply deodorant, a section at a time. the process was quick; roll, roll, roll...cover the waxed area with a strip of thin cloth, press it against my leg then RIIIIIP! OUCH!
now, i have a high pain tolerance, i know that. and even with that knowledge, i thought i'd take some sort of pain killer; ibuprofen, aceteminophen, one or the other...but i couldn't remember which one you take for pain, so i didn't take any. i figured it couldn't be all that bad anyhow, a quick rip of the strip and it would be done. right? well, it hurt. especially on the shin area and around my ankle area. not a lot of meat there! once she pulled the strip off, she would go back over the area, getting the hairs that didn't pull out. she started with the shin of my left leg, then moved to the right leg. it was stinging a lot, but i was trying to be strong. i sat up to video tape the right leg and we both noticed that the leg she just finished was welting up. all the pores were red and raised like little blisters. i know that redheads and fair skinned people have more sensitive skin, so i mentioned that to her. she said she had waxed people with fair skin/red hair before, but had never seen this kind of reaction. just to be on the safe side, Kael had Megan come in take a look. Megan explained that the bulb on the bottom of the hair is larger on redheads, and when you pull the hair out of the follicle, it really irritates the follicles. hence the swollen looking little blisters. my follicles were just really upset. Kael finished the front/top/bottom of my legs, then put several ointments that had calming properties on my legs. then i flipped over onto my tummy so she could wax the back side of my legs. the back side was not painful at all and it went quickly. Kael explained that there might be some wax residue still on my legs, but that it would come off in the shower. she also gave me some calming ointment to take home and put on my legs after the shower for the next couple days. it was also to help prevent ingrown hair, which is a common result of having legs waxed.
My results: the swelling in my legs was gone within two hours, and there was no stinging left either. there is still quite a bit of hair on my legs, but when i spoke to one of the girls at the salon about it, she explained that hair grows in cycles, and that in order to get all the hair, and all the cycles waxed, you really need to have it done several times. a little dissapointing to me because it was just painful enough that i don't believe i will ever go have it done again, and i was pretty excited about not having to shave for a couple weeks. but with so much hair still there, i really do need to shave in order to wear skirts.
shaving may be a time consuming pain, but it's painless, and for that reason i will continue shave my legs, use Nair once in a while and just live with it.