Sugar Sugar, smooth legs.....

I always joke about becoming a hippy, but I am still vain enough to want beauty products! My husband appreciates when I stay up on the beauty regimen as well...

I was attempting to find somewhere closer to my house to buy sugar wax. I prefer it to regular wax, it is a little bit more gentle and water washable. The water soluble part is huge! No worries if it gets in the wrong spot, just rinse it away.

In doing so I discovered a recipe to make my own! Yay!
The wax is not expensive to begin with, but if I can spend less then 1$ (and save myself a trip to the store) for something that I would normally spend around 10$ on, and make it with natural ingredients, yes mam I will!

All you need to start is:
2 cups of sugar ( I used refined sugar, but a less refined sugar should work well too!)
1/4  cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice

And a heavy bottomed pot to boil it in.
 Mix them together and bring to a simmer stirring occasionally. Let simmer 20 or so minutes. The color change will be how you judge done-ness.

Getting close, but not there yet...

This is the color you are looking for! Be careful! This is molten sugar at the moment, it will burn you if you get it on you.

Give it a few minutes to cool and pour into microwavable plastic containers. I used my empty store bought wax jar, and a food storage container.

These will be hot for a while as well, so again, be careful.

To use: 

(No pics for this part, eew)

You will need a Popsicle stick, or anything that will spread a very thin layer. 

Cut cotton or linen strips (a old sheet works well for this)

Microwave the container for 25 seconds. Stir, if is malleable enough to spread with out burning use it. If not microwave for 5 second intervals until you reach that point. 

Spread a thin layer with the grain of your hair. Immediately apply cloth strip, rub three times in the same direction, and then pull from the bottom against the grain. 

Keep a cool damp wash cloth to apply to area after waxing to reduce irritation. Also, holding down you skin at the base where you are pulling helps too. 

I have read that applying cornstarch to the skin prior to waxing also reduced irritation, but I have never tried it. The pain has never much bothered me. 

If the wax mixture is too hard to use, microwave it  until it is very soft, add a tablespoon of water and stir in. Allow to cool completely and use as directed above.

***Heads up, it took me a bit longer to get the hang of doing this then with the commercial version (which makes me wonder what kind of stuff they put in it? Eek...) so just mess around until you get it right!