If You Absolutely Must Give Yourself A Wax At Home, Try This.
First and foremost, thank you for staying home to help flatten the curve. We are living in unprecedented times with the weight of the pandemic weighing heavily on every person in the world. Despite this momentous occurrence, life is still happening. Nails are lifting, wigs are shifting and hair is growing everywhere.
How you choose to groom or not to groom during self-isolation is between you and Jesus. But we know that many women relish in keeping a body free of unwanted hair, so it's our job to help you get it done. We checked in with wax guru and owner of Pretty Girls Get Waxed, Kejuana Curry, for some tips and tricks for grooming at home since all salons have closed due to COVID-19.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Kei The Wax Guru✨ (@kei_thewaxguru) on Sep 14, 2019 at 7:44pm PDT
Kejuana founded Pretty Girls Get Waxed when she felt there wasn't a trendy, professional and fun, full body waxing center in Memphis, TN. "We provide quality hair removal without the pain and hassle, featuring our very own Signature Hard Wax created by our founder. Our wax centers employee the best licensed professionals to not only deliver superb service but to educate our clients on proper skincare."
With that in mind, please be careful and safe because we ain't got time for burns, scars or injuries. The wax guru is sharing some hot tips ahead!
To Wax, Shave or Use Depillatory Cream - That Is The Question
Pretty Girls Get Waxed
"If you have the guts to wax yourself and you're in need of a wax warmer, you can use a crock pot to heat your wax. If you don't have a crock pot, you can also use an essential oil plug in. (Recommended: Pretty Girls Get Waxed's Signature Hard Wax, for professional and non-professional use)
"If you want to shave, I highly recommend that you don't. Shaving is the worst way to remove hair from your body. Shaving can easily cause irritation, ingrown hairs, discoloration, and changes the texture of your hair to a more coarser state. Regrowth happens quickly, and because hair is cut off at the surface, regrown hair is blunt, not tapered, so hair will be thicker. Before you shave, I highly suggest you 'trim' with scissors ONLY!
"If you just have to use a depilatory cream (which I do not recommend) you'll be much better off stoping by Target and purchasing some hair removal wax strips like Flamingo Wax Strips. Again, this form of hair removal is much better than any other. Depilatory creams are heavily compacted with chemicals that can irritate the skin and burn the skin as well. Because they don't completely removal the hair from the root, you run the risk of ingrown hairs as well. Over time, the creams seep into your pores and cause inflammation and boils.
"'Quarantine Clean' isn't so bad if you know what to do. As an esthetician, I would never recommend anyone to use shaving or depilatory creams. They simply are not good for the health of your skin."
How To Wax At-Home
"If you're bold enough to wax yourself, there's a great easy-to-use hard wax on the market that is beginner-friendly. You can purchase a 2lb bag of wax and all the supplies you need to complete the task at prettygirlsgetwaxed.com. Waxing is going to be the healthiest form of hair removal. It removes the hair from the root so it grows back much slower. Because it is being pulled from the root, it thins the hair so when it does grow back in, it's finer and thinner.
"DIY waxing can be easy and very beneficial! Some great exfoliants are sugar, salt, coffee and baking soda. Mix it with your cleanser or water and apply the paste to your skin, rub it in and then rinse!"
Self-Grooming Hacks
Pretty Girls Get Waxed
"The most important thing to keep in mind when grooming yourself is yourself. Always do as much or as little as YOU feel comfortable with. Some people prefer having hair on them and that's OK. Groom yourself to your liking."
Brows
"One tip for grooming your brows is to brush the hairs up instead of brushing them horizontally. You get a better shape when you brush upward."
Bikini Line
"One tip for grooming your bikini line is more, more, more. Less is NOT more! More is best. Put on your underwear and gather them at the top, then remove all the hair that you can see. You always want to take off more just in case some [hair] tries to peak through!"
Legs
"One tip for grooming your legs is always do it! Silky smooth legs are always in! Wax your entire legs consistently and watch less and less hair grow each time!"
For more tips from Kei The Wax Guru, follow her on Instagram.
Featured image via @kei_thewaxguru/Instagram
Joce Blake is a womanist who loves fashion, Beyonce and Hot Cheetos. The sophistiratchet enthusiast is based in Brooklyn, NY but has southern belle roots as she was born and raised in Memphis, TN. Keep up with her on Instagram @joce_blake and on Twitter @SaraJessicaBee.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Stress Awareness Month: Sneaky Workplace Triggers Affecting Black Women, And How To Cope
We all know about the major stress triggers of everyday life, from relationship woes to monthly bills to unexpected emergencies, but there are small, subtle triggers that impact Black women in a big way, especially when it comes to work. It’s good to be aware of these sneaky stressors in order to maximize your day and find ways to incorporate solutions into your self-care routines.
Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
valentinrussanov/Getty Images
How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Charday Penn/Getty Images