Sally Hansen sugar wax and Hug Flight wax heater review

I'm not one for regular trips to salons or beauty parlours to get waxed as I prefer to do things myself. Partly because the cost of a full leg wax is pricey and it's cheaper to DIY. Almost every year a new wax strip or method is released and I try them all. The latest one that I tried was the Veet hot wax roller. Although it leaves your legs smooth, (and hair growth is the best by far taking up to 3 weeks for re-growth) I don't like the way you apply the wax. Unless I'm doing it wrong I wait until the wax is sticky and melted and drag it along my legs. This is where my problem lies, the wax doesn't glide on the legs and instead sticks and drags the skin. As well as this, I found it an absolute pain to remove the wax as baby oil just doesn't seem to lift it.

So I decided to try Sally Hansen's sugar wax from the Cosmetics Fairy website instead. Reduced to 99p from £2.99 for a small tub of 190g, I wasn't too disheartened if it didn't work. Somewhat stupidly on my behalf, I didn't realise straight away that it was hot wax that needs to be melted before application. Although it works cold and takes off the hair, I realised the next day that my legs were bruised on the areas I used the wax cold. (Please don't use it cold it's supposed to be melted for a reason). I was too impatient to wait for it to melt at first which was a really stupid thing to do.

Having researched and purchased the cheapest wax heater I could find on Amazon, (retailing at £10), the Hug Flight wax heater had some positive reviews. It specifies that it's for professional use only but it works just as well for private use. It's quite a cheap looking machine but it does the job well. The pot is made from plastic with two aluminium pots inside. One can be removed which you fill about 1/4 of the way with water (depending on the size of the pot of wax, you can fill it with more water if you need to). Plug it into the socket, place the open pot in the aluminium bucket and crank the dial to maximum. It takes up to 45 minutes for a small pot of wax to fully melt and once it has you change the setting to the mid way point to stop the wax from boiling. I played around with the wax and the heater as the instructions weren't particularly clear for either product so it was all trial and error using this.

When cold, the wax is thick and gloopy but when it's properly melted it's really runny and has the consistency of water. After 45 minutes the wax was fully melted but it goes on tepid at this point. It's best to leave the machine heating the wax on a flat surface for a full hour. The reviews online that I read specified an hour and a half but just keep an eye on it that it doesn't boil. If you place the plastic lid over the machine it helps to melt it quicker. There's three holes in the lid to stop the wax from boiling and instead traps the steam inside.

When buying the sugar wax it comes boxed with a spatula to apply the wax. I'm normally very against spatula's as they can harm the skin but this one was a softer and thicker plastic that looked almost like a flat spoon. I also bought a pack of ten natural wax strips and in total I think I spent £15 which is a lot cheaper than a trip to the beauty parlour. I was disappointed however, I expected similar results to the Veet roll on which takes all of the hair away. When I used the Sally Hansen sugar wax however, there were areas that were still left behind despite waxing several times. It's also a lot easier to get off the skin than the Veet. You're supposed to use baby oil to remove any remaining wax but I found baby wipes were suitable for this particular wax. As the wax is really thick and gloopy you don't need a lot of wax. Otherwise the strips can't pull it off and your left with gloopy pools on your legs.



I love quirky names and the fact that it was called 'Ouch Relief' wax well I had to buy it. It's somewhat ironic though because I've never had bruises this bad before off wax. This literally just means that the skin wasn't taut enough when I was ripping the strips off but because the wax was cold at first, the strips were sticking to my skin and couldn't be pulled off in one fluid motion.

If you're just starting out DIY waxing then using the Sally Hansen wax and the Hug Flight heater are probably better suited for you as they're cheap. Unfortunately, hair growth is fairly quick with stubble growing back within 5 days. This isn't the first time I've waxed (hot or cold) so the experience could have been better. I think next time I might leave it to the professionals, wax bruises are not pleasant and painful.