Shaving is by far the most popular form of hair removal due to the fact that it is cheap and extremely easy to learn. However, it isn’t as cheap as people think! In this blog, we are going to compare the pros and cons of both sugaring and shaving so you can decide which removal method is best for you!
So first let’s take a look at the pros of both!
Shaving:
Quick: One of the benefits of shaving is that it is fairly quick. On average, it takes about 7-10 minutes to shave your entire legs.
Painless: Unlike most hair removal methods, shaving doesn’t hurt. Others removal methods pull hair from the root. With shaving, you just cut it at the surface.
Can be done anywhere: If you need to shave, you can do it pretty much anywhere, with no prior planning.
Cheap? (we’ll get to this in a second!)
Sugaring:
Hair is pulled from the root: Unlike waxing, sugaring pulls the hair out by the root. This is one of the biggest benefits of sugaring. Due to this, the bulb will have to be regrown and you won’t see hair resurfacing for a few weeks.
Only Needs to be Done Once per Month: Again, since the hair is pulled from the root you will be hair-free for a long time!
Exfoliates your skin: Sugar sticks to dead skin cells, but not living! This means that when you get sugared the top layer of dead skin cells is removed. Additionally, the sugar doesn’t stick to the living cells, making sugaring less painful.
Antibacterial: Sugar is naturally antibacterial, meaning microorganisms are unable to grow in the paste.
Gentle on the skin - Sugar does not adhere to living skin cells, that, combined with its all-natural ingredients makes sugaring very gentle on the skin.
Leads to permanent hair reduction: Each time you sugar the hair is removed from the root and collapses the follicle. Every time this is done the follicle gets weaker and weaker, eventually leading the follicle to stop producing hair altogether.
Less time-intensive: Sugaring only needs to be done once a month. Though it may take more time initially, you will save time when you can take shaving every second day out of your routine.
Less ingrown Hairs: Another benefit of sugaring removing the hair in the direction of growth is that there is less breakage. This leads to a very minimal amount of ingrown hairs, especially when compared to waxing or shaving.
Now for the cons!
Shaving:
Cuts: Of course, using something as sharp as a razor may lead to a few cuts and scratches throughout your shaving career. If you are anything like me, you most likely have a few old scars from when you first learned how to shave.
Razor Burn/Razor Bumps: I have incredibly sensitive skin. Any time I have ever shaved around the bikini area I break out into thousands of tiny little bumps and have a ton of ingrown hairs. If I shave, it will be too painful for me to shave the area again for a few weeks, which of course is a vicious cycle! Sugaring, on the other hand, is an exfoliant and will leave your skin soft and smooth post-epilation!
Smooth Skin Only Lasts for a Few Hours: My hair grows extremely fast. While this is great when I’m trying to grow my hair out, it can be quite annoying when shaving. It would be a typical occurrence for me to shave my legs at night and wake up with prickly legs in the morning. Have you ever gotten goosebumps after shaving? No matter how long ago I shaved, instant stubble!
It’s Not as Cheap as People Think: Though people usually think that waxing is incredibly cheap, it isn’t as cheap as you may think! However, it’s usually tucked in with your grocery bill or other personal hygiene products. You may be spending more than you think you are! Want to know more? Check out this blog to learn the real costs of shaving! So instead of wasting your time and money shaving, why not be beach ready all the time and give sugaring a try!? :)
Sugaring:
Can be Slightly Painful (though less so than typical waxing): Like any other hair removal methods that remove hair from the root, sugar is slightly painful. While it is less painful than waxing, you are still removing your hair straight from the root so it will hurt! One major benefit of sugaring, however, is that the hair is removed in the direction of growth, meaning you are working with your body instead of against it!
You need to let the hair grow back: Unlike with shaving, which you could do every day if you were ambitious enough, hair needs to grow back to ¼ of an inch before removing again. (a ½ inch is required for waxing) However, the longer you continue sugaring the thinner and less noticeable your hair will become.
Hard to find a salon that offers it: With all the benefits that come with sugaring, it is hard to believe that more places don’t offer it! Especially in BC, sugaring is still relatively unheard of, though the trend towards sugaring is always growing and new salons are popping up every day. For the moment, however, it can be hard to find a place that offers sugaring. This is due to the complexity of the technique. Sugaring is harder to learn that waxing, thus why it is not yet as widespread as waxing. As people continue to see the benefits to sugaring however, new sugaring salons continue to pop up throughout BC and the lower mainland. Of course, we are also working hard to educate more sugarist and bring more salons to all of BC!
