Eyebrow Envy, Hanford

Waxing, Sugaring, or Threading? Three Roads to Silky Skin

The experts here clear unwanted hair patches via waxing, sugaring, and threading. Use Groupon's comparison of these methods to help decide how you want to go bare.

Waxing: A relatively quick procedure with results that can last up to six weeks, waxing requires a technician to pull the entire hair follicle from its root using a heated, resin-based wax. Some find that after multiple waxes, the follicle ceases to produce hair.

Wax comes in soft and hard varieties. A paper or cloth strip is required to remove soft wax, which sticks both to the hair and the skin around it. Since the wax becomes pliable when cooled, beauticians can cover a large area and then quickly remove the hair all at once. Soft wax is usually more popular when removing hair on the face, arms, legs, chest, or back. Hard wax, on the other hand, cools into a solid form that can be pulled from the skin without a strip. The wax only adheres to the hair, not the skin, which can minimize pain and decrease the appearance of redness or bumps. Hard wax is typically preferred for areas where coarser hair grows, such as the bikini area.

Body sugaring: Long before wax was everyone's favorite food, ancient Egyptians were already stripping unwanted hair from the body by its root using a honey concoction. Similar to the waxing process, modern body sugaring involves cloaking a patch of hair in a sweet, sticky solution––typically made from sugar, lemon juice, and water––and then pulling out the hair using a cotton strip. Aside from the all-natural formula, sugaring differs from waxing in that the solution is lower in temperature, won't strip away live skin cells, and rinses off with water. Most people find sugaring less painful than waxing, and the technique naturally exfoliates the skin. Since it's safe for sensitive skin, sugaring has gained popularity for those removing hair in the bikini zone, above the lip, or on the chest.

Threading: During this centuries-old procedure, long practiced in Asia and the Middle East, a practitioner uses a loop of fine cotton thread to lasso the base of individual hairs, puling them from their roots with a quick tug of the hands. Since the method allows for greater precision than other hair-removal approaches, it is favored for shaping eyebrows and muttonchops and for removing unwanted facial hair. The thread barely touches the skin, making it a gentle alternative to waxing for those with sensitive skin or rosacea.