Sugaring, sugar waxing, or Persian waxing is a method of

hair removal Hair removal, also known as epilation or depilation, is the deliberate removal of body hair or head hair. Hair typically grows all over the human body and can vary in thickness and length across human populations. Hair can become more visible ...

that has been in use since 1900 BC. Historically,

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

was confined to the regions surrounding Persia until the first millennium AD. As a result, it is speculated that honey was the first sugaring agent. Sugaring was also known as ''sukkar'' or ''ḥalawa'' in the Middle East, as ''ağda'' in Turkey, and as ''moum'' in Iran. Sugaring is often compared to standard waxing. During the process, a sugaring substrate sticks to and essentially removes hair without attaching to the skin, making it far less painful than waxing. The substrate can be applied at room temperature or heated to a lukewarm temperature, minimizing the risk of burns. For this reason, sugaring is generally preferred over waxing when it comes to removing hair from larger areas of skin. If someone has sensitive skin, sugaring can nevertheless result in skin irritation and reaction. However, this can sometimes be prevented by taking an antihistamine. Sugar itself is otherwise hypoallergenic. There are some distinct differences between home and professional-use sugar paste. The majority of store-bought products contain wax, while homemade pastes often utilize sugar and other natural ingredients.

Sugaring paste

Sugaring paste can be prepared with common household food items such as

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

lemon juice The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culina ...

cornstarch Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or soups, ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

. Lemon juice is added for its acidity, which breaks up the sucrose into fructose and glucose. As in

candy making Candy making or candymaking is the preparation and cookery of candies and sugar confections. Candy making includes the preparation of many various candies, such as hard candies, jelly beans, gumdrops, taffy, liquorice, cotton candy, chocolate ...

, this gives the finished sugaring wax a non-crystalline, or

amorphous In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid, glassy solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is characteristic of a crystal. Etymology The term comes from the Greek ''a'' ("wi ...

, structure. Getting the correct consistency takes practice for most users. Pre-made sugar paste is also sold. This includes professional and retail versions, which may contain

guar gum Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans that has thickening and stabilizing properties useful in food, feed, and industrial applications. The guar seeds are mechanically dehusked, hydrated, mil ...

for texture or essential oils to condition skin. Since sugaring paste is water-based and water-soluble, the substance can be easily cleaned up with warm water. Sugaring is sometimes preferable to waxing because it has no resins, except for

guar The guar or cluster bean, with the botanical name ''Cyamopsis tetragonoloba'', is an annual legume and the source of guar gum. It is also known as gavar, gawar, or guvar bean. The origin of ''Cyamopsis tetragonoloba'' is unknown, since it has ...

Process

With the strip method, known as sugar waxing, the area to be epilated is typically dusted with powder (commercial or corn starch) prior to application of the sugaring solution, which is spread on with a

spatula A spatula is a broad, flat, flexible blade used to mix, spread and lift material including foods, drugs, plaster and paints. In medical applications, "spatula" may also be used synonymously with tongue depressor. The word ''spatula'' derives f ...

tongue depressor A tongue depressor (sometimes called spatula) is a tool used in medical practice to depress the tongue to allow for examination of the mouth and throat. The most common modern tongue depressors are flat, thin, wooden blades, smoothed and rounded ...

. After the sticky paste is applied to the skin in the same direction of hair growth, a strip of porous cloth or paper is pressed into the preparation and quickly removed, with the strip taking hairs along with it. In contrast to traditional waxing, any sugaring paste residue left can be washed off with water. The process can be repeated after 8–10 days of hair growth, unlike the 3–4 weeks worth of hair growth traditional waxing requires. Traditional sugaring is done with only a ball of sugar paste and no strips are needed. This method includes applying the paste to the area against the direction of hair growth and removing the sugar paste in the direction of hair growth. This produces less pressure on the hair shaft, leading to less breakage, and resulting in smoother skin than traditional wax or sugar waxing.

References

External links

* wikibooks:Body Hair Removal/Equipment#Sugar *{{cite web , url=http://hairremoval.about.com/od/sugarwaxing/ss/sugar-hair-removal-recipe.htm , title=Sugaring Hair Removal Recipe , work=About.com Hair Removal , accessdate=29 July 2012 Hair removal