Allergies to Sugaring?
So we wanted to set the record straight!
Sugar wax is typically made of 2 or 3 ingredients; Sugar, citric acid, and sometimes water. Our Glow Goop is no different.
If you’re allergic to sugar or water you might not be human, but we’re not judging you. And citric acid does not elicit an immune response so you can’t be allergic to that either.
Check the label! If there are any other ingredients in what you believe to be sugaring wax, that could change the whole formula.
So the short answer is no, you can not be allergic to sugaring.
But once in a while we get an email saying ‘I’ve had a reaction to sugaring’. And though we don’t investigate every claim, we do believe them to be true. While it’s impossible to have a reaction to the product itself, some customers may have a reaction to hair removal. Specifically to removing hair from the follicle.
There are two causes for a potential reaction after hair removal, if you have ever experienced redness, irritation, hives or breakouts after removing hair from the follicle, one of these two are the cause:
1. Histamine reaction:
Histamine is a compound that is found in your cells and it is responsible for causing inflammation, redness and other allergy symptoms like and itchiness. Pollen and environmental pollutants are the common culprits of most histamine reactions, but foods, fragrances and other compounds that elicit an immune response can cause a histamine reaction.
Though it’s rare, 1-5% of people can experience a reaction to a physical change to the body’s protective system. In this case the change is hair being removed from the follicle, which triggers the skin, our largest protective organ, to display an immune response.
Waxing and sugar waxing for the first time shocks the skin and triggers a histamine reaction. This is basically your body trying to protect itself and fight against threat, in this case waxing.
It is common to see redness and minor irritation when sugaring or waxing, because you’re stimulating the skin, but a histamine reaction will produce hives and blotchy red spots. A histamine reaction can last as little as 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Cooling the skin with ice, cold water or cucumbers can help to restore calm. If you know you’re going to have this reaction you can also take an antihistamine before the hair removal process.
2. Breakouts
A more common reaction to hair removal is to break out after a hair removal session. This is sometimes referred to as folliculitis. It is when your hair follicle becomes inflamed and becomes more susceptible to infection, if the infection persists it typically resembles acne.
When you remove hair from the follicle, your pores are open and vulnerable to environmental toxins as well as dirt and oil that is on your skin. This period of vulnerability during which the pores stay open is typically 24 - 48 hours. This is why we recommend starting your sugaring session with a Clean Slate.
Our Clean Slate was made just for this purpose. It is a micellar cleansing water that will clean your skin without changing its pH. This gets rid of any dirt and oil on your skin so it can’t make its way into your freshly sugared pores.
It is also important to remember to not apply any oil-based products to your skin after sugaring, this can also clog your pores and cause breakouts.
Our Silk Slip is an oil-free moisturizer and serum made with hyaluronic acid, this will feed your skin all the nutrients it needs and create a protective barrier to keep nasties out of your pores.
On a slightly different note, it’s important to point out that those with a diabetic condition are able to sugar as well. Unless you’re eating the sugar wax you will not experience an insulin response.
How to avoid:
Histamine reactions are not necessarily preventable, but as you continue to sugar your body will get used to the hair removal process and the reaction can become less severe.
To avoid breakouts, we just recommend making sure your skin is clean before you remove hair and that you nourish your skin afterwards with the right products.