Fuzz-free

Our Redcoats try out the latest treatments including a new "pain-free" waxing solution

Treatment 1: Lycon waxing treatment has just been brought to the UK and is set to become 'the' new name in waxing as it is virtually pain free and removes hair as short as 2mm.

A host of celebrities rumoured to be loyal fans, (Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore, Amber Valletta and Julia Roberts to name just a few).

It is available in various different methods, allowing you to find a waxing system that really suits you and your skin.

Lycojet® Wax is the newest member of Lycon’s waxing range and is unique due to its claim to administer pain-free waxing.

Like the precision wax, Lycojet waxing shrink wraps the hair, and removes hair, not skin. This wax is applied super thinly making it perfect for those who need waxing on large areas to remove short, stubborn hair. There are two waxes in the range, Lavender and Desert Rose.

Precision Wax (aka hot wax) is the favoured strip-less style of waxing gentle enough to be re-applied immediately to the same area, thereby offering total precision, without causing irritation or discomfort to the skin.

Choose from a range of waxes especially formulated for your type of skin, for example those with particularly sensitive skin, the Rosette Wax blended with Chamomile and Rose is extra soothing and gentle on even the most delicate areas.

Strip Wax (aka warm or soft wax) Lycon’s famous gentle strip wax contains a few surprises – speedy application, extra strong grip, no skin drag, and no sticky residue.

Lycon Precision Waxing is available at Paul Edmonds, London and salons nationwide. For more info: 0870 787 4944.

Treatment 2, Tracey will try out by using the home-waxing kit called Bliss Poetic Waxing - home waxing kit 

Poetic Wax Kit (£35 from BlissSpa 60 Sloane Avenue, London, SW3 3DD, Harvey Nichols and Harrods - viewers should call 0808 100 4151 for mail order and stockist information)

It can be used on face and body. This low-temperature stripless aromatherapy wax shrink-wraps hair without sticking to the skin.
 
The Poetic Wax Kit is melted down at home in a pan of boiling water and grabs hairs as short as 1mm so there's less waiting between waxing. The wax melts at a low temperature reducing redness post-wax. Waxing weakens the hair root.  
 
Marcia Kilgore, founder of Bliss, cheats guide to home waxing:

1. When is it not advisable to wax? Three days prior to, and the first three days of your menstrual cycle. Your skin is much more sensitive at that time. Never wax when you’re sunburned, over open abrasions, over skin tags or moles, or after a laser or IPL treatment of any kind.

2. How should you prepare your skin before waxing? Best prep for ‘at home’ waxing is exfoliating, which rids the skin of dead skin cells and allow the hair to break through the surface.

Depending on whether you’re using hard or strip wax, you can prep your skin with a light layer of powder (under strip wax) or a light layer of oil (under hard wax).

3. How important is it to do a patch test, and where should you do it? If you’ve been using RoAccutane (over the last 6 months) or Retin A, Avage, Tazorac or Avita (in the last month), your skin might more easily peel off when confronted with even the most gentle wax.  I’d recommend doing a tiny patch test (on the inside of the arm for RoAccutane users, and on an incredibly small area of the face for other medications) before going forward and doing larger patches of wax.

4. What should you look for when buying a waxing product? A low melting point. Soothing ingredients. An easy to understand instruction guide. NOTHING that you can put in the microwave (it won’t heat evenly and therefore can put you at risk for burns).

5. What is the correct hair length to wax? Apparently with Poetic Wax, you need at least 1mm of growth if you want to get a good grip on the hair from the root. However, the longer you can let your hair grow, the more likely you’ll be removing all the hair from all of the roots simultaneously, which will increase the length of time it takes before you start seeing stubble.

6. Does waxing encourage re-growth to be thicker? Not at all. If it did, every balding man would be waxing his head.

7. Is there anything that you can do to slow down the re-growth? Nothing that really makes a massive difference, but using an exfoliating cream (with alpha hydroxy acids or enzymes) helps thin the regrowing hair shaft, so the stubble is less (for lack of a better word) stubbly.

Treatment 3: Braun SoftPerfection Easy Start Bodysystem - this is the top of the range epilator model (RRP £54.99)

Benefits:

1. Hair free for longer – leaves you hair-free and silky-smooth for up to four weeks
2. Extra close – the SoftPerfection's revolutionary soft lift tips lift all hairs and gently guides them into the tweezers, helping remove short, flat or even low lying hairs
3. Quicker – these soft lift tips, along with a new efficiency attachment means more hairs are captured in one stroke, so epilation is now 20% faster than before
4. Legs on show all summer - there’s no need to hide your legs when hair re-growth starts, as unlike waxing, the Braun SoftPerfection system removes hairs as short as 0.5mm
5. Most gentle ever – the gentlest epilator ever from Braun, with new improved tweezer distribution, and unique 4-way massaging rollers to relax and stimulate the skin before and after hair removal to ensure effortless, comfortable hair removal
6. Stay tanned for longer – the Braun SoftPerfection epilator doesn’t remove the upper skin surface, so you can keep your legs tanned and smooth for longer
7. Cost effective – the average woman spends around £165 a year on leg waxes compared with the one-off cost of purchasing an epilator
8. Access all Areas – the model includes a shaver head for shaving and shaping bikini lines and underarms and an Opti Trim attachment which ensures all hairs are the optimum length for gentle epilation.

If you haven't epilated before, it can be quite a strange sensation - best thing is to use the starter head - this one has less tweezers in it, so it takes a bit longer, but is best for getting your legs used to the feeling of epilation.

Use this starter head with one of the attachments - either the massaging attachment (with moving rollers) or the efficiency attachment.  Best to have a go and see which one you prefer.

Epilation is like waxing, in that because it's plucking hairs out from the root, the more you epilate, the finer and fewer your hairs become. So each time you epilate it gets quicker, and the sensation is less.  People tend to shy away from epilation because they think it will be painful, but once they've given it a go, they usually stick with it.

The Braun SoftPerfection epilator range is available from Argos, Boots, John Lewis, Selfridges, Amazon and leading stockists (Stockist tel number: 0800 7837010).

SoftPerfection Classic 3170 RRP £44.99, SoftPerfection Easy Start 3270 RRP £49.99, SoftPerfection Easy Start Body System   3470    RRP £54.99