Sweet Torture Otherwise Known As.... Sugaring

I once had a friend from the Middle East. My first experience with waxing was watching her mother wax herself with a gum-like honey thing in her kitchen. She would lick this solid amber looking brick and then heat it and stretch it gradually over the burner on her stove. When the wax was the right consistency she put it on her thigh and ripped the hair out.

I asked her how I could get one of those little bricks of wax and she gave me one. I felt so cool because I knew she had probably brought it back in her suitcase from Syria. It was like some kind of foreign treasure to me. I was so excited at what I thought was this NEW depilation innovation. I went home and had no clue what to do and was afraid of burning my hand. I threw it in the garbage and that was that.

So fast forward 20 years:

I've been researching home wax or sugaring recipes for hair removal and have found some interesting stuff. Sugaring was invented by the Egyptians and they have a very specific recipe called Halawa (this means SWEET in Egypt) that has been cooked up and used since biblical times.

What would Jesus have waxed?

The ancient "queens of the Nile" such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra used such preparations pre-wedding. Egyptian culture today still says women must wax off all of their body hair and stay waxed if they are wed. We waxers know these things.

I decided to provide a recipe for the Halawa with instructions. Keep in mind that the wax is hot and to make sure it is the right temperature and consistency before making contact with your skin.

This is a very old, very famous Egyptian recipe for wax that is completely natural and extremely effective. It is basically caramel, right before it reaches the crystallizing stage (so it also tastes great). It is relatively simple to make, but take care to observe the caramelizing of the sugar, because the window for the wax to be just right before burning is very small. Do not be frustrated if you burn a batch; even experienced makers do this all the time. The best thing to do is to watch is continuously once the color changes to golden brown. You can eat it or you can use it as Hair Removal.

The recipe:

Ingredients for Halawa Sweet, AKA Sweet, Egyptian Sugar Wax, or Hair Removal

1. Two cups of water
2. Three cups of sugar or three cups of honey
3. Two teaspoons of lemon juice

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil.
2. When its color changes to golden brown, lower the heat and continue to simmer.
3. Keep a careful watch on the color. Once it starts to change to brown, turn off the heat.
4. Allow to cool a little, then pour small quantities onto heavy duty plastic, of the cereal bag type. Plastic that is not heavy duty will melt. It is not a good idea to use a plate, as you will need to peel it off something pliable after it cools.
5. When it becomes cool enough to handle, pull a piece off the plastic and pull and stretch it. This will immediately cause it to change color, from a clear golden brown to an opaque gold. It should be easy to stretch and pull. If it is too hard, you have left it on the heat for too long and must make a new batch. If it is too liquid, it has not been heated enough and must be heated once more, or a new batch made.

It is now ready for use! Don't forget to spread the wax against the direction of hair growth and rip it in the direction the hair grows.

The trick is in knowing when to turn the heat off, and may take a few batches until mastered. One test is to take a drop on a spoon and hold it between your thumb and finger (cool it under water first!). It should stretch between them. If its too liquid to stretch, continue to heat, and if it stretches but is brittle, discard and repeat, reducing the time you leave it on the heat.

An easier, although more expensive, alternative is to use just three cups of honey and a few drops of lemon. Simmer for a few minutes until the color changes then continue from step 4.

So do we eat it or rip out our pubic hair with it? I know I know... the decisions difficult, but we can agree that the bikini wax has less calories.

Please leave your results in the comments section. I would love to hear how this worked out for you. Also I have included a great you tube video that shows it being used so you can understand the technique.

Enjoy!