You have a couple of choices when it comes to waxing in West Kelowna. However, before you decide where you want to go, ask yourself a few questions.
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Is it important that where you wax in West Kelowna is professional, clean and qualified? Of course! But also ask yourself, do you want to be waxed by a different esthetician each time or would you like to have the same person each time who gets to know you and what your needs are? Do you want to be waxed in a comfortable, rather than sterile-feeling environment? Do you want your wax to be affordable? 

Then you need to get waxed at Kelowna Esthetics Studio! This is a home-based studio, so you will be waxed by the same person (me!) every time. It's affordable, at only $30, yet professional, and fast!

​Come see why Kelowna Esthetics Studio is one of the best places for waxing in West Kelowna!

• Rash: Skin pores may get swollen for reasons similar to the ones mentioned above. A rash might also indicate that there is an allergic reaction to the ingredients of the wax that was used. Rashes and allergic reactions usually include itching and/or burning. 
• Red bumps: Unfortunately, there's a chance this will happen even if you go to the best technician and you're not prone to acne. It happens when hair follicles have an inflammatory reaction to hair being pulled out during the waxing procedure, and because open follicles are more susceptible to the presence of bacteria. Hair is attached to living tissue, and this tissue can get inflamed when hair is pulled out. This should not last longer than a few hours or a few days. Don't apply moisturizer if pimples develop in an attempt to make them go away. In fact, you want to avoid the area becoming particularly moist—that's when bacteria spreads the most easily, and it can make your situation worse. If irritation persists for more than three days, it needs medical attention. If your skin feels hot and the red bumps turn into larger pustules with white centers, the inflammatory reaction may have turned into folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicle. This medical condition must be treated by a dermatologist.

Other side effects of waxing

• Burning sensation: This uncomfortable sensation usually means that the skin is overreacting to the procedure. The outer layer of skin is pulled and tugged when hair is ripped out, and the deeper layer of skin contains hair follicles which can also become sensitive when hair is pulled out by the root.
• Allergic reaction: Sometimes, the ingredients of a particular wax may cause an allergic reaction on your skin, which can result in a burning sensation.
• Scaling: The outer layer of skin can start peeling off; this is a sign that it has been damaged. After all, it is dead skin coming off. However, it is important not to peel it off before it comes off on its own. If you do this you are unnecessarily exposing the newly formed layer of skin, which is still tender and fragile, to exterior threats.
• A rise of skin temperature (locally): this can be the normal symptom of skin swelling.
• Ingrown hairs: These painful invaders seem to pop up a lot after every single kind of hair removal. Shaving and waxing are big offenders. Ideally, waxing is supposed to remove the entire hair follicle from the root, but sometimes the hair breaks off instead. This breakage is an ideal breeding ground for hair to pierce the skin, leading to an ingrown hair. Check out this post on how to avoid and treat ingrown hairs. 
• Bruising: Slight bruising can result from the skin being pulled in difficult to reach areas such as those that are waxed during a Brazilian wax.  It should only be minimal, and will disappear on its own in a few days. 
• Bleeding: Sometimes waxing can cause bleeding, but this is completely normal. This has to do with parts of the epidermis being removed along with your hair during the waxing process. You should only see a small amount of blood though.

Every method of hair removal has some potential side-effects and waxing is no exception. Waxing remains popular because it is quick, inexpensive, and provides longer lasting results than shaving or hair removal creams. However, it's important to be fully educated on the potential side-effects of waxing before you book an appointment, and understand that these side-effects could happen to you. In most cases, the chances of anything very negative occurring are low, however, the more common side effects are more likely, so you need to be prepared. 

The Brazilian wax is the most popular wax at Kelowna Esthetics Studio (and at $30 you can understand why!). However, what most people don't realize is that, when they are asking for a Brazilian Wax, what they are actually meaning, is a Hollywood Wax.

Different variations of a "bikini wax"
A regular bikini wax ($20 at Kelowna Esthetics Studio) removes the hair outside what would be considered the underwear line - it can be basic, where the underwear isn't moved at all, or it can be more of a full bikini wax where the underwear is pulled in to reveal more hair, without the need to remove the underwear, or expose any potentially embarrassing areas - some women are simply not comfortable with showing that much to their esthetician which is perfectly OK!

From there, the different bikini waxes basically start removing more hair. Traditionally, the Brazilian Wax keeps a small area of hair, often called a "landing strip" (but can also be a triangle, square, oval shape etc).

The Hollywood Wax is the full works, completely bare, nothing left! Sometimes, the Hollywood wax is referred to as a "full Brazilian". At Kelowna Esthetics Studio, we just keep it simple and refer to it as a Brazilian Wax!

I’ve been waxing for a while now, and have seen lots of ingrown hairs – when a hair grows back into the skin rather than out of the surface. Unfortunately, it’s a common waxing side effect, and can also happen after tweezing or shaving too. Not everyone gets ingrown hairs, but anyone can, and some have a higher tendency toward getting them – those with thick, coarser, and curly hair are particularly susceptible to ingrown hairs.

This isn't the news most ladies have been wanting to hear - after all, the waxing, shaving and tweezing we do down there is to make it look, and feel, nice. Smooth, and comfortable. But an ingrown hair does exactly the opposite! The ugly, red, painful bumps are not exactly what we signed up for when we wanted to go bare!

​What Exactly IS an Ingrown Hair?
An ingrown hair presents itself as a small round bump – sometimes painful, sometimes itchy, and sometimes it can become infected – this is because the body is responding to the hair as if it were an unknown object. Don’t squeeze the bumps as it could cause an infection or you could end up pushing the hair deeper into the skin.

Why Does Waxing Make Ingrown Hairs Worse?
The hair follicle has a bulb that it grows from. When you are waxed, this bulb is often visible in the wax strip once the hair has been removed. On the one hand, it's good, it means the hair has come out right at the follicle and hasn't broken. However, on the other hand, the rapid pulling of the wax can disrupt the lining of the follicle, it's this lining that guides hair, when it regrows, up to the surface of the skin and out a hole that allows the hair to actually exit the body. Waxing over long periods will slow hair growth, which means less waxing, and in turn, fewer new ingrown hairs. 

Another cause of ingrown hairs can be dead skin cells blocking a pore that has a hair follicle trying to grow out of it. Since the pore is covered, the follicle cannot escape, and instead grows underneath.

How to Treat an Ingrown Hair?
Usually ingrown hairs will go away by themselves, but if you’ve noticed one for a while, and it doesn’t seem to be going away, you might need to take action.

Here are 5 tips to treat an ingrown hair:

1.  Remove dead skin cells   - one of the leading causes of ingrown hairs. Dead skin cells can clog follicles or trap hairs below the surface of the skin, and cause ingrown hairs. Gently washing and exfoliating around the ingrown hair will help the hair return to the surface of the skin. Sugar is a natural exfoliator, and can be mixed with honey to create a paste that will moisturize the skin and kill bacteria. You can also use exfoliating gloves which are a little more gentle on the skin. Exfoliate before each hair removal session and then once every two-three days. Follow exfoliation with a non-greasy moisturizer which can also help to get rid of dead skin cells. Chemical exfoliation is another option – especially if you suffer from very bad ingrown hairs. The most effective chemical exfoliators contain alpha-hydroxy acids or salicylic acid. These should be used less frequently because they can irritate the skin. They can also cause skin thinning so you should wait a few months before safely waxing.
2. Stop your hair removal routine until the ingrown hair has gone – whether that is waxing, shaving, or tweezing the hair.
3. When the hair emerges above the skin, use two Q-tips, and apply gentle pressure on either side of the area to gently roll the ingrown hair fully out without breaking the skin. Do not tweeze it out completely until the area is healed, or the skin will heal over the hair again. Never dig under the skin to get the hair out.
4. Tea tree oil diluted with water and applied with a cotton ball can be used to reduce swelling, or a topical steroid cream prescribed by a doctor can also reduce swelling and irritation around the hair.
5. If you commonly get ingrown hairs from shaving, try a different method of hair removal like hair removal creams, waxing or using an epilator – then follow the exfoliating steps above to ensure you reduce the likelihood of getting an ingrown hair.

If the ingrown hair gets infected and very painful, go see a doctor immediately. 

Why are you growing hair in places you never even knew you had?? For women, hormonal disturbances cause can the production of androgen to boost resulting in more hair in unwanted places. Frustrating as it may be, there are several things you can do to slow down hair growth naturally.

Try not to worry about excessive hair growth
​Above all else, try not to stress about it. When I was going through a divorce, I had the opposite problem - the hair on my head was thinning and falling out in handfuls. That's a stressful thing to happen! But the thing that made it worse? Stressing about it.

Stress will increase the production of androgen in your body. Testosterone (an unwanted hormone for hair growth) over produces when we are stressed.  It’s one of the body's natural processes. Hard as it may sound, one of the key ways to stop hair loss, or stop excessive hair growth (in fact, to slow many health problems) is to take a deep breath, and relax. Being relaxed and free of worry has so many health benefits! For hair growth, you will force the androgen production to normalize and balance itself which can help slow hair growth.

Take Supplements
There are many natural vitamins and herbal supplements that can help you slow unwanted hair growth, for example, Palmetto is a natural herb and can be used to even out hormone imbalances and increased production of androgen.

Slow Facial Hair Growth With Regular Waxing at Kelowna Esthetics Studio 
The best way to slow facial hair growth is through regular waxing! Facial hair is shorter and can be either peach-fuzzy or coarser. At Kelowna Esthetics Studio we can use a combination of strip wax and hard wax to remove even the most stubborn unwanted facial hairs, and slowing down the production of future hairs.

While stressful, unwanted female body hair is manageable. If your excess body hair in causing you to lose confidence, get the smooth, silky skin you are looking for by breathing, relaxing, taking supplements, and waxing those pesky hairs away!

Contact Kelowna Esthetics Studio today to book your wax in West Kelowna. 

If you stand next to your boyfriend, is it hard to judge who has the most hair?
That's not a good problem to have!
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But, seriously, are you worried you're too hairy to wax? Don't be! I don’t think anything could surprise me at this point. I have seen all different levels of hairiness, and it really is the same from one lady to another. Waxing yourself is hard, yes - and not something I'd recommend. But waxing itself is pretty straightforward, and if the person waxing you is a professional, it really wont matter how long the hair is. It might just take a little longer, and use a bit more wax (for which I do not charge extra!), but one thing that you don't have to worry about is being judged! I wouldn't think twice about it, and it's my job to make you comfortable. So, rest easy, come hairy or trimmed, whatever you want, but leave smooth, and happy!

Have you ever looked to see if your esthetician "double-dips" in the wax pot? Double-dipping is when a spatula is dipped into the wax, the wax is applied to the skin, and the same spatula is dipped back into the wax pot and wax is applied again. Think of all the bacteria that is transferred from skin to wax, and back to skin, between clients! Imagine getting your lip waxed from someone who double-dipped during a brazilian on a client right before you! Ewwww. So gross!
ALWAYS check that your esthetician uses a clean spatula EVERY time they dip it into the wax pot!
P.S. We do NOT double dip!