What to expect on your first wax

So you finally made the switch from shaving to waxing!

First thing first, your first wax may not be the smoothest. When switching from shaving to waxing, your hair may be on different growth cycles. New hairs are growing in and old hairs are growing out.

Let’s talk a little about the hair growth cycle.

There are four phases of the hair growth cycle: the anagen phase, the catagen phase, the telogen phase, and the exogen phase. For waxing and this blog post purposes, we are only going to address the anagen, catagen, and telogen phases.

The anagen phase is the stage of active hair growth. The cells in the root of your hair are most active; they are rapidly dividing so that new hair can form.

The second stage is the catagen phase. It is the transitioning stage. The hair is no longer growing, the hair follicle detaches from the dermal papilla (the structure that supplies the hair its nutrients).

The third stage is the telogen phase. It’s the resting stage. There is no new hair growth; the old hair is beginning to make room for the new hair growth.

This is why it make take a few wax sessions to get the smoothest results, to get all (or most) hair on the same growth cycle, and why it’s strongly recommended to not shave, tweeze, or use hair removal creams in between your wax session.

And also, why it’s recommended to stay on top of your aftercare routine.