I was 15 years old when I got my arms and legs waxed for the very first time. I still remember touching my super silky, hairless arms and legs for days and thinking in my head, ’Freaking hell, I am sexy!’ Of course, the fascination associated with getting my body waxed lasted only a few more months. Back then, during my teenage years, I did not have any ingrown hair. In fact, for the longest time I had no bloody idea what the term even meant.
My waxing lady had always told me to refrain from using a razor or hair removal creams to get rid of unwanted hair. To quote her, ‘It’s better to go out hairy (and looking like a bear) but don’t ever use a razor or those godforsaken creams or else you’ll end up damaging your skin for life.’ Being the good girl that I was, I never dared to even buy these, let alone use them. And during emergencies (as we girls call them), I used to simply opt for jeans and a full sleeve tops. My efforts paid off, because I never encountered the problem of ingrown hair.
It was when I decided to go to the US for my Masters that the problem started. I started using an epilator instead of getting waxed and this resulted in very rough hair growth. However, since waxing in the States was too expensive, and I had been warned against using creams or razors, an epilator was my best option.
I returned to Delhi in 2015, but to my dismay, even several waxing sessions over the months failed to restore my soft growth. Even right after getting my legs waxed, over fifty percent of my hair growth was under the skin and made my legs look rough and dark. There came a point when I started being so embarrassed to show my bare legs that I practically stopped wearing dresses.
Desperate to get my sexy hairless legs back, I tried my neighbour’s remedy for ingrown hair. She told me that I must mix 1/3 portions of oil (olive or coconut) with 2/3 portions of coffee granules and prepare a mixture. After having washed my legs with warm water, I was to scrub my legs with this mixture for several minutes and leave it on for 10-12 minutes before washing it off with warm water. I decided to follow this process once a week for 3 months and then twice a month thereafter as I had been told. And believe me, the results were truly amazing. After every successive waxing session, once I started following this regime, my ingrowth started reducing significantly until it went away completely. Who knew that such a simple home remedy could do such wonders and solve my ingrowth problem so organically and easily! Now, once again, I feel sexy and don’t have to think twice before flaunting my legs in dresses and summer shorts. However, I still make it a point to use this homemade scrub at least once a month, close to the date of my waxing session to keep ingrowth at bay!
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