I’m not brave when it comes to pain. I’m that person at the doctor’s office who can’t stand still, who keeps taking deep breaths while telling themselves it’s going to be OK when all I have to do is get blood drawn! Seriously..AHH! Waxing and sugaring have thus similarly always given me slight anxiety. Of course they never end-up causing nearly as much pain as I build-up in my head… Why can’t we sometimes just learn to relax!?? Any case given that my last wax was a little over three weeks ago I’m due for a touch-up, so I thought why not be brave and frugal and do the little touching-up myself for once!? In comes Parissa Express Wax Stripes . No heating, messiness or spreading is involved and the stripes are clear so you can see exactly what you’re doing. I used their Bandes de Cire — Visage & Bikini (the front of the box I have is in French, but pretty self-explanatory!). More after the jump!
The set comes with 8 double-sided stripes for $9, 1 vial azulene oil hair inhibitor, and instructions with pictures. Before going into the actual product, no matter what form of wax you use always make sure to do a patch test and wait 24 hours to see how your skin reacts, never clean your skin before waxing, wait till your hair is at least 1/4″, and when it’s hot like it is now or you’re sweating apply a little bit of powder (Shobha has a great one). Now onto the juicy stuff!
I’m not going to lie this was scary for me to do alone! I actually put the AC on so high to calm my nerves I was getting goosebumps! That said, the stripes are perfectly sized for touch-ups and the process is simple — warm the double-sided strip in your hands by rubbing, then separate the two stripes, place on skin, and pull-off in opposite direction of hair growth. Easy right? Yes! Painful and uncomfortable sitting on my bathroom floor? Yes! I tried two little stripes and that was all I could do. Everyone has things they splurge on and things they save on and despite how easy Parissa makes at-home waxing I’m just going to have to deal with the fact that waxing/surgaring is just something I’m going to have to do in the comfort of a salon!
No matter where/how you get waxed however I highly recommend using Shobha’s Ingrown Relief Lotion to prevent the bumps and ingrowns often associated with hair removal. Similarly Sweetspot Labs’ Gentle Wash and On-the-Go Wipettes are daily musts for me — we gotta keep it clean and safe!
I tried these and hated them! The wax wouldn’t come all the way off – even with the oil they supply and I ended up ripping my skin off! BTW – I did everything per instructions too. I agree with you – I’m not a home-waxing girl!
Yeah, these are not so great. They grab skin but don’t remove enough hair. I do at-home waxing a lot, but only with hot wax. Then again, I burned myself last time, and now it looks like I have a sunburn on my lady bits.
Lesson learned: deal with the hair or pay to have someone wax it off.
i’m sad to hear that all of you had such bad experiences with parissa wax strips. i only wish you had called our toll-free number or emailed us about your dissatisfaction.
first time waxing can be intimidating and even challenging. our wax strips should make the process easy. they shouldn’t remove skin or leave wax residue on the skin. your results are not typical and we’d like to find out why.
please contact myself (fardadm@parissa.com) or alley (invitation@parissa.com) to help us understand why your experience was so negative. we try to make all waxing experiences positive and effective. we’re sorry we let you down. i hope you’ll give us the opportunity to turn your negative experience into a positive one. thanks.
I have had the same experience as Kari above – wax residue left behind using Parissa – I use the Wax Strips for legs & body (Bandes de Cire). I use extra azulene oil to remove it all using the flat cotton round pads.
I get a hugely better wax from my aesthetician and the results I get from her last a lot longer (like 1 month longer) than the Parissa – not sure why, maybe someone who knows can explain.
Like bellasugar above, I have the same experience. Usually, I use an entire box to wax underarms and bikini. Most areas need to be redone 2 or 3 times and so I do my waxing with Parissa in layers – wax, wait several days do more, etcetera.
I am looking forward to having her do the waxing again….
hmm I never use the strips but the wax in a tub by this brand is amazing! I tried all the different brands at the grocery store before I tried Parissa (it was more expensive) but when I finally did I became a repeat customer. It grabs every single hair and I don’t have to constantly re-do a section.
Good to know the strips don’t work as well, though it does sound like it was more “user error” than anything.