Is there any hope for smooth skin, post-depilation?

February 5, 2013 5:40 PM

Brazilian wax has revealed unattractive skin issues. Is there anything that can be done to solve it?

I had my first-ever Brazilian wax a couple weeks ago. I am extremely pleased with the results, and intend to stay bare for the foreseeable future. The only problem is that with the removal of the hair, I discovered that the skin of my mons pubis resembles, well, turkey skin. Lots of distinct nodules where the hairs grow out. These are not ingrown hairs, as they are not red or inflamed in appearance, and uniformly distributed. A darker version of uncooked turkey skin really is the closest thing I can think of in terms of describing what I'm seeing. Which is gross. I suspect this might be genetic and therefore unsolvable, but is there anything that can be done to reduce these bumps, or make them go away entirely?

posted by anonymous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

As far as my aesthetician has told me, if your skin ends up looking like that after a wax, it's because the waxer did it wrong, either because your hair wasn't the right length when they waxed it, or because they pulled the wax off at the wrong angle. It's not necessarily genetic at all, though the labia and mons pubis can be a little bumpy in nature by default. Go to a different aesthetician next time and see if there's a difference.

In the meantime, moisturize the area for a bit and see if that coaxes the skin out of turkey mode.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 5:53 PM on February 5, 2013

If you do find yourself prone to ingrowns, Finipil can be kindof magic.
posted by lizifer at 6:30 PM on February 5, 2013

My legs/thighs are kind of turkey-skin bumpy and I always thought it was genetic but turns out daily application of cocoa butter makes it pretty much unnoticeable. I don't know if you should put cocoa butter there/on a recently waxed place (just because it tends to clog pores, I don't know if that's a thing), but I second moisturizing.
posted by stoneandstar at 7:02 PM on February 5, 2013

Pure coconut oil is considered a safe moisturiser for downtown.
posted by heyjude at 8:19 PM on February 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Is it keratosis pilaris, aka 'chicken skin'? Amlactin is good for that; it's kind of pricey for lotion, but more reasonable at Costco.
posted by acidic at 8:49 PM on February 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have this sort of thing when I start shaving or waxing a new area of my body. I think when I started sugaring my pubic area the same thing happened to me. It stopped, though, after a while. I shrug and assume that my skin just realizes the torment is not going to stop and gets used to it.
posted by Because at 10:00 PM on February 5, 2013

I also think it's a reaction to the waxing process, and not your skin. I started using an epilator instead of shaving in a few places (places I'd been shaving bare for a long time and am sure my skin doesn't look like that) and got pretty much the same reaction the first few (5ish?) times.

I used cocoa butter from the health food store, but I think coconut oil would also be great, it's like the frank's red hot of beauty products.
posted by euphoria066 at 10:51 PM on February 5, 2013

Is it keratosis pilaris, aka 'chicken skin'? Amlactin is good for that; it's kind of pricey for lotion, but more reasonable at Costco.

Be very, very cautious about putting Amlactin on or near your lady parts. The packaging information says very specifically not to put it on your face because it can be irritating, and from personal experience, it stings sometimes even on tough skin like my arms & legs. It would probably not be comfortable on delicate skin!
posted by Fui Non Sum at 7:03 AM on February 6, 2013

Try hot waxing rather than the strip waxing, where the wax is slathered on, left to harden then pulled off by lifting from the edge rather than using a strip of fabric. It's usually more expensive and takes longer but produces a far better result - definitely no chicken skin.
posted by goo at 4:38 PM on February 6, 2013

If you have KP, it's basically a dry skin problem. Coconut oil works great.
posted by vanitas at 11:54 AM on February 7, 2013