Preventing threading itchiness

November 19, 2005 7:34 PM

I had my face threaded on Wednesday, and it's still itchy and broken out, heeeelp!

I had the sides of my face threaded for the first time ever on Wednesday. Since then, my skin has been broken out and itchy (it looks worse than the hair that was there!). Is there anything I could have done to prevent this, either prior to or after the threading? The hair removal itself was succesful, I would love to be able to continue threading. And what do I do now to make this craziness go away? I've been cleaning the area with astrigent.

posted by anonymous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (11 answers total)

Does this happen when you pluck or wax? If so, you're probably prone to ingrowns, and the best you can do is exfoliate and fiddle with astringent if it makes you feel better.

If it doesn't happen when you wax or pluck, well, um . . . allergic to cotton? I don't know about any other possibilities.
posted by booksandlibretti at 7:54 PM on November 19, 2005

Have you contacted the person who threaded you? If anyone would know about threading-related issues, it would be him/her.
posted by apple scruff at 9:12 PM on November 19, 2005

Tendskin or homemade tendskin (aspirin, alcohol and witch hazel is what one online recipe called for) might help.
posted by crack at 10:13 PM on November 19, 2005

Side effects can include folliculitis, a bacterial infection in the hair follicles, skin reddening or puffiness, and changes in skin pigment.
posted by rhapsodie at 11:00 PM on November 19, 2005

Try some over the counter hydrocortisone cream (not ointment). Lay off the astringent.
posted by puddinghead at 1:02 AM on November 20, 2005

Seconds on the hydrocortisone creme. I've had laser hair removal, waxing, plucking... the works. I've always been told to use the hydro for the itching and redness, and it always seems to take care of the problem.
posted by RoseovSharon at 1:26 AM on November 20, 2005

I use zinc cream afterwards for a few hours and that does the trick. Zinc is the primary ingredient in diaper-rash cream; I get whichever brand (usually A&D) doesn't have petroleum in it.
posted by xo at 2:42 PM on November 20, 2005

I would be careful to make sure the astringent isn't too harsh. Try some vitamin E oil (emu oil works magic, but is harder to find). I had a similar problem once, and I went to my doctor who prescribed something (prednisone, perhaps) that I took for 3 days and then I was back to normal. Topical Benadryl made it much worse for me.
posted by Puppy D at 3:56 PM on November 20, 2005

What's "threading"? Really, I don't know.
posted by Doohickie at 5:30 PM on November 20, 2005

Nevermind..... google told me (ouch!)
posted by Doohickie at 5:32 PM on November 20, 2005

Yea, Doohickie, it's certainly not a cake-walk, but us girls gotta do what they gotta do!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:08 PM on November 20, 2005 [1 favorite]