Some people fear that rewilding necessarily means allowing a thick luxurious forest of hair to grow upon their bodies. I am here to say that is not the case. There are tales of singeing, shaving with obsidian, and plucking with clam shells, but my favored method for post-civilized hair removal, and the one I currently use, would have to be sugaring. Now, I understand that under collapse conditions sugar and all of its various forms: honey, maple syrup, cane juice, etc. would most likely be a valuable caloric resource not to be squandered on something as superficial as hair removal, but you never know. Indigenous people around the world are notable for putting a great deal of effort and resources into their appearance:
Perhaps the ability of a neo-tribal woman (or man) to remove body hair would be a sign of prosperity and abundance, and that’s super hot no matter where you are from. Maybe that’s why we do it in the first place.
You can start preparing for our razor-free future by getting a beehive. My original thought was that one could take the honey for eating and use the wax for waxing, but I have not experimented with pure wax for waxing. It seems like it would require an additive because when the stuff is liquid it burns the skin and by the time it is cool, it’s too hard. A quick Google search reveals that most homemade “wax” recipes are actually sugar recipes. So I’m sticking with sugar products for now, until I learn more.
Sidenote: In a modern context white sugar is so maligned, having been replaced by agave, stevia, and other new-age sweetners, that you should have no problem getting all that you need from the cupboards or friends who have kicked the habit, if they haven’t already thrown the vile stuff in the dumpster.
Sugaring is a form of hair removal that is very much like waxing. Sometimes it is done by cooking the sugar to a taffy-like consistency that can be smoothed onto a patch of hair, with the hands, peeled off, and the ball of hair-taffy folded in half and pressed onto a new area. This is repeated until the ball is too sticky or hairy to use. This method seems to require more careful cooking to get just the right consistency and I have not tried it successfully. I go with the technique that most closely resembles waxing, whereby the still -warm sugar mixture is spread onto the skin in the direction of hair growth, a strip of cloth is smoothed over top of it and then ripped off in the opposing direction.
Sugaring Solution For Hair Removal
I have tried this with both honey and white sugar. Most sugar recipes call for the addition of lemon juice to the mixture. I am not sure what chemical action this plays in the mix. I assumed it had something to do with the acidity and I have usually been able to scrounge up some lemon juice, or vinegar (something that can be made post-apocalyptically via apple cider) to splash in there, but am not convinced it was necessary.
I believe what is most important is to understand the process of candy-making. There are several terms in candy-making that correlate the temperature of the sugar with the consistency that it will be if you allow it to cool after heating it to that temperature. These terms were developed before candy thermometers existed and are very useful for us today because as you are heating a sugar solution you can drop a bit of the syrup into cold water, or on snow, ice, or a cold plate and see almost instantly what consistency it will be. They are :
Thread 230-235 degrees Farenheit
Soft Ball -235-240 degrees Farenheit
Firmball 245-250 degrees Farenheit
Hardball 250-265 degrees Farenheit
Soft Crack 270-270 degrees Farenheit
Hard-Crack 300-310 degrees Farenheit
Read more about the science of candy making.
The optimal stage for hair removal is somewhere around firm-ball This means that when you drop a bit of the solution into cold water it will form a ball that is firm but malleable. A simple sugaring recipe found all over the web is:
- 2 cups white cane sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
Simmer this on a low temperature until it is a rich golden brown color and reacts as described above when chilled. Then let the solution cool before applying it to the skin. If it cools too much, it will be too thick to apply. Try re-warming the container in a bowl of hot water. I apply the sugar with a butter knife. Any old scrap of cloth will do to remove the hair. Smooth it down in the direction of growth while the applied sugar is still warm, then take a deep breath and yank! I cut up old shirts or towels. You can wash and reuse strips, but if fabric is not at a premium it is much easier to throw them away. (p.s. buckskin does work.)
Tips:
- This is messy. Before you begin, spread out newspaper or a cloth to sit on.
- Hot water will work to dissolve the sugar encrusted on your pots and utensils
- For a fun feral femme experience, try this outdoors over a campfire. Placing it near the fire will keep your sugar solution warm, and friends can help you reach the difficult areas!
- If you use honey or a different kind of sweetener, simply start with a liquid and follow the same candy stages as you would for white sugar.
- Be patient when waiting for your sugar to cool. Don’t burn yourself.
- Cook a big batch, and then store it in a plastic container for subsequent sugarings.
Beeswax may not actually burn the skin. It might feel hot when you apply it, but not do any damage. After hearing rumors to that effect about soywax I took a candle that was a mixture of soy, bee and palm and dripped some of the hot wax on my skin. Not even a first-degree burn, just a little stinging. It was actually one of the selling points of the candle, that if a little kid got hold of it they wouldn’t scar themselves for life. (Unless they hit the open flame, and maybe not even then.)
It might be something to cautiously experiment with. A couple of drops won’t do anything, after all. I do know it has a lower melt point than paraffin, which DOES burn the skin.
Good suggestion Dana. I just tried this with some wild beeswax I snagged from the hive in my post “Honey If You Love Me…” and it didn’t burn but it was pretty damned hot. If you only had to go though it once, it would be a pretty good initiation ritual! But to have to do it time and time again I don’t think I’d use it without some secret softening ingredient.
Hi Emily
Could the hairy sugar ball be reuses?
If you only use the sugar, as in the first method described above the same ball can be reapplied several times. Maybe eventually you could could remelt it and strain out the hair, and try again… Once you use a cloth strip it will be pretty difficult to separate from the cloth. Here is a video on youtube that demonstrates the hair taffy technique I haven’t quite mastered:
The lemon juice is probably to keep the mixture from crystallizing when it cools or is stored, as well as increasing shelf life. Totally optional if you’re going to use the mix immediately. Acidifying cooking sugar converts it to an ‘invert’ form, which stores better and is slightly sweeter.
It doesn’t take much more than a few ml per liter, so maybe that large amount of acid is for something else as well. It’s entirely possible someone just added it ’cause they thought lemon juice was good for their skin.
Lacking lemon juice, some honey would cause the same reaction – I use it that way for caramel sauce and other syrups.