Features of sugaring with citric acid: paste recipe and technique

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Smooth, silky skin is the key to female beauty. The tenacity with which representatives of the fair half of humanity fight excess hair on their bodies can be the envy of any military leader. And the “combat arsenal” is impressive: a razor, a laser device, mechanical epilators, special creams, waxes and sugar paste. It is the latter that has gained the greatest popularity because it removes hair most effectively, simply and almost painlessly. The procedure can be carried out in the salon or at home. For many girls and women, the home option is more acceptable. Firstly, it’s cheaper, and secondly, it’s more convenient, because you can create beauty at any convenient time (even at 2 a.m., if you so choose). There is one more advantage to home manipulation – comfort. Many people are embarrassed to undress in front of strangers; for such ladies, going to a salon becomes real torture. But by doing sugaring with citric acid at home, you don’t have to worry about anything like that. Why with citrus additive? Yes, because this sugar paste recipe not only removes unnecessary hair, but also softens the skin, effectively caring for it.

The role of citric acid in paste composition

There are many ways to prepare a sugaring mixture at home. This abundance is due to the fact that one specific recipe may not always be suitable, since the properties of the prepared pasta depend on many factors, in addition to the cooking mode. The viscosity, stickiness and elasticity of the final product can be influenced by the characteristics of the water in a given area (hardness, mineralization), and the properties of sugar, which may also vary between manufacturers.

It is also important to add citric acid, which is sometimes replaced with lemon juice - this is not just an additional ingredient, but also an important stabilizing factor for the entire mixture.

It is clear that in natural lemon juice the concentration of this acid can fluctuate greatly, which will lead to increased or, conversely, decreased viscosity of the paste.

The presence of juice somewhat increases the allergenicity of the product and it is risky to use it if you are intolerant to citrus fruits, so it is better not to replace acid with lemon juice.

For these reasons, you should not be upset if suddenly the pasta prepared according to one recipe does not live up to your expectations - perhaps a simple replacement of one of the components will put everything in its place. You can also try to cook pasta from the same ingredients using a different recipe - changing the cooking mode may be the last straw that was missing before obtaining a quality product.

Classic recipe

The most classic recipe for making sugar paste for sugaring at home. It will require:

10 tablespoons or 1 glass of sugar;
1.5 teaspoons of citric acid;
2 tablespoons of water.

All components are mixed in a metal pan, preferably white - this will allow you to correctly evaluate the color of the resulting paste, which determines its readiness. You need to put it on the lowest heat and stir continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved. After this, you need to cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it turns amber or honey in color. The next step is to place the syrup in a cool place to cool to a temperature of 40-50 degrees, after which it is ready for use.

Herbal infusions

In sugar paste recipes, instead of water, you can use infusions of medicinal herbs that moisturize, nourish, and soothe the skin.

Infusions for sweet mass are prepared from the following herbs:

linden blossom - heals the skin, moisturizes, saturates it with vitamins and microelements;
rose petals - refresh, smooth and restore the skin;
chamomile flowers - have a soothing, rejuvenating, whitening, anti-allergenic, anti-inflammatory, moisturizing effect on the skin;
mint - cleanses the skin surface of toxins, has an antiseptic effect, tightens and cools the skin;
series - moisturizes, rejuvenates, improves skin immunity;
calendula - relieves inflammation, gently disinfects, gives a rejuvenating effect;
sage - helps remove dead skin cells, removes free radicals, and has a rejuvenating effect.

To prepare the infusion, take 1 tsp. herbs or a mixture of herbs, pour 1 cup of boiling water and leave for 15 minutes. This infusion should be filtered and used in sugar paste recipes.

Herbal infusion containing sugar paste cares for the skin

Second recipe

The following recipe differs in the sequence of adding the components of the sugaring paste. Some women note that this feature helps greatly with increased water hardness or other reasons when the previous composition does not have the necessary viscosity. To prepare it you need:

6 tablespoons sugar;
0.5 tablespoons of citric acid;
2 tablespoons of water.

First, mix only sugar and water together, as in the previous recipe, put them on the fire and begin to cook until the sugar is completely dissolved and a slight foam appears. Then add citric acid and stir thoroughly - the composition changes color almost instantly and can be removed from the heat. Then it needs to be cooled to a slightly warm state and used for depilation.

Contraindications and precautions

Sugar paste has a natural composition and is gentle and gentle on the skin. Painful sensations are present, but they are less than with other methods of depilation. The sugaring procedure is safe, but, nevertheless, there are some contraindications to its implementation:

diabetes;
skin inflammation;
rosacea and varicose veins;
allergy to paste components;
skin damage.

You should not do sugaring after visiting a solarium, or after sunbathing. Before the procedure, you need to wait until the hairs have grown by approximately 2-5 mm so that they can be easily captured using the caramel mass. You should not depilate areas of the skin where moles, warts, fat spots and bruises are located.

When you pull out hair with sugar paste, the follicles remain intact, and after a while new hairs will grow out of them again. Hair follicles are not destroyed, but the procedure significantly affects their regeneration. Therefore, after each session, the hair will grow thinner and weaker.

Tags:

lemon hair removal Sugaring

Cooking pasta in a water bath

Quite a lot of women, when preparing sugaring paste at home, are faced with the problem of the mixture burning during the cooking process. Indeed, even at the lowest heat, you only need to stop stirring the viscous mass for a few seconds, and it burns and becomes usable only as candy. To avoid this, it is recommended to cook the pasta in a water bath - place a container with the mixture in a larger saucepan with water and put the entire system on fire. But for the best effect, such a change in cooking technique also causes changes in the recipe:

4 tablespoons sugar;
2 tablespoons of water;
1 teaspoon (without top) citric acid.

First, a mixture of sugar and water is heated in a water bath. As soon as the grains begin to melt, citric acid is added, which gives the prepared paste a white color. Next, you need to cook the pasta for another 10-15 minutes and then take a sample - just place a drop of syrup on a clean, dry plate and let it cool, and then mash it with your fingers. A properly prepared mixture will not stick to your fingers.

Preparation for sugaring

Before sugar hair removal, you need to prepare the skin. To make hair removal less painful, it is recommended to preheat or, conversely, cool the skin. In the first case, steam the skin in hot water with sea salt. In the second, take ice and apply it to the area you will be treating for one minute. Epilate only on clean, dry skin to avoid infection.

For high-quality hair removal, it is important that the hairs on the body are at least 3–4 mm long. If you recently removed them, wait until they grow to the desired length. Otherwise, the sweet mixture will not be able to capture all the hair, and the result will be of poor quality.

Microwave recipe

In order to further reduce the likelihood of burning and thus spoilage of the mixture, you can not use a gas or electric stove at all, but make it in a microwave, which almost everyone has at home at the moment. In addition to greater convenience, this method also has a higher speed - the finished mass can be prepared in just 3-4 minutes.

4 tablespoons sugar;
1.5 tablespoons of water;
1 teaspoon citric acid.

First, mix all the ingredients in a special microwave-safe bowl and then set the mixture to the most powerful mode, stopping and stirring periodically. It is necessary to bring the syrup to a lemon-yellow color, then leave it to cool.

Cooking time

We do not indicate the exact cooking time, since this would require monitoring the temperature and heating dynamics. Approximate cooking time at low simmer is 5-7 minutes.

Just watch the caramelizing sugar closely until it reaches exactly the right color—no more, no less. The ideal paste should be a beautiful amber color - almost the same as the color of mature honey.

As soon as the paste has gained color, do not waste time and immediately remove it from the heat. It is very important to quickly stop the caramelization process. To do this, lower the bottom of the pan into cold water. Otherwise, the residual heat will burn the paste.

Using homemade paste

Sugar mixture prepared according to a home recipe is used in almost the same way as their factory-made counterparts. To apply, you must first prepare the skin and hair - the length of the hairs should be 2-4 mm, it is advisable to steam the skin and wipe it dry.

There is no consensus on pain relief during sugaring at home - some believe that this is an already insensitive procedure, while others very actively use pain-relieving gels and sprays.

Sensitivity also varies depending on the area being treated - if most girls can treat their legs without painkillers, then in the bikini area they cannot be avoided. To carry out the procedure, you will need a special depilation spatula and fabric strips:

To begin with, the pasta, cooled after cooking or heated in the microwave (if necessary), is kneaded in your hands until it acquires a white tint and becomes matte.
After this, you need to apply the plastic mass to the surface of the skin with a spatula or your hands, moving against the hair growth. It is important to press the paste as tightly as possible to the surface of the skin, since the effectiveness and painlessness of the procedure directly depends on this.
After application is completed, apply a strip of cotton fabric to the surface of the mixture and press it as tightly as possible.
With a sharp movement along the hair growth, the strip is torn from the skin. It carries along the sugar mass along with the hairs.
The remaining mixture is carefully washed off with warm water.

The use of citric acid in paste entails another interesting effect - it can bleach hair and slow down its growth. Therefore, sugaring with such a mixture can significantly reduce the frequency of depilation.

As a result, all unwanted hair is removed, and the surface of the skin becomes smooth and silky - all thanks to simple sugar and citric acid.

Useful tips

Before home manipulation, it is advisable to scrub the skin. The paste is applied to a dry surface sprinkled with talcum powder.

If you are not experienced in hair removal yourself, then it is best to start from the feet. Move from your ankles to your hips. Sugaring your own armpits is very inconvenient, so at first you will have to abandon this method of removing unwanted hair in this part of the body.

For the bikini area, proper skin tension is very important. This not only makes it easier to tear off the paste, but also helps to avoid mechanical damage (carelessness can easily lead to ruptures of the mucous membrane).

Making sugaring at home with citric acid is quite simple. Having learned how to cook pasta and mastered the technique of the procedure, you can easily and almost painlessly maintain the smoothness and beauty of your skin.