Exact Answer: After 5 – 8 Hours
Although the density varies from person to person, each individual has body hair (also called androgenic hair) on them. This hair can be seen since childhood on almost every body part including, hands, legs, pubic areas, armpits, chest, and some facial hair.
During childhood, these hairs are known as vellus hair, but during and after puberty, these develop into darker and thicker hair. This is why many people wish to have a clean, hygienic body by removing these hairs.
Waxing is one such method that is practiced by most people for hair removal. Here, a sticky substance is applied to your skin, and then with the help of a strip, it is pulled out.
Due to this method, the body hair is removed from its roots.
How Long After Waxing Can You Shower?
| Wax Used | How Long to Shower |
| Soft Wax | 2 – 3 Hours |
| Hard Wax | 24 Hours |
As mentioned before, waxing is a method used to eliminate the body hair from its roots, by applying the wax and ripping it off. But there are various methods of waxing which people prefer.
Some of these include waxing strips, while some of them don’t. They can be classified into types of soft and hard wax.
How long after waxing can we shower depends on the type and method of waxing we have used. But there are two things which are common between them.
One is that we can’t shower right after waxing, irrespective of the method we have used. Another thing is to avoid having a hot water bath for 1 – 2 days after waxing.
If you have used warm soft wax, then you can take a shower after 2 – 3 hours after waxing. You can use lukewarm water or water at room temperature, for the shower.
This also applies to fruit wax, cold wax, or any other type of wax which involves using strips to rip the wax off.
But this is not the case with hard wax (also known as Brazilian or bikini wax). For hard wax, you must wait for at least 24 hours before taking a shower.
If you still want to take a shower within 24 hours, then consult your esthetician. He will recommend you to take one after 5 – 8 hours after waxing. This shower should be with warm or cool water. You should not take a hot shower for at least 2 days after your waxing appointment.
Why That Long After Waxing Can You Shower?
As we know, waxing involves ripping our hair off from its roots, there will be some side-effects as well. Thus, precautions need to be taken after waxing.
Some precautions related to showering are there as well. Although for most people showering is a way to relieve stress, we need to know why we shouldn’t shower right after waxing and wait for a few hours.
The esthetician also informs us not to take hot showers for about a day or two.
After waxing, you are told not to shower for about 24 hours. This is because your skin becomes more sensitive after waxing.
Although having cool showers or warm showers doesn’t affect our skin much, it is still recommended to at least wait for about 5 – 8 hours. This will give our skin some time to recover itself.
But later you can have cool showers, as it will work as a cold compress for your skin to reduce redness or any other side effects of waxing.
You are also told not to have hot showers after waxing, especially when hard wax is used. This is because hard wax is mostly used for waxing sensitive areas.
And hot showers can cause more irritation at these areas after waxing. Also, our hair follicles or pores are open and vulnerable for few hours after waxing.
Thus, when we take hot showers, the interaction between pores and hot water can make our skin prone to infection. They can further cause ingrown hairs as well. Thus, it’s better to wait for 24 – 48 hours before using hot showers.
Conclusion
Thus, it is important to wait for a few hours before walking into cool or hot showers. But you need not worry, the esthetician will clean the area after waxing.
A post-wax lotion will be applied to your skin, which is an anti-bacterial lotion and will help in keeping your skin cool and protect it. Therefore, having a shower right after waxing is not needed.
Other precautions which should be taken to avoid irritation or redness, are to wear loose outfits and avoid the waxed areas from getting sweaty as much as possible.
Exfoliating your skin during showers should be started 2 days after waxing, as this will help in preventing ingrown hairs.