The first time I waxed my upper lip was 9 years ago. I was alone, bored, and snowed in. At that point, I’d been waxing my legs near 8 years, and had tried my hand at armpit and bikini waxing, so I was no stranger to waxing pain. Little did I know that my face would revolt in a way I could never imagine.
I had no idea that tearing the small, fine hairs out of my upper lip would feel like I was actually ripping each hair from my nostrils; after which my lip felt as though I’d set it on fire. To make sure I’d learned my never-resort-to-waxing-random-previously-unwaxed-body-parts-when-you’re-bored lesson, I awoke the next morning to a swollen lip covered in angry, red, pimple-like spots. I then proceeded to go to class and work for the next week and a half, looking like the victim of a group of selective, angry bees. I vowed never to wax anything on my face, ever, ever again.
Then, I discovered cosplay.
I realized that painting my face completely white for the Red Queen would be unforgiving and challenging, but I never fathomed how beautifully it would accentuate each and every hair on my upper lip. Now, I know that most of the people who see me in costume don’t get close enough to my face to notice. You know who does notice, though?
Everyone running around the convention with an HD camera that has more letters after its name than most scientists.
Which is a surprisingly large amount of people. Regardless, I know they’re there, and that they’re visible, and it bothers me. So, I decided that I would once again wax my lip.
I learned the hard way that icing your lip after waxing is a must. I kept ice on my lip for about an hour after my last waxing and it greatly diminished the pain and swelling. I still had the angry red marks for about 4 days afterward, but it didn’t look like I’d been punched in the mouth like last time.
After much thought, I decided that it was easier and less painful to maintain a waxed lip, as I plan to cosplay as the Red Queen 2-3 times a year. I figure it’s preferable to wax once a month, with reduced pain and swelling each time, than to look and feel as though I’d been in a pre-convention fight.
My second foray into upper lip waxing a month later proved to be (unfortunately) just as painful, but only required 15 minutes of icing and the angry red bee sting looking spots didn’t appear. Here’s to hoping the trend continues!
Any tips/tricks to help ease the horror that is waxing? Anyone else waxed for cosplay? How did it go?
It Takes A Village To Cosplay!
Earla Alara
*Update*
I’ve been waxing my lip once a month as a maintenance sort of thing – not to keep the hairs away, but to try and desensitize my lip – and it’s working! It still hurts but it no longer makes my eyes stream tears, my lip doesn’t swell up, and it’s not swollen and red the next day. I don’t even need to ice my lip anymore!
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