Waxing precautions and warnings left unchecked could leave your skin extremely red, burned or scabby. If you're ever unsure about waxing for any reason, always do a patch test first. Talk to your doctor or waxing technician if you have any concerns or questions.
When to be cautious
• You're pregnant, take birth control, hormone replacement or antibiotics. Your skin may be more sensitive to waxing, so it's best to have a patch test (like a small area on your arm) and see how your skin reacts for 24 hours before getting an entire eyebrow or leg wax.
• Smokers or those with Rosacea. Waxing can irritate dilated capillaries (weak or broken blood vessels) which are commonly found on people with Rosacea and smokers. If the capillaries are very red, stay away from waxing in that area.
• You take blood thinners, have diabetes, phlebitis or want post-cancer hair growth in side-burn area removed. These all relate to medical conditions, so first get your doctor's approval before waxing.
• You use powerful exfoliators on your skin. Salicylic acid, alpha-hydroxy acid or enzymes all strip cells from the skin. It's all too much exfoliation combined with waxing, and could make skin red, bleed or even turn scabby. So stop using these products in the area getting waxed for three days before, and three to four days after waxing. If it's a very strong product the time may be much longer before and after.
• You recently drank a lot of caffeine or alcohol. These stimulants in your system can cause skin to be extra sensitive to waxing, meaning you could get more red or inflamed than usual. Give yourself a couple hours after drinking coffee or alcohol before getting waxed.
When not to get waxed
• You currently take Accutane, or have stopped taking it less than a year ago.
• You're taking any prescription acne medication.
• You use Retin-A.
• You have lupus or Aids.
• You recently got Botox or collagen injections, waxing shouldn't be done in that area.
• You're in cancer therapy getting chemotherapy or radiation.
• Leg waxing if you have varicose veins.
• You have been in direct sunlight for a long period of time or tanning bed within the last 24 hours.
• You're having dermabrasion services or have gotten them in the past three months.
Areas not to wax
• Irritated, inflamed, cut, or sunburned skin.
• Anywhere that has a rash, recent scar tissue, a skin graft, pimples, cold sores, moles or warts.
• The inside of ears and nose, eyelashes, nipples and male genitals.
• Anywhere that has been waxed within the last 24 hours.
• Over or around body piercings.
Remember, even if you can't get waxing done, there are other hair removal options such as tweezing, threading, sugaring or depilatories.
Calming sensitive skin after waxing
• Check the label: Let's start with prevention. Make sure the wax doesn't contain any ingredients you're allergic to that can leave you unnecessarily red. Often, waxes are made up of resin but may be based on a certain ingredient like: tea tree, lavender, chocolate and so on.
Many also are made up of artificial colours, fragrances and ingredients. While you can be allergic to almost anything-natural or not-artificial ingredients are allergic triggers for many. Don't forget about checking the products for prepping the skin, removing the wax and soothing the skin as well.
• Apply powder or oil: If you're waxing yourself, after cleansing skin apply powder if using soft wax and oil for hard wax. These will act as a buffer, so the wax adheres more to the hair and not the skin. Thus, lessening the amount of redness.
• Use the right technique: Be sure you're holding the skin taut while pulling hair out to keep skin from being tugged on too much. Use a wax made for sensitive skin, cream usually works the best.
• Soothe skin: Applying an after wax cooling product or aloe based gel to help soothe skin and help subdue the redness and inflammation after ridding hair and cleansing skin. Tea bags brewed and then cooled placed on the eyes also helps after waxing the brows.
• Cover it up: So you have somewhere to go, and don't want everyone there to know you got waxed?
Apply some mineral makeup, it's light on the skin and allows it to breathe more than liquid or cakey foundation and concealer.
• Know when it's not normal: If the skin is extremely painful for days, bleeds, is torn off or scabs, then something isn't right.
-About.com