What is in your wax?

Wax is becoming increasing popular each year. Naturally more brands have appeared in this rapidly expanding market.

You may have seen advertisements making claims such as a new “special” or “miracle” ingredient and featuring incredible hair removal with “stunning” results.

Unfortunately, that “miracle” ingredient does not exist yet.

If you want to know what your wax contains, you will need to look at the label. A good manufacturer should specify these ingredients on the package, so you are able to understand more about the properties of your wax.

MAIN INGREDIENTS

Ingredients are listed in order from highest to lowest on bag. The base of the wax that provides adhesion to the hair will be the main ingredient and listed first.

There are 3 main types of waxes, NATURAL, HYBRID and SYNTHETIC based.

• - NATURAL based waxes will contain GLYCERYL ROSINATE (Rosin) as the main ingredient. This is a pine resin. It is harvested from pines around the world in liquid state (oleoresin). On exposure to air the volatile oil evaporates leaving a hard-glossy substance, the GLYCERY ROSINATE. Natural waxes are still very popular. Many estheticians prefer natural waxes because they are more than 90% biodegradable.
• - More advanced waxes are SYNTHETIC and the main ingredient for these is POLYCYCLOPENTADIENE HYDROGENATE synthetic resin. As certain customers may develop an allergic reaction to pine resin and the melting temperature for this resin is lower, synthetic wax is recommended for people with sensitive skin.
• - HYBRID soft waxes are a combination of SYNTHETIC and NATURAL. The first in ingredient is PEG-3 Dirosinate or Tryethylene Glycol Rosinate. This ingredient is derived from natural rosin but it is more plastic, pure and stable. The resin is less sticky then natural resin and can be completely removed from the skin leaving no stickiness.

CONDITIONING INGREDIENTS

These ingredients are added to condition the wax and to add different properties. They may be secondary but very important in the wax properties.

PARAFFIN / MINERAL OILS / AROMATIC OILS

Oils are added in waxes to give plasticity and improve the heating process. Waxness aromatherapy ready waxes support adding essential oils for aromatherapy purposes. Some customers do not like the natural resin scent or certain scents in different pre-scented waxes. Synthetic aromatherapy ready waxes allow the esthetician to add up to 3 drops of essential oils in the waxes to obtain a natural custom scent. In a small amount, oils improve the plasticity of the wax making it gentler on the skin, but if too much oil is added the wax will start loosing adhesion to the hair. Waxes with oils are recommended for very sensitive skin and fine hair, they are not recommended for coarse hair due to reduced adhesion.

COPOLYMER / POLYMER

This is a special rubbery ingredient that gives elasticity to the wax. COPOLYMERS made possible the appearance of FILM WAXES on the market. These may be applied thin and will not break when removed. For quality high efficiency waxes COPOLYMER is a mandatory ingredient

TITANIUM DIOXIDE

It is a white substance that makes the wax creamy and opaque. It is used to give density to the wax. These creamy waxes are recommended for very sensitive skin.

SECONDARY INGREDIENTS

• - COSMETIC COLORS - Used to give different color to the beads. Although they are used in a very small quantity, certain colors may give serious allergic reactions. Please make sure the used colors are FDA approved. The format is “C.I.XXXXX” or “D&C XX (color) n (number)”
• - MICA - used to give a pearly shiny appearance
• - PERFUME – only in scented waxes