I Didn't Shave My Legs For A Month To See If This Painless Wax Was Actually Painless

Not 100% painless, but also not that bad.

Hey y'all! I'm Essence, and I'm the beauty editor here at BuzzFeed. I kept seeing Hard Wax Beans on Instagram with all these claims about how it was painless, so I grew my leg hair out for a month to see if it really worked.

Boldly / Via youtube.com

I asked my awesome coworker Joanna to make a video of me trying it out for the first time, and as you can see by my face, I didn't think that it was 100% painless. But also it wasn't that bad, so scroll and get the full tea.

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My legs don't get super hairy and the hair is naturally fine, so I grew it out for a month so that I could have a good bit to work with.

Essence Gant

To get rid of the hair on my legs, I've always just shaved them. When I was younger I tried Nair, but I HATED the smell and vowed to never do it again. While I haven't waxed my legs before, I have gotten bikini waxes for several years now. It hurts like a mother, but it works so I deal with it. I wasn't sure what to expect from this wax beads method, but I had my doubts that it would be painless.

So how do these wax beans work? You pour some of the beans into a wax pot and heat them until they melt. You want the consistency to be kind of like honey, not too watery. On the left is a pic of the wax beans before they're melted, and on the right is what they look like after they've been heated. I heated them on the high setting in this Hot Wax Warmer by Salon Sundry.

Essence Gant

Once it melted, I put a little on my finger to make sure it wasn't too hot.

Get the Hard Wax Beans on Amazon for $10.99.

Get the Salon Sundry Portable Electric Hair Removal Hot Wax Warmer on Amazon for $19.49.

To apply the wax, I used these "applicator sticks," which are basically just some fancy popsicle sticks. The instructions say to apply the wax in the same direction your hair grows and let it sit until it's dry.

Essence Gant

I noticed that it's kind of hard to apply a nice, even layer of wax. Not sure if that's a formula problem or an Essence-lacks-coordination problem. Nonetheless, I was able to get the wax on fairly easy and it didn't burn going on. To make sure it doesn't burn, I recommend melting it on high, and then turning it down to medium a minute or so before applying. The consistency did get a little stiff for me after I had it sitting on medium for a while, but I just turned it back on high for a few seconds and all was well.

Get the Rayson Wax Applicator Sticks on Amazon for $5.45.

Once it dries, you're supposed to pull the wax off against the direction your hair grows. Because the wax doesn't go on in one super-even layer, I had to slowly pull a little from the ends first to get a good tab. Once I got a good tab, though, I was able to grip it and quickly rip off the rest. It did pinch, but it didn't hurt and was a million times less painful than a bikini wax. You can see my little hairs attached to the strip if you look really close!

Essence

FYI: Pulling for a tab probably hurts the most because as you're slowly pulling, the sensation is enhanced while your hairs get plucked out one by one.

Here's my leg over 20 wax strips and about 45 minutes later. It definitely made a difference, but it took way too long.

Essence Gant

To get the little bits of wax off, just exfoliate in the shower after you wax and they'll fall right off.

Here are the wax strips for just one leg, and this isn't even all of them. The whole process was just a little lengthy for me and the payoff wasn't anything exceptional, IMO.

Essence Gant

Additionally, it didn't even get off all my leg hair. I went over some areas two and three times, and there were STILL little hairs poking out.

Essence Gant

(Let's all pretend we don't see how I need a new manicure.)

I waxed my left leg and shaved my right to compare. The shaved leg actually felt smoother, and I was able to get all the hair off in less than five minutes.

Essence Gant

For me, shaving is easier and it's probably what I'll stick to because I don't see a major benefit to waxing my legs. Perhaps the benefit is that the hair grows back finer and slower over time, like with a bikini wax? If that is the case and it's a benefit someone found to be worth it, I'd recommend they get their legs professionally waxed because that'd probably be way easier and a lot quicker.

Overall, I don't think I'd ever incorporate Hard Wax Beans into by beauty routine because it takes too long, and something about waxing my own hair makes me hella anxious the same way tweezing my own brows does.

Boldy / Via youtube.com

If you're like me and anything that requires you to inflict the slightest bit of pain on yourself is a struggle, waxing your own body hair may not be for you.

But if you're the kind of tough soul who tweezes your own brows and has a decent pain tolerance, you may wanna try it. The key is definitely to let it RIP!

Boldly / Via youtube.com

The first time I tried it, I peeled off the whole strip, little by little, instead of ripping it. The initial pulling to get a tab hurt so bad that I thought ripping it would make it hurt even worse. But actually it's the opposite. Don't get thrown off by those first few seconds when it feels like someone is poking your leg with tiny little needles. You'll barely feel any of that once you rip.

Hard Wax Beans are worth it if...

* You have a lot of time for your legs.

* You absolutely hate shaving.

* You don't want to spend money on razors every other week. (There are A LOT of beans in that bag, so it'll probably last you forever!)

Hard Wax Beans are not worth it if...

* You have a really low pain tolerance.

* You don't have an hour or more to spend on your legs.

* You don't want to be left with a waxy pot to clean afterwards.

* You want perfectly smooth legs with no trace of hair.

All in all, I'd say that Hard Wax Beans ~mostly~ live up to their pain-free claims, but the time it takes makes it not worth it for me.

Boldly / Via youtube.com