Q:  The second day after sugaring my butt breaks out.  How do I keep my skin clear?

A:  For the first or second day, I would carry an extra set of underwear to work because sitting in sweat-drenched clothes at your desk is not good.  Change your underwear halfway through the day, and make sure you exercise the following ritual:

1. Neem and Manuka Body Wash.  When used with a loofah in the shower, this is a great daily home treatment.  Don’t scrub the skin as aggressively as brushing your teeth or you will irritate it.  This Body Wash has an antiseptic quality.
2. Prince Reigns.  Aloe and chamomile calm the skin and the glycolic acid helps exfoliate.  Glycolic acid draws hair away from the skin, preventing ingrowns.
3. Neem & Blood Orange Moisturizer.  This moisturizer contains Vitamin C, a strong antioxidant.  It also contains Manuka, a form of tea tree antiseptic.  Neem heals the skin.

Q:  When I go to the beach and lie out, I immediately see a breakout coming.  How do I control this?

A:  The combination of SPF (sunscreen), salt water, and a sweat-drenched bathing suit on the naked skin for a prolonged period of time can present quite an issue.  When you have finished a moderate day in the sun at the beach, be sure to take a shower, get out of the bathing suit, and remove your skin of sweat and bacteria by showering.  I would recommend one of the following products—and you can use all three in unison, being careful not to overuse them:

1. Neem and Manuka Body Wash.  Scrub with a loofah in the shower, but remember not to scrub the skin as aggressively as brushing your teeth or you will irritate it.
2. Prince Reigns.  Aloe and chamomile calm the skin and the glycolic acid helps exfoliate.  Glycolic acid draws hair away from the skin, preventing ingrowns.
3. Neem and Triphala Body Oil.  Neem calms and heals the skin from the sun’s sting.  Triphala is a combination of three herbal extracts that soothes inflammation while simultaneously moisturizing the skin.

Treat these products the way you would with salt on your food:  apply as needed, but conservatively


Q:  When I have done the body sugaring and then fly on an airplane, I arrive with breakouts.  What do you suggest?

A: The loofah and Prince Reigns procedure is the first step, bare minimum as far as homecare is concerned.  I would carry an extra set of underwear on the flight because sitting in sweat-drenched clothes is not good.  Change your underwear halfway through the journey.  When you’ve settled into your hotel (or whatever your ultimate destination), I would do one or all of the following:

• Neem and Manuka Body Wash.  When used with a loofah in the shower, this is a great daily home treatment.  Don’t scrub the skin as aggressively as brushing your teeth or you will irritate it.
• Prince Reigns.  Aloe and chamomile calm the skin and the glycolic acid helps exfoliate.  Glycolic acid draws hair away from the skin, preventing ingrowns.
• Neem & Blood Orange Moisturizer.  This moisturizer contains Vitamin C, a strong antioxidant.  It also contains Manuka, a form of tea tree antiseptic.  Neem heals the skin.

Q:  It’s summer.  When I leave Downtime Massage & Skincare and get into the subway, I can feel my skin reacting.  What do I do?

A:  Sweat and bacteria irritate skin.  Carry an extra t-shirt the day you get sugared.  When you’re at home or back at work, change your shirt.  Apply the Prince Reigns if available.  Remember to not loofah the same day as your sugaring.  Also, do not go to the gym or the beach the same day you get sugared.  After sugaring, your pores stay open for about 24 hours, so body fluids can be absorbed into them.  Be clean!  Take care of yourself!

Q:  I love the beach and the gym.  I’m going tomorrow morning.  What can I do to prevent breakouts?

A:  Take only cold showers both before and after each activity.  This will close your pores and calm your skin.

As far as product is concerned, a natural and healing treatment would be application of our sulfur-rich Hungarian Apothecary Mud.  You could do a home treatment the night before you go to the beach or the gym; just be sure to apply, let the mud sit for 20 minutes, and then rinse with cold water.  Complete the process with an application of Prince Reigns.  Follow these steps again after you come back from the beach or the gym.

Q:  I really like the results of the sugaring on my scrotum and my penis.  It establishes clean lines, and I can see that with each treatment, the hair thins, softens, and stunts in growth. But I sometimes feel “burned” or “raw” afterwards.  How do I change this? 

A:  The body’s temperature is 98ºF, and so is the sugar.  Hence you’ll never be burned, because if either isn’t at 98ºF, we wouldn’t be able to perform the service.  With the art of sugaring, you can never be burned.

Sugaring removes hair and dead skin from the body.  If you get a small patch of dry skin from your back or butt removed, you won’t feel much because your skin is thicker there.  The skin in the groin, however, is delicate.  If any of your skin is too dry during sugaring, small patches of it will be removed.  This would make you feel an abrasion:  hypersensitive and raw.  To ensure pain-free success with monthly visits, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Once a week, use an exfoliant on all delicate parts you’ve had sugared.  The Sundari Gotu Kola and Walnut Body Exfoliator helps to firm and heal the skin.  It increases circulation and has invigorating exfoliating power.  Massage with this scrub, and take some time with it; spend a minute or two massaging, not just a few seconds.  Afterwards, rinse off with clean water.
2. In the cold of winter, apply one to two drops of Hydrating B5 gel or Phyto Corrective Gel along with a moisturizer of your choice.  In the summer, you can use one or the other; some people find the two in combination to be too heavy.
3. After these two steps, the stratum layer of skin is removed, and the moisturizing products penetrate the three layers of skin.  The exfoliant should always be followed by moisturizing or you’ll eventually dry out your skin. The moisturizer/serum combo should be a daily ritual.  Less is more; don't over do it.

The health of your skin dictates how well your sugaring will go.  Being adequately exfoliated and moisturized ensures great success with sugaring.

Q:  I love to suntan, and the more golden brown I get, the happier I am.  When I come in the summer, why does it take longer for me to get sugared?  In the winter I am in and out in forty-five minutes, but in the summer, my appointment time and prices increase.  Why?

A:  When you lie out in the sun, your skin defends itself by releasing more melanin.  Your golden brown tan, then, is a result of your skin protecting itself.  The sun keratinizes your skin, which means that it builds up its layers.  This tougher skin cements your hair follicles in.  Sugaring is as great as it is because it pulls hair out by the root.  When you’re tanned, your skin is holding onto each hair with all its might.  To combat this, you must exfoliate (to remove dead skin cells) and moisturize (to soften your skin).  Note that the loofah is too gentle to accommodate this kind of exfoliation, so you need to use the Body Scrub.  After exfoliating, the stratum layer of your skin is removed, which then allows the moisturizer to penetrate the three layers of skin.  The exfoliating should always be followed by moisturizing, or you’ll eventually dry out your skin.

a.  If you lead an on-the-go lifestyle and perspire profusely, the Neem and Manuka Body Wash with a loofah are your best friends.  This Wash also has an antiseptic quality.  The Omega 3 Body Wash both firms and refreshes dull skin.

b. The Neem and Date Seed Body Exfoliator has pumpkin enzymes and aids in digesting dead surface skin cells.  Neem Leaf extract contains sulfur, a building block of collagen.  Sweet Almond Seed Meal removes dirt and oil from the skin while its soothing properties allow gentle exfoliation without risk of irritation (great for psoriasis and eczema).

c.  The Neem and Blood Orange Moisturizer in the summer alleviates redness and inflammation.  The Manuka in this lotion is an antiseptic and controls irritation caused by perspiration.

d.  Team one to two drops of Hydrating B5 Gel or Phyto Corrective Gel with a moisturizer of choice.  These doses of SkinCeuticals serums are equal to delivering eight glasses of water topically to the skin and, when used in unison with your moisturizer, increase their combined strength by 1000 times.

Q:  In the winter, I find my skin scaly, dry, and dehydrated.  The atmosphere and the radiator in my apartment dry out my skin.  Can I still get sugared?  What can I do to better maintain my skin in the winter?

A:  In the winter, your skin produces the least amount of oil.  The atmosphere dries out your skin.  People experience cracking, peeling, and flaking.  This season provokes psoriasis and eczema.  The prescription to resolve these issues is the following:

a.  Begin by washing daily with a loofah and the Omega 3 Body Wash in the shower.

b.  Use the Omega 3 and Flax Seed Body Scrub to exfoliate.  This is a  brown sugar-based scrub strong enough to remove dead skin while simultaneously moisturizing it.  It contains calcium, iron, and vitamins.  Flax seed and wheat germ oil contain a high concentration of Omega 3 essential fatty acids to reduce inflammation.  Benzoin oil, derived from the Kukui nut, has a vanilla-like aroma with slight warming benefits.  It helps with circulation.

c.  Moisturizing can be a two-step process.  The first:  a light application of Omega 3 and Soy Baume.  The Omega 3 works to plump dull, sagging skin, and the Soy Baume contains Shea Butter and antioxidant-rich soy.  The second:  a light application of Omega 3 and Loquat Softening Body Milk.  This Milk contains papaya enzymes to remove scaly skin due to psoriasis and eczema.

Q:  I really like my pubic hair detailed, and I love it shaped with the sugar.  However, I always battle with ingrowns.  My chest is also an issue.  I love both and do not want to quit the process.  What should I do?

A:  If you suffer from ingrown hair, stop the picking.  That will only lead to more infection and possible scar tissue.  You can apply Tend Skin daily with a Q-tip to affected areas.  Blotting this product daily allows the hair to rise from the skin.  After seven days of using Tend Skin, you can use a Sundari exfoliant on the affected area and work the scrub in well.  This should remove any dead skin and the hair should be able to pop right out.  The Prince Reigns is a gentler version of Tend Skin that can be applied daily to any area.  Never put Tend Skin on your face or directly on your penis.

a. Another option is to do Hungarian Apothecary Mud treatments every other day.  If you don’t notice any irritation, try daily treatments.  Apply the mud, let it rest for twenty minutes, and then rinse off with clean water.  The sulfur heals the skin, and the mud draws the hair from the follicle.

b.  Apply Prince Reigns to finish your home treatment.

If your picking leads your ingrowns to scar tissue, here’s a suggestion:  C+E Ferulic.  The Vitamin C stimulates collagen production, and the Vitamin E is wound healing.  One or two drops applied daily offers skin regeneration.

Q:  I’m a middle-aged man, and after having lost fifty pounds, I’m left with stretch marks and cellulite on my legs and midsection.  I love what body sugaring accomplishes, but my stretchmarks and cellulite bother me.  What is your suggestion?

A:  Try the Gotu Kola and Kukui Body Lotion.  The Gotu Kola firms and lifts the skin.  Kukui Nut Oil and Omega 3 repair your skin’s barrier functions.  This lotion firms and lifts while moisturizing.  Use this Lotion after your Gotu Kola and Walnut Body Scrub to maximize the lifting and firming reparation of your skin.

Q:  I’m too busy to be bothered with products and timely steps, but I like my body sugaring.  What is the minimum amount of work to maintain my skin?

A:  Use the loofah gently daily in the shower.  Apply Prince Reigns to finish.  The loofah exfoliates, and Prince Reigns teams in the exfoliation, as well as calming the skin.