6 tricks for furless fingers

Thick, dark, curly hair on the knuckles is a look many clients would prefer was left to the animal kingdom. A quick once over with your waxing spatula will soon make them feel human again and will knock years off their appearance in the process. 👍

Cold hands and fingers

Chilly digits can be a nightmare to de-fuzz as cold skin will cool your wax quicker, often resulting in it becoming stuck fast. I find it helps to work in smaller sections: apply your wax as thinly as possible and do the back of the hand separately to the fingers. This gives the sticky stuff less chance to cool down between each area.

If you’re still struggling to get wax off, rub the strip briskly until you feel heat coming through the paper, which will warm up any colder blobs just enough to release from the skin. Using a clean section of strip will also help. True story: I have been known to ask clients to sit on the hand I’m not currently working on, in order to warm it up before I slather on the wax!

Dry and tanned skins

Dry and sun-scorched skin presents a similar challenge. An extra drop of oil on the hands and fingers can help combat any dryness and will prevent wax from sticking in places you don’t want it.

Which wax works best?

Over the years, I’ve found that strip waxes with an ‘oily’ consistency release better in these areas than honey-style or cream waxes. I’ve also learned the hard way: peelable waxes just don’t cut the mustard on fingers and toes. Unless you catch it at *just* the right moment, 9 times out of 10 your stripless wax will simply set rock solid and then break like toffee on those pesky pinkies.

Keep that skin tight!

I ask customers to make a fist when waxing the top of the hand, and will use my thumb and finger to pinch underneath their fingers when waxing the digits.

Ignore the direction of hair growth on fingers

Apply your wax towards the nails and remove in the opposite direction. You’ll save time, mess and sanity versus painting each finger in a multitude of tiny individual sections. Trust me, it works.

Think about your upsell

Finger waxing is a quick and relatively comfortable way of introducing male clients to hair removal and can easily be added to the end of other salon services. For example:

• Why not include a knuckle wax as part of your gents’ manicure (just before the final hand lotion goes on).
• Feature it as part of a quick fix ‘anti-ageing’ combo that also includes a brow tidy, ear and nostril wax.
• Add it to a wedding package to ensure those close-up photos of the rings look great.
• For hairdressers and barbershops, it’s a super addition to the end of a haircut or wet shave to complete the grooming experience, with the advantage of being easily performed in-chair (no need for a separate trip to the beauty couch).

Need to up your knuckle waxing game? Here at Axiom Wax Academy we include hand and arm waxing as part of our beginners bootcamp, the advanced face and body waxing class, and brows to brozilians course. So whatever your level of experience, we'll get you sorted.

Fuzz-free fist pumps all round. 👊

© Andy Rouillard 2017