this is one of those tmi posts.

(you have been warned.)

lately the husband has been making a few insinuations about a little situation that has been developing on my upper lip. looks something like this:

the horror.

so tonight i finally decided to face this situation head-on. and for those of you who are curious (you know who you are. and if you're not one of the curious, maybe you should become curious before your husband starts making insinuations about it...), i thought i might share my perfected-over-the-years 'stache removal system. 

the first several times i decided to wax some part of my face (eyebrows or muh-st-ah-shh), my skin would freak out on me and break out really badly anywhere the wax had touched. and what's worse than a girl-stache? a mustache-shaped breakout on your upper lip. yikes. not attractive. and, unfortunately, incredibly resilient (think a solid 10 days of this).

so if you have this problem and have sworn off waxing to avoid the mustache-breakout, here is the routine that i have come up with to avoid such problems:

1: color in your mustache with mascara.

2: go to class.

ha, jk. don't do that. here's what you should really do:

1: buy this genius stuff. it is easy to use and super effective. you can also find it at sally beauty. 

2: wait until the end of the day right before you are about to go to bed and then take tylenol/advil/ibprofen or whatever kind of painkiller you use and wait 30 minutes. it's not a good idea to do this right before you head out the door for the day...

3. wash the whole area that you are going to wax with regular soap and water so that any bacteria or makeup is cleaned off.

4. heat up the wax in the microwave in 15 second intervals. once it is gooey (but not runny, you don't want it to be too hot), use an applicator to cover the whole area. it dries really fast, so you don't have to worry about it dripping anywhere it's not supposed to. wait until it has completely dried and then...

5. this is the rough part. rip. it. off. do it fast, just like a bandaid. just take a deep breath and riiiip.

6. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SKIN!! your fingers have all kinds of bacteria on them and you have a fresh layer of skin that has never seen the air. instead, wash your skin with regular soap and water again until all of the waxy residue is cleaned off and the skin no longer feels tacky. i usually have to wash it about three times before it's all clean. again, don't use a facial cleanser because they usually have benzoyl peroxide in them which can really irritate your already-irritated skin.

7. antibiotic ointment. slather it all over your freshly-waxed skin so that any bacteria that tries to wreak havoc on your complexion is KILLED.

8. go to sleep. in the morning your face will look perfect. well... i can't guarantee perfection. but at least it will look 'stache-less and clear :)