Baby, it's cold outside

If there’s one thing that us women can all agree on, it’s that we are ALWAYS maintaining ourselves – lashes, nails, hair, sugaring, waxing, you name it, we do it! Whether we feel we are maintaining some unattainable societal standard of beauty or not, at the end of the day, we do it for OURSELVES! (I don’t know about you, but I know I certainly feel a helluva lot sexier after saying “bonjour!” to my Sugar Ninja and say “au revoir” to my muff). While the calendar may say otherwise, Winter is here (UGH) and, as your friendly neighbourhood Sugar Pot blogger, I’m here to remind you that the holiday season is just around the corner. So, listen up ladies: it’s time to schedule some self-care/self-love into your calendar!

Do yourselves a favour: don’t get caught waiting last minute to get in with your esthetician. The holiday season is a busy time for the beauty industry, so it’s not as easy to hit your girl up and say “can you squeeze me in?” – be respectful and mindful of their time and book in advance to ensure you get that little bit of TLC that you need. Whether your holiday prep involves a lash lift, brow tint, or full-on landing strip, make the time for it! While the holidays are all about spending time with the ones you love, spend some time showing yourself some love too, okay girl? We all want you to show up to that office holiday party feeling smooth, fresh, and flawless! 

If you’re someone who likes to swap Calgary’s frigid temperatures for something a little more tropical, you may want to consider seeing your fav esthetician before you leave, too. PRO TIP: Prep as close to your departure date as possible!! I speak from experience – taking a razor to the bikini line while on holidays was the biggest regret of my life, and that says a lot for a 90’s kid who fell victim to the then-trendy hairstyle of cutting two strands of hair as “bangs” to frame your face.. Maintaining ourselves is just as important as those extra five pairs of underwear we pack “just in case”. Want to ditch the efforts of applying makeup every day while on vacation? Treat yourself to a lash & brow lift/tint! Not only will your skin thank you for the makeup vacation, but you can say “I woke up like this” and mean it!

This holiday season, just ask yourself: WWBD – What Would Beyoncé Do? She would obviously invest in making herself feel #Flawless! So – get out there you little Beyoncé Queens and show yourself some LOVE! 

Your SBB Blogger, signin

Prepping Your Canvas - Sugaring before a Tattoo

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – it’s the annual Calgary Tattoo and Arts Festival! On October 18-20, witness 450 of the most talented local and international artists come together and showcase their talent at the BMO Centre! Now that we’re done with the plug, let’s get back to this sugaring business. 

As you may know, an artist typically shaves the area being tattooed prior to the glorious union of needle and skin. While you heal from your “art-attack” – which already involves unbearably itchy, flaking skin – why would you want to deal with rough, itchy regrowth? You wouldn’t! Which is why I’m here: to educate and inform the ladies and gents of the sugaring world with pro-tips on sugaring before (and after!) your next piece. After all, we all know by now that shaving is the arch-nemesis of sugaring; the Joker to Batman; the Cersei to Daenerys… Or Arya? You get the point… 

Sugaring offers little irritation compared to shaving, and the softer hair regrowth is far more bearable than razor burn and stubble on freshly tattooed skin. In order to prepare your lovely canvas, it’s recommended to sugar the area 3-5 days prior to your tattoo appointment. This will allow your skin to recover from any irritations that may occur. If you’re a part of the sensitive skin club (HOLLA!), it may be smart to book a “trial” sugaring appointment a month prior to your tattoo session, just to be safe. Your artist will likely (and respectfully) not tattoo on irritated skin., and beautiful tattoos take planning and maintenance! It’s totally worth the precautions and extra care. 

Sugaring can also help maintain the clarity of your tattoos by removing the dry, dead skin on the surface, leaving your art brighter and defined! It’s important to make sure your tattoo is 100% healed prior to your maintenance sugaring. However, everyone heals differently! 6-8 weeks is the safest amount of time to consider sugaring post-tattoo, but you obviously know your body and its healing abilities better than anyone else – so, LISTEN TO IT! Once your piece is complete and skin is rejuvenated, see your Sugar Ninja every 4-6 weeks to rid the area of the build-up of dead skin cells and watch your artwork maintain its youth and longevity! If only sugaring worked for our laugh lines and crows’ feet – amiright?! 

Now get out there and show your tattoo artist how much you care about your canvas! But not too much, keep it PG…

 Your SBB Blogger, signing out!

Self love is not selfish...

Hello Queens!

Lately I feel like we’ve been discussing things that have a lot of technical elements to them such as hair growth patterns, the labia (still hate this word), ingrowns, etc. and I wanted to switch things up a bit this month! I love discussing topics pertinent to women and what it is like to be a member of our wonderful sex - often extremely busy and overwhelming. 

I want to discuss the idea behind being a little selfish with yourself. My desire is to remind you all that it is so important to treat yourself, and to be kind to yourself. This last year I’ve had to train my brain to remember that it is okay to take time to relax and soothe (in whatever way you need, personally), and that this necessity is not something that is ever going to happen unless you make it happen. This doesn’t have to mean flying to Hawaii for 2 weeks. I mean, it can mean that. If, however, you don’t have thousands of dollars to drop on a dope vacation (Guilty!) please consider this list I have put together for you. Consider:

• Having a bath with a luscious bath bomb

• Getting your nails done

• Heading to your guilty pleasure store (Urban outfitters is mine) and buying something you’ve had sitting in your online shopping basket for weeks! (Am I the only one who does this? I Fill my online basket full to see how much it would cost to purchase the things I want, and then I just leaves those items there for weeks. It’s like it relieves this pent-up desire I have most of the time to shop my ever-loving life away.)

• Saying no to hanging out with people if you need to introvert OR 

• Going out with friends and socializing if you need to extrovert

• Buying a new book, you equally intelligent and fierce woman!

• Getting a massage

• Taking a pottery class. Give Demi and Patrick a run for their money!

• Going on a hike or camping

• Getting your brows shaped into two thick and perfect-looking arches. Or, getting that little Frida Kahlo Stache on your upper lip removed if you don’t care for it the way Frida did. Yes, taking a little “me” time can mean hair removal 

For me it can mean hair removal because having my brows and little ‘stache done make me feel beautiful and confident. And putting effort into how I look makes me feel good. I remember being OBSSESSED with What Not to Wear as a pre-teen. You know the show? Clinton Kelly and Stacy London took schlumpy people and made them beautiful! They would always say, “if you look bad, you feel bad.” So simple and so true. 

Just remember my lovely queens that it is so important to take care of yourself and to treat yourself to little things that make you happy and give you a sense of self pride. If you feel good about yourself, and you care about yourself, you present yourself to the world as a happier and more open person. 

So, go get your damn Brazilian done, already! Or go shopping… whatever floats your boat.

*Kisses*

Your SBB Blogger

Sugar, sugar how did you get so fly?

Hi Queens!

It’s me again, your friendly neighbourhood, sugarista. Today’s topic is a pretty simple one, and I’m incredibly excited to talk about it! We are going to go over the top three reasons sugaring is the literal best… and why it kind of kicks waxing’s butt (no offence meant to those big fans of waxing out there; to each their own. I, however, am a firm believer that sugaring is the GREATEST thing since sliced bread). Being someone who has directly seen what the perks of sugaring are, it’s great to be able to sit down and lay it out for you guys in a very simplistic way. Shall we begin? YAS!!

It is OH SO NATURAL 

That’s right. Our sugar has three ingredients: Water, lemon, and you guessed it . . . Sugar! That’s it. This is one of my favourite things about sugaring. It truly keeps things simple. Because of this, it is an excellent choice for those looking for a more natural approach to life in the types of products they use. Because there are so few ingredients in it, and the parts that are in it are natural and entirely water-soluble, this makes it safe for the environment! Mother Earth isn’t the only fine queen who deserves the best. 

It is incapable of hurting your skin

Okay, this IS my favourite thing about sugaring. Have you ever seen someone with a shiny, red, and irritated-looking patch under their eyebrows? Orgone to the pool and spotted a similar-looking piece on someone’s Braz area? That would be the result of wax physically lifting a layer of skin off. And it hurts. And it looks sad and angry. AND it can take upwards of a week to heal. Sugar does NOT do that. So, if you have sensitive skin, or are prone to having that layer of skin come off with waxing, do yourself the biggest favour and get sugared instead. The ingredients in sugar (the water, sugar, and lemon) cannot attach itself to live skin cells. It is, therefore, unable to lift and rip the live skin. The worst thing that could happen would be that we could bruise you if we got a little piece of sugar stuck. However, this happens VERY rarely. Because sugar is water-soluble, we can wash that ish right off with a warm cloth if that ever should happen; a luxury you cannot do with wax. Sugar is so gentle on the skin, that unlike waxing you can go over the same area more than once. Of course, the skin can only handle so much, especially in delicate areas such as your Brazilian. So if you suffer from stubborn hair, sugaring may be right for you because we can go over the area more than once! 

While we are the topic of being kind to your skin, sugar will not burn you! Wax needs to get to a point where it is warm enough that it melts, right? You can imagine that that can lead to hot wax… sometimes WAY to warm. With sugar, that can’t happen. The sugar mixture, if it’s overheated, will become an unworkable liquid. We physically handle the ball of sugar in gloved hands. If we put our gloved hands in and it’s way too hot, we will both be able to feel the heat on our hands and be unable to ball it up correctly. Remember, if it’s uncomfortably warm on our hands, we will NOT be putting that anywhere near your va-jay jay. 

Most people will experience less ingrown hairs with sugaring

This is due to a few reasons: we pull the hair out in the direction it grows (so we often get the entire root out), and sugaring acts as an exfoliant. Let’s break this down, shall we?

Waxing technicians apply the wax in the direction the hair grows. This means that they pull the wax off against the course of your hair growth. This makes it harder to actually remove the entire follicle AND it unfortunately means that some people experience hair breakage. Hair breakage only serves to create thicker and coarser hairs (much like shaving). PLUS, as a side note, this means your smooth result will last for only a matter of days (depending on how fast your hair grows). Which is beyond laaaame.

In pulling the entire root out, what we are basically doing is weakening your hair follicle. Over time (especially if you come in every 4-6 weeks which is optimal timing based on hair growth patterns), this action of pulling the root out will eventually stop hair growth because we will have damaged its ability to grow properly. 

And by the way, we do get the follicle out, I can assure you.  I actually look to make sure the little translucent hair bulbs are sticking out of my sugar ball. Sounds gross, but believe me, you’ll thank me later. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again: The very first time I had my braz area sugared, I was amazed. It takes around a full 8 weeks for my hair (personally) to come in entirely (meaning I have a wicked 70’s bush by 8 weeks). For the first 4-6 weeks when my hair is growing back it is wispy, thin, soft, and sparse. It’s like a vagina miracle. It’s like the Fairy God Mother said “bibbidi-bobbidi-bush-be-goooone!”. It’s because my hair root is being properly damaged during removal.  

So there you have it, my short (but mildly wordy - sorrryyyyy not sorry) list of why sugaring is excellent! It’s gentle, and the results are top-notch, my Queens. Keep in mind that summer is the optimal time to get sugared cause you can show off all the lovely hair-free skin, OR you can rock a 1999-Julia-Roberts-at-the-Oscars hairy pit. Whichever suits your fancy.

With love,

Your SBB blogger

What do I do with an Ingrown?

This month we have an exciting topic up for discussion. Drum roll *please and thanks* IT’S INGROWN HAIRS!

I know it may sound odd, but as a sugarista, one of my favourite things to do is remove people’s ingrown hairs. It’s SO satisfying. In fact, I may or may not have been watching videos on YouTube of ingrown hairs being removed before writing this. May or may not… you’ll never know. Before we delve into how to take care of them, let’s go over exactly what an ingrown hair is/how and why they are formed.

By removing your hair every 4-6 weeks, we will catch your hair at the perfect time in its growth cycle to damage and therefore weaken the hair follicle. The aim of this is to eventually (when being done repeatedly) ruin the follicle’s ability to grow with the strength of a thousand suns. This will reduce the amount of hair you grow. You may notice that after your first sugaring appointment your hair, if once coarse, will grow in WAY softer than it originally was. I noticed this BIG TIME.  

One sad side effect of this can be that because your hair has been weakened or softened, it may find it more difficult to break through your skin and thus the ingrown hair is formed. OR sometimes some people are just prone to getting an ingrown hair based on their texture.

There are, generally speaking, two different types of ingrowns:  Sometimes your hair has just enough strength to break through the skin, but it can no longer hold itself upright. This type of ingrown hair will schlump over (just like when you’ve had too many mimosas at breakfast) and grow back into the skin again, creating a little loop-like shape. The second kind (and these ones fluster me to no end because you can see them, BUT YOU CANNOT RETRIEVE THEM) don’t poke through the skin in the first place. They just stay under your skin and grow horizontally.

Just to let you know, SOO many people get ingrowns. I have a lot of new clients who come in and feel the need to clarify that, “It’s just an ingrown, nothing else!” Don’t worry. We will usually see it’s an ingrown and think, “An ingrown! Fun!” Not, “Uhhhh… is that a STI??” That’s not what we think! Literally… I’d say at least 50% of people have noticeable ingrowns when they come in. If not more. As previously mentioned, it can be totally down to your hair texture. Sometimes, however, the make or break for ingrowns is how you look after your freshly sugared area. It’s super simple, and definitely makes a massive difference in the health and appearance of your skin.

There are two things that are very important to remember: EXFOLIATE and MOISTURIZE! And yes… this includes the Brazilian area too. By buffing away dead skin cells then softening the skin with a moisturizer, it makes that little hair’s job way easier. Now it can grow and make its way through your living skin cells, not the old, hard ones hanging out on the surface. If you’re unsure what products work best, we offer some awesome solutions in the store:

Supracor Spacell sponges are an excellent way to exfoliate the area and keep your skin super healthy. It eliminates toxins in the skin and is antifungal, antibacterial, and allergen free. Because they are reusable and can be machine or hand washed, they are also environmentally friendly! YAY!  

My Skin roll-on is another fantastic liquid solution that helps get rid of pesky little ingrowns. If you find that simply exfoliating and moisturizing isn’t doing the trick for you, you can easily add this to your routine.

I Love My Muff is an entire line of health products for your… well, your muff area. It is plant based, cruelty-free, vegan, and has environmentally friendly packaging. This line offers a wash, lotion, spray (all made in Canada!) and wipes, too! You can use the wash with an exfoliating mitt, and the lotion won’t clog your pores. The wipes and mist are an excellent way to keep clean and refreshed throughout the day!

All in all, find whatever works best for you and just remember to exfoliate and moisturize 3-4 times a week.

Happy exfoliating, queens!

The vulva fully exposed

Hello again my Queens!

With spring on its way (excluding that grotesque snow storm that came outta nowhere the other day) I have been thinking about how I need to start working out and eating better to get my body, but more specifically my thighs, in SHAPE for that warm-ass weather Calgary gets. My legs just love to pack on extra weight. Bless my strong thighs… but sometimes I wish I was gifted with leaner legs.

We all have things we are self-conscious about and don’t really like about ourselves. Often fear comes from what other people think of us, not what we think about ourselves. Being devoid of other people’s harsh comments, I might actually enjoy my own thighs; wouldn’t that be something?

When you come in for a sugaring service in the nether regions, your vulva is pretty much all on display! And although we get clients that are like “here is my vagina!” and don’t really care, it can really make some people feel nervous and super exposed. And just like how I have insecurities about my thighs, some people have insecurities about their vulva’s and what everything looks like.

So QUICK anatomy lesson. A vulva encompasses every part of the external female genitalia: inner and outer labia, clitoris, opening of both the urethra and vagina, anus, and the mons pubis. (I have included this information because I hate the word “vulva” and therefore have avoided it most of my life. I didn’t even know what it encompassed until I started writing this blog post. Yes, I am embarrassed). And every woman’s vulva and the varying components look different. And every vulva is absolutely delightful just the way it is. And your Sugarista doesn’t care if you have an inner labia that comes out beyond the outer labia, or an inner labia that is tucked in behind your outer labia. We don’t care if your clitoris is tucked away or very visible. We don’t care at all. In fact, if I’m being 100% honest… we don’t even notice. Our eyes are seriously scanning the area to see if there are any “blondies” or invisible little hairs that are out to ruin the perfectly smooth look we are trying to give you.

Despite what it may look like, sugaring is a pretty technical job for the Sugarista. We are pulling certain areas tight to makes it less painful for you, keeping in mind what areas hurt more, and how to make things as comfortable as possible, keeping clean lines, getting to know you . . . the list goes on. The last thing we have time for is to notice what your vulva looks like let alone judge it. Come on girl, we are too busy getting to know you and making you feel your best.

So please, if you have any concerns about what everything looks like down there, just remember to not sweat the small stuff. We don’t care. More importantly, you shouldn’t care either! You and your vulva are beautiful no matter what is going on down there.

Xo,

Your SBB Blogger

I got my period, now what?

Hello Sugar Queens!

Welcome to the Sugarbodybar blog!

We are going to meet here monthly to discuss everything we offer at SBB such as lash lifts and tints, brow tinting, dermaplaning, and, of course, sugaring.

For this month’s blog we were inspired to talk about shark attacks; or as we ladies like to call it, the dreaded period that shows up unannounced. Let’s pretend you have a sugaring appointment booked and shark week happens. What do you do? Will your sugarista be embarrassed? Should you use a tampon and just come in? Is it going to hurt? These are all common inquiries, and we are here to clear up any questions on the topic you may have.

Okay, we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty. Sugaring practitioners are used to getting SO many clients calling in with concerns because their period has unexpectedly come early. Clients often feel the need to cancel because they feel uncomfortable receiving any services below the belt while on their period. If they do come in (bless), they’ll feel embarrassed because they aren’t sure if we are comfortable doing the service on them. If this is a concern for you, we will say the same thing to every one of you: We all get a period, and honestly there are enough things your period limits you to do in your life, don’t let it limit you with this. Our job is to make you feel beautiful and welcomed and accepted and lovely, on and off your period.

Basically… we don’t care. It’s all part of being a woman, and being women is something we are so proud of!

For your benefit, we have included a few survival tips for you Queens below:

Do wipe down or shower before coming in. If you don’t have wipes or time at your disposal before your appointment, don’t sweat it! We’ve got some in the room for you.

Do make sure you’re wearing a tampon or a diva cup (during shark week!).

Do take an Advil 45 minutes before your appointment to take the edge off.

Do stay hydrated. This helps lubricate the hair follicle so those bad boys come out with more ease.

Do keep in mind that we suggest you come in for your service every 4-6 weeks. Once you figure out your hair growth cycle, you can try to book with that knowledge in mind so *hopefully* it won’t land during your period.

If you still don't feel comfortable about coming in, we get it! We will not penalize you for cancelling your appointment. We only ask that you give us a call at the start of the day so we can fill in your spot.

Do remember, WE ARE ALL BOSS ASS QUEENS, and no period is going to stop you from getting your hair removed… unless you say so.