True or False: When your pores bleed during a wax service, that means those hairs will never grow back.
Answer: As much as I like this myth, it’s mostly FALSE. I will explain why it’s a little true, too. But, I think to fully give all you knowledge-seeking waxers the answers you’re looking for, we have to get down to the basic anatomy of the hair structure and surrounding skin.
This is what your basic hair root structure looks like under the surface of your skin:
The hair is nourished by a tiny pair of capillaries at the base of the hair structure, right near where the root bulb is located. Those capillaries are constantly feeding blood to the hair, promoting growth and health of the structure and removing waste. When the sheath, the soft connective tissue holding that hair in the pore, is ruptured and removed during a depilatory treatment like waxing, that tiny little blood vessel is sometimes stimulated and a small pin-prick of blood follows the hair out. That tissue is repaired, and eventually a brand new baby hair is created, but this process takes a minute (which is why waxing is a longer-lasting hair removal method than other options like shaving).
Now here is where things get a bit fuzzy—pun totally intended. Our skin and hair structures are very smart, complex systems and much like other areas of the body, they respond to repetition and in a way the structures adjust and eventually they kind of learn to not grow back. I always think of it as the same way your skin toughens up and forms calluses; in a way, that is what happens to the hair system when waxed repeatedly. Your skin doesn’t callus up from it, but internally, the constant removal of hair at the root can cause damage that prompts the root system to stop producing a hair all together. This mild damage occurs regardless of whether you see blood or not—so, if you see no blood during a wax that doesn’t mean you won’t see the same long term result as someone who did.
A factor that can increase the amount that pores bleed is taking an over-the-counter pain reliever before your service, or even just being on certain prescription medications. Some of these medicines can cause your blood to thin (think aspirin) and therefore you bleed easier and a little more than normal. It’s not necessarily dangerous, but it is good to let your wax technician know prior to your service so that they know why you may be prone to bleeding.
As with all methods of hair removal, there are certain measures professionals should be taking to ensure maximum safety for you and themselves during any waxing service: always wearing protective medical-grade gloves during the entire service; never double-dipping or cross-contaminating the wax; always use a gentle, topical antiseptic cleanser (Elate's Pre Wax Antispetic Cleanser is top-notch) prior to the wax is key to protecting you against infection and unnecessary irritation. If your technician is skilled and taking the proper precautions to wax you with the safest methods and highest quality products, a few specs of blood is literally nothing to worry about.
