Skip to content
a group of people sitting at a table in a room
Sugaring 101

Maximize The Benefits of Sugaring Hair Removal in San Diego, CA

In order for you to have the most positive experience at Swanky Sugar and get the best results, there are a few things we need you to do. Get all the information you need to prepare for your appointment, as well as what to expect and how to care for your skin between appointments!

Book an Appointment
a bedroom with a bed and desk in a room

How to Prepare for a Sugaring Appointment

If you are just getting started, stop shaving or trimming at least 2 weeks before you are scheduled to sugar. If you are already sugaring or waxing, revisit monthly, and don’t shave the sugared areas in between appointments.  That ensures we have enough length to get a nice firm grip on the hair without a struggle. Two days before your appointment, exfoliate the area to keep hair from getting trapped under the skin.

On the day of your appointment, please plan to arrive a few minutes early. We want you to have time to validate your parking, grab a beverage, and chill for a minute. If you aren’t able to come straight from a shower, please use the wipes at the client station to ensure you have totally clean, dry skin.

Things to Do Before Your Appointment

  • Stop shaving for 2 weeks
  • Exfoliate 2 days before
  • Drink plenty of water
  • Don’t use lotions or oils
  • Thoroughly clean the skin
  • Avoid caffeine
  • Avoid spray tans
  • Take ibuprofen if desired
  • Stop shaving for 2 weeks
  • Exfoliate 2 days before
  • Drink plenty of water
  • Don’t use lotions or oils
  • Thoroughly clean the skin
  • Avoid caffeine
  • Avoid spray tans
  • Take ibuprofen if desired
a woman sitting on a table

Sugaring Aftercare

After your service, you’ll want to avoid introducing bacteria to those fresh follicles. Your skin is extra susceptible to irritation and breakout. It’s also best to wait at least 2 days to resume your exfoliation routine.

Things to Avoid for 24 Hours After Your Appointment

  • Intense workouts and sweating
  • Saunas
  • Hot tubs
  • Swimming pools
  • Ocean water
  • Direct sun
  • Friction
  • Products with harsh chemicals or fragrances
  • Intense workouts and sweating
  • Saunas
  • Hot tubs
  • Swimming pools
  • Ocean water
  • Direct sun
  • Friction
  • Products with harsh chemicals or fragrances
a living room filled with furniture and a table

Cancellation Policy

We request that you give us a minimum of 12 hours notice to make changes to or cancel your appointment. You will begin receiving reminders for your appointment 2 days prior. There are links to confirm, cancel, reschedule right there in the reminder text, or you can reply to the message for help from a real person. You can also dial the spa front desk at (858) 663-5914 if you would like to communicate over the phone. Last minute cancellations due to personal emergencies, work schedule changes, traffic, illness, etc. are the responsibility of the client.

Cancelling Before Your Appointment

  • Minimum of 12 hours notice
  • You will begin receiving text reminders 2 days prior
  • Texts contain links confirm, cancel, or reschedule
  • You can also reschedule by calling (858) 663-5914
  • Last minute cancellations are responsibility of the client
  • Minimum of 12 hours notice
  • You will begin receiving text reminders 2 days prior
  • Texts contain links confirm, cancel, or reschedule
  • You can also reschedule by calling (858) 663-5914
  • Last minute cancellations are responsibility of the client

In Between Sugaring Sessions

In between appointments, you want to be sure you’re taking proper care of your skin. This means keeping it exfoliated and hydrated. Dead skin buildup will trap hairs in the follicle, and potentially cause inflammation and ingrown hairs. Dry skin can constrict the follicle, and add to the congestion. Your Esthetician will help you build a custom home care regimen that is perfect for your lifestyle and suits your budget.

In Between Sugaring Sessions

In between appointments, you want to be sure you’re taking proper care of your skin. This means keeping it exfoliated and hydrated. Dead skin buildup will trap hairs in the follicle, and potentially cause inflammation and ingrown hairs. Dry skin can constrict the follicle, and add to the congestion. Your Esthetician will help you build a custom home care regimen that is perfect for your lifestyle and suits your budget.

Sugaring Appointment FAQs

Full disclosure: sort of. The first appointment is pretty uncomfortable for many people. But the sugar is very gentle on the skin, we make it quick, and we employ pain-saving techniques. Your second appointment is about half as bad! So keep it goin. Trust! Ibuprofen helps to take the edge off. We recommend this if you consider yourself a sensitive client, if you are close to your period, or if you just want it to hurt less.

Yes! It’s easy to work around a string or a cup. We do it all the time! It’s not weird, promise. Just know that your skin is likely to be a little more sensitive around this time.

On any given area of the face and body, whether you sugar, shave, trim, or just let the hair grow, the hair follicle will flow through its growth phases naturally—anagen (active growth), catagen (transition), telogen (rest), and exogen (shed). It will do this with or without a hair in it! 

The length of each of those stages varies from person to person and is different for each area of the body. However, we do know that the average growth rate during the anagen phase is 1⁄4” every 2 weeks. Hormonal imbalances, stress, weather, diet, and many other factors can cause fluctuations in that growth rate.

In order to allow for sufficient growth to remove the hair clean with sugar paste and without excessive tweezing, waiting 4 weeks in between appointments is ideal. By 6 weeks, the hair may already be detaching and no longer in the ideal stage for sugaring. You may also be seeing a new batch of hair emerging at this time. 

At 4 weeks, services can be timed around menstrual cycles and months as well.

After your first visit, as long as you stay on a 4-week schedule, you keep the visible growth very light (about 30%), removing only anagen hairs at each visit. You no longer see the hairs in the transition and rest phases—you just enjoy that time with no visible hair as the follicle flows through its natural growth cycle.

If you wait until the hair is long, you are closer to seeing a new hair form, and enjoy less time with no hair. Sticking to a regular 4-week schedule—removing hairs while they’re attached to the papilla (root) and actively growing—will damage the follicle and reduce the strength and growth rate of the hair.

Never! We adjust our paste and technique to suit the type of hair we are sugaring. Once you have completed your first service, your hair will dramatically decrease in density and strength, so that thickness will not return unless you stop sugaring for months or longer.

We request that you give us a minimum of 12 hours notice to make changes to or cancel your appointment. You will begin receiving reminders for your appointment 2 days prior. There are links to confirm, cancel, reschedule right there in the reminder text, or you can reply to the message for help from a real person. You can also dial the spa front desk at (858) 663-5914 if you like to communicate over the phone. Last minute cancellations due to personal emergencies, work schedule changes, traffic, illness, etc. are the responsibility of the client.

Discover Your New Favorite Time-Saving Routine

We’re a local, woman-owned business on a mission to help anyone in our community cut down on shower time while feeling cleaner than ever. Find us at our home base in Ocean Beach anytime. Give us a call at (858) 663-5914 or book your appointment online today!

Discover Your New Favorite Time-Saving Routine

We’re a local, woman-owned business on a mission to help anyone in our community cut down on shower time while feeling cleaner than ever. Find us at our home base in Ocean Beach anytime. Give us a call at (858) 663-5914 or book your appointment online today!

Back To Top