[PSA] Do not get facial waxing if you are using retinol (and what you can do if you did)
I know, I know. This should be obvious. I feel like an an idiot. I did it, I suffered, and luckily I recovered. But the first few days I was in utter distress and fear I would have horrible scarring on my face forever. I searched the posts of this subreddit as well several others for advice and photos as well as updates for reassurance; there are a few out there - but I just wanted to make my own post and also share what worked for me. It's been 7 days since the waxing now and you can't tell it even happened. So if someone is reading this right now with painful facial wax burns, I hope this provides you some reassurance and hope that it will all be okay.
I have been using a retinol serum for the past 3 months or so with pretty good results - I slowly built it into my PM routine from every few days and now my skin tolerates it well and I use it nightly. Last week, the day before my 30th birthday, I decided to get my eyebrows waxed in hopes to clean them up a bit for the birthday photos. I usually tweeze my own brows to save money, but I have had my brows waxed many times before (not quite regularly, but maybe a few times a year since I was a teenager) so I pretty much know the drill and what to expect. Overall I always like the way it turns out and it looks better than whatever I can do myself at home. Maybe a handful of times I had redness or a small burn area on the upper eye lid but they usually would resolve within a day or two.
Yeah, to be honest I simply forgot that I had started using retinol. The esthetician also did not ask me anything about what skin products I use/my skin routine either, although I am not blaming her per say because hindsight is 20/20 and now it seems obvious.
She started with my right eyebrow and finished the entire brow, both upper and lower as well as the area in between my brows. The waxing process didn't hurt more than usual really, and the wax didn't feel extra hot. It was when she started applying witch hazel that I knew something was wrong because my skin was absolutely burning and I was immediately in tremendous pain. At first I attributed this to the witch hazel (I never use this personally so it was new to me) and asked for tissue to wipe it off immediately. She became visibly nervous and then tried to put on Aloe Vera which also led to intense pain and burning. I wiped that off too. She then wanted to try Vaseline or bacitracin but at that point I just didn't want anything on the area of skin asked her to move on to the left brow (again, I know I'm an idiot).
So she did the left eyebrow, which hurts no more than usual, and she doesn't apply anything afterwards at my insistence because I'm afraid it will burn again. At this point I asked to see the mirror and see how horrendous the right side of my forehead looks. There are long red burn marks all over the area and I was horrified. I could tell she is very, very nervous now because she knew something went wrong too. Again, neither of us think of my usual skincare routine possibly being part of it. There are slight burn marks above my left eyebrow too as well as on my left eyelid but not nearly as bad. I'm not sure if this has to do with having nothing put on it after the waxing, but I would think so since it wasn't nearly as bad as the right side.
The esthetician tried to put on Vaseline and bacitracin again but at this point I just want to leave. I was in horrible pain and just wanted to go home and ice the area, and I was crying pretty hard at this point. What made me more unhappy was that she was refusing to give me the hard copy of the receipt - almost like she felt it would be admitting guilt or something and was worried I would be back. I didn't particularly care and was just scared for my face. I took a photo of the receipt and I didn't tip her, which I'm not proud of because I usually tip well for these services but I was really upset.
An hour later, I was gently icing through a layer of towel and have taken some Motrin. Later that night the marks still look absolutely horrendous. I was gutted, not because the birthday photos may look bad, but more I was terrified the marks will scar and be permanent. I scoured reddit for photos of other people who have had facial wax burns and pray for success stories that they heal okay. Most of the posts indicate they do, but I'm not sure because the people who have posted photos had much less severe burns than I did. There were streaks of burn marks surrounding the entirely of my right eyebrow and both of my eyelids had them as well. I couldn't sleep the first night both from anxiety as well as severe, searing pain.
The next day after reading what I did on reddit posts, I went to Walgreens and picked up some stuff to help healing. The first thing I used was the Scaraway ointment which I applied as instructed over the area. At this point it wasn't scabbing over just yet and the burns were still very red and tender. I only washed it very gently with cold water in the morning and used no products at all. So I applied the ointment over them once my skin air dried.
The next thing I used with Mederma silicone sheets. Honestly the generic silicone sheets (Walgreens brand) was much cheaper and probably would have worked fine/the same, but I went with Mederma just because I know the brand and felt desperate. The Scaraway is a brand I read on Reddit and was expensive as well. I think in total for the ointment and the silicone sheets I paid around $60. Again, I was desperate and would have paid anything to increase the chances of healing.
I had to cut the silicone sheet squares into shapes to fit around my brows and eyelids. I used the ointment and these sheets for about 3-4 more days and within 3 days it was already healing really well. I also used sunscreen and stayed indoors as much as possible. When I was in the car/outdoors I wore hats and sunglasses to minimize sun exposure. By day 5 you could not even tell I was burned at all! I am so immensely relieved.
So yeah, I just wanted to share my idiocy and what I did. It has worked for me. Now is about 8 days after the waxing and you really can't tell anything happened at all. Maybe it would have healed without those products anyways but I have zero regret using them. I was so distraught when it all happened I didn't take any photos of my face at all, so I'm sorry I don't have any to share. But my face looked far worse than any photos I was able to find from reddit when I searched "wax facial burns" or anything like that!