Flamingo Head-To-Toe Wax Kit Review
Will These No-Heat Wax Strips Do The Trick?
Flamingo is a women's personal care brand that includes wax strips in addition to their razors and other body-care products. They're the sister company to Harry's (of razor fame) and offer a couple of way ways to remove unwanted hair.
I've never tried at-home waxing before and I thought this would be a great time to try it since salons aren't open right now in many parts of the country, including mine. Microwavable wax seems dangerous so when I saw that Flamingo offers ready to use wax strips that don't require any heat, I thought I'd give theirs a whirl. What do I have to lose (besides unwanted hair)?
About this At-Home Waxing Kit
The Product: Flamingo Head to Toe Wax Kit
The Cost: $19.00 (face or body wax kits are also available separately for $10/each)
What You Get:
- 20 Soft Gel Face Wax Strips
- 24 Soft Gel Body Wax Strips
- 12 Post-Wax Cloths
- 1 Calming Serum
Ships to: Anywhere in the U.S., including overseas territories.
Good to Know: Flamingo is also available at Target stores and target.com.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
Pros & Cons
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| The Cons |
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| Is It Worth It? |
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Why did I try the Flamingo Head to Toe Wax Kit?
Since salons have been closed for over two months now in many states across the US, I got to wondering what people who normally had regular waxing appointments are doing to keep up with their hair removal regimen. While I'm fine letting my body and face hair flow, I think there are a lot of people champing at the bit right now to pay a visit to their Estheticians. I've never tried at-home waxing and since I (up until recently) was learning how to wax with professional-grade wax in beauty school, and I was curious how the Flamingo Wax Kit compared since I am already familiar with their razors (which I reviewed here).
Ordering Flamingo
Since Flamingo isn't a subscription, it's super straightforward and easy to order. Just add the kit to your bag and check out. It's that simple! Shipping is free and I only had to pay $1.14 in tax on top of the cost of the kit. It took six days for my order to ship once I made the purchase (not bad in these COVID-19 times), and it arrived just two days later via USPS.
What comes in the kit?
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The Head to Toe Waxing Kit is essentially a bundle of the face waxing kit and the body waxing kit in one. You'll save a dollar getting both this way since each one is $10 on its own. They come in a branded cardboard Flamingo box, in their own respective boxes.
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Face Wax Kit
The first kit in this duo is for my face. Everything comes neatly packaged with super clear instructions and photos on how to use them. The only downside is that when I read the fine print on the nice vellum info card, I saw that these strips are NOT recommended for eyebrows which is one of the main things I wanted to try it on. I'm not sure if it's just a legality thing since getting anything too close to your eyes can be scary or if they think waxing your own brows with what I assume would be partially impaired vision is not a smart directive.
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20 Soft Gel Face Wax Strips
The kit comes with 20 soft gel wax strips that come stuck to each other. What that means is that you'll only see 10 pieces, but each one peels apart to reveal two single-sided wax strips. The actual wax strip on the cloth backing is 2.25" long by 0.75" wide. Smaller strips for smaller areas- makes sense!
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6 Post-Wax Cloths
The kit also includes six single-use post-wax cloths. Each cloth unfolds to be roughly 5.5" squared and is pre-moistened with oil. This is how you'll remove any leftover sticky wax and make sure your skin is nice and clean. It's also soothing to the skin after the trauma you just put it through.
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1 Calming Serum, 0.17 oz.
Finally, the face wax kit comes with a small tube of calming serum. The tube has a metal rollerball which allows for easy application to the sensitive areas of the face with a nice cooling effect. The calming serum has some nice soothing ingredients like aloe, squalane, and lavender oil although it doesn't have much a scent at all. There is a slight medicinal smell to it that is barely detectable.
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Body Wax Kit
The body wax kit is the other half of this duo and is much like the face kit, but larger. It too comes with step-by-step directions (also available online) and a vellum info sheet with important precautions.
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24 Soft Gel Body Wax Strips
In the body kit, there are four more wax strips and they're much larger. These strips are 5.25" long by 2" wide so that they're more suitable for larger areas like legs, arms, or armpits.
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6 Post-Wax Cloths
The only other item included in the body kit is six packets of the same post-wax cloths from the face kit. Same 5.5" squared size as well.
How do I use the wax strips?
The soft gel wax strips have no added fragrances or artificial colors and are made of a unique blend that Flamingo is the first to bring stateside. Not only does each kit come with instructions, but there is also a guide online right here. Anyone new to waxing should definitely read it over before moving forward. Each type of wax is different and needs to be applied and removed in specific directions.
- First things first- there are certain criteria that Estheticians call "contraindications" which you should be aware of before you wax. If you meet any of the criteria- you should postpone your home wax sesh. These include things like sunburn, breakouts, rashes, etc. Even older (over 65) delicate skin should be handled with caution. Do a quick check of the ingredients in your skincare too. Products with retinoids, vitamins A and C, alcohol, or any recent exfoliation could make your skin overly sensitive or generally a no-go for waxing. Be sure to not double-wax any delicate areas like your face, AKA, don't do a second go 'round on the same day. Wait 24-48 hours to give your skin a breather. Best thing to do? The ol' patch test! Try a small part of skin and see how it reacts before proceeding.
- Next, you'll want to make sure the hair you're about to wax is the right length. Flamingo suggests at least 1.5mm long. How the heck long is that? About the thickness of a toothpick, they say!
- Your skin should be nice and clean before proceeding so that the soft gel can easily grab the hair. Make sure you haven't used any lotion or body oil pre-wax. That won't allow the wax to grip the hair properly.
- Now that you're all set- you will slowly pull the wax strips apart from each other to expose two one-sided strips. I noticed the face strips are quite a bit softer than the larger body strips. Almost a bit melty which made them potentially a little messy. At this time, you'll want to pay attention to the direction that your hair grows. Generally speaking, leg and facial hair grows down, but everyone is different. Armpits can be really tricky and grow in spirals so that it's not just a simple direction.
- Placing the strip wax-side against your face, you'll want to gently rub it against your skin in the same direction of your hair growth. For my legs, that means I'm gently rubbing all four of my fingers downward. For my upper lip, I rub from the center of my lip outward or down.
- Give yourself a moment here. Reflect for a second before the pain that you know is coming. Then take your left hand (if you're a righty) and hold the skin of the area you're about to wax taut. If you're waxing your shin, that means you'll grab both sides of the back of your leg (basically, your calf) and pull tightly backward to brace the skin on your shin. The looser the skin is, the more it can hurt pulling the wax off, so this is key!
- Now, with your other hand, take one end of the strip and pull against the direction of your hair (so for my leg, bottom-up). As Flamingo says, just like pulling off a bandage, in one swift motion. Try to keep your hand parallel with your leg as well while you're pulling. Don't just pull up to the sky.
- The worst part is now over and you can reuse that same strip at least one more time if it still has a stickiness to it. You might be able to reuse that strip a few times if you have finer hair. Not every single hair came up with my first pull, so I went back and sort of spot-pulled the ones that I missed. If you're curious like me- it's also time to examine the strip to see all the satisfying hair that came out.
- For the body- you'll want to complete a full area (say, the entire bottom half of a leg at the least) before using a post-wax cloth. These babies have quite a bit of oil on them, so you can cover a large area and since they're single-use you should toss them afterward. You may be able to use a single cloth for a full leg though. For the face, I'd complete a full area like the whole upper lip, or heck, even the full face before applying the cloth.
- Finally, if you're waxing your face, you'll want to use the calming serum since the skin on our face is more sensitive.
How long do they last?
I don't have a particularly hairy face, so my upper lip was the only area I ended up being able to use the face strips on. That is until I remembered how hairy my toes are, hahaha! I found these to be the perfect size to take care of that area without using the large body strips. Other uses for the smaller face strips could be the chin, sides of the face, or even to clean up the back of your hairline if you have a trusted friend or family member available. I think this kit has plenty to go around.
Although the body wax strips are larger, my first time using Flamingo, I found that one kit would most likely only take care of a pair of the lower part of my legs (below the knee) with perhaps some leftover for armpits (the worst pain I have ever felt and do not recommend). Everyone has different hair types and are different sizes though, so you'll really need to figure out what's right for you through trial and error. For me- I think I'd need two kits to get a full double leg wax taken care of.
One week after waxing my lower legs, I'm just starting to see the slightest hair growth with a stubbly feeling. For me, the hair that the wax strips pulled out lasted at least twice as long (if not longer) as shaving usually does. The fine hair on my lip still feels and looks completely gone, so it's safe to say that these are more effective on vellus (fine) hair.
So, what’s the verdict?
I don't think that Flamingo's wax strips are as good as having a professional wax at a salon, but it sure beats shaving as far as how long it lasts. Flamingo has made a product that is super easy for anyone to use and without the potential to burn delicate skin with hot wax. That's certainly a plus! In these non-operational salon times that most of us are currently living in, I think these wax strips are a good alternative and they're also a heck of a lot cheaper than going to a professional Esthetician.
I found the body wax strips to be a bit less messy compared to the face strips since they were curiously a bit more solid. I found the face wax to be a little too soft so that it didn't pull off as clean as the body strips but it was still able to grab my fine vellus hairs. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't advised to use them on my brows which were one of the main areas I wanted to clean up. These don't perform without a little pain, but I think Flamingo's aftercare cloths and serum are smart items to include and quite frankly, very necessary.
Have you tried the Flamingo Head to Toe Wax Kit?
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