How to Make Body Sugaring Paste

Co-authored by Karina Villalta

Last Updated: March 23, 2023 Approved

Even though it’s an ancient form of hair removal, body sugaring has only recently become popular in the modern hair removal world. It looks and works a bit like waxing, but is created from much more natural, household ingredients. ^{[1]
X
Research source} If you have a few simple ingredients and a stove, you can create and use body sugaring paste in the comfort of your own home.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Combining Ingredients

Download Article

1
Grab a saucepan. If this is your first time making a body sugaring paste, don’t use your nicest saucepan. This process can be a bit tricky, and it’s not uncommon to burn the paste, which is a nightmare to get off the pan. ^{[2]
X
Research source} For safe measure, use a pan that you could stand to lose.
- As you heat your mixture it will boil and bubble up, so make sure your saucepan is big enough that it doesn’t overflow.
2
Pour in two cups of white cane sugar. This is the simple white sugar that you probably have around the house, or can find at any grocery store. It’s important to use white sugar for this recipe. Color changes are the main indicator used to determine if your paste is finished, so white sugar should be the base of your paste. ^{[3]
X
Research source}
- If you want to make a smaller recipe, simply halve all of the ingredients. However, body sugaring paste can easily be put into a container and saved, so don’t worry if you create way more than you need for one session.
Advertisement
3
Add 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup water. You can squeeze the juice from fresh lemons or buy lemon juice from the store, as long as you get a full fourth of a cup. Pour it into the cane sugar, and then add a quarter cup of water. Using a spatula or large spoon, mix the three ingredients together until thoroughly blended. ^{[4]
X
Research source}
- Since sugaring paste only requires sugar, lemon juice, and water, you don't have to worry about chemicals or resin, like you might with traditional wax. ^{[5]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Karina Villalta
  Certified Esthetician
  
  Expert Interview. 11 August 2020.}

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Heating Your Mixture

Download Article

It is important that your mixture gets to a boil, but try to raise the temperature slowly and carefully so that the paste doesn’t burn. Don’t step away from the stove, especially if this is your first time making body sugaring paste. It can be tricky to get it hot enough without it burning, so you need to be vigilant. ^{[6]
X
Research source} It will be obvious if it starts burning, because it will turn a very dark, almost black color.
2
Stir the mixture continuously until it's boiling. Don’t turn the heat on and leave your pot unattended. Keep stirring it over and over again, making sure that it never sticks to the pot. ^{[7]
X
Research source} As your mixture reaches a boil, it will begin to thin out. When you see it start to bubble it’s almost there, but make sure you allow it to get to a full-fledged boil. ^{[8]
X
Research source}
- If you own a candy thermometer, use it here. Your mixture should reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the "hardball" candy stage. ^{[9]
  X
  Research source}
You can use a plate, a napkin, a piece of paper, or anything. This will allow you to examine the color. Your finished product should be a golden color. When your mixture has reached a boil and is that color, turn your heat off. Make sure you’re still stirring.
4
Use a microwave if that's all you have. Instead of the ingredients outlined previously, you will be using one cup of sugar, 1/4 a cup of honey, and juice from half of a lemon (about two tablespoons). Combine these ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and stir until everything is blended. Then, heat your mixture in the microwave for two minutes. ^{[10]
X
Research source}
- Don't go anywhere as it heats. You need to stir your mixture every 20 to 30 seconds.
- After two minutes are up, let it cool off a bit to use or store.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Storing Your Paste

Download Article

This is especially important if you are going to use some of it right now for hair removal. You want it to be warm, but not hot, or else you can seriously burn yourself. ^{[11]
X
Research source} You can learn how to use your finished body sugaring paste here. Even if you aren’t going to use it immediately, let it cool off before you transfer it into a container.
2
Pour your paste into a microwaveable-safe container. It’s important that the container can be heated, because you will want to give your paste a quick reheat before using it in the future. Store your body sugaring paste at room temperature. This will keep it from thickening, and make reheating an easier process. ^{[12]
X
Research source}
- If you don’t have a microwave to use, you can always run your container under hot water to heat the paste.
If it thickens up a bit, add a few drops of water before placing it in the microwave. Heat your paste so that it’s warm, not hot. Again, it is easy to burn yourself with this so take extra precautions. When you reheat the paste, it will thicken a bit. ^{[13]
X
Research source}

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Question

What ingredients do I need to make sugaring paste?

Karina Villalta
Certified Esthetician
Karina Villalta is a certified Esthetician and Owner of Oh Sweet and Sugar and Shears, a skincare and hair removal service located in Seattle and Kirkland, Washington. With over eight years of experience, Karina specializes in eyebrow shaping, a hair removal technique called sugaring, and organic facials. Karina started her career and was trained at Benefit Cosmetics Brow Bar. Since opening her own business, Karina ensures her clients are educated about their skin and helps them implement personalized skincare routines.

Karina Villalta

Certified Esthetician

Expert Answer

All you'll need is sugar, lemon juice, and water. That's why people often prefer this to traditional wax—sugar wax has no chemicals or resin, and it doesn't need to be heated too much.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 2
Question

Can I use this on my face?

Community Answer

Yes.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 5 Helpful 40
Question

Can I use golden syrup instead of honey?

Community Answer

Yes, you can, but honey works better.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 5 Helpful 25

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Tips

When you use sugaring to remove hair, it pulls the hair out by the roots. If you repeat the treatments every 6 weeks or so, you should start to notice the hair gradually becoming finer and sparser. ^{[14]
X
Expert Source

Karina Villalta
Certified Esthetician

Expert Interview. 11 August 2020.}

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Getting the right consistency is extremely important. Be sure to follow the recipe. If the mixture sticks to your skin at room temperature, or if the mixture is too hard to spread at body temperature, it’s not correct. Try again and you'll get it right. The color is a very good indicator of when you need to stop boiling.

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Warnings

The paste is an extraordinarily messy substance, and is very hard to clean up. For cleaning pots, heat them over the burner until the excess paste is liquid, then pour it into a garbage pail. Added Edit: For a thin coating of sugar paste still in the pan, simply boil a kettle or two of water and rinse them out with that. For larger quantities of leftover sugar mix still in the pan, fill with water to the appropriate level and bring to the boil. The sugar mix will dissolve in the hot water, which can be poured away down a suitably tough drain or toilet. The pouring of large quantities of hot syrupy liquid down a sink is not recommended. Please be careful handling heavy pans with hot syrupy liquid in them.

Thanks
Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Expert Source

Karina Villalta
Certified Esthetician

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

Log in

How to Make Body Sugaring Paste

Steps

Combining Ingredients

Heating Your Mixture

Storing Your Paste

Expert Q&A

Tips

Warnings

You Might Also Like

References

About This Article

Reader Success Stories

Did this article help you?

Quizzes

You Might Also Like

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Featured Articles

Featured Articles

Watch Articles

Trending Articles

Quizzes

Explore Categories