By Stephanie Taylor, Managing Director of Kegel8

“With salons still closed and uncertainty over when they’re likely to open again, many of us are experimenting with at-home beauty and hair treatments to keep on top of our regimes.

Video sharing app TikTok has become a go-to place for life hacks during lockdown, and with its latest viral trend we’re finally getting the at-home alternative to salon waxes. But is it safe?

‘Sugaring’ is a natural alternative to waxing, and it has resurfaced in a big way on TikTok recently. Using all-natural ingredients, sugaring is said to be ideal for the sensitive skinned among us, and a cheaper alternative to salon waxing, consisting of just three kitchen staples – sugar, lemon and water.

Some women (and some men) have taken to waxing their legs and armpits using the sugaring technique, while others, are trying it out on their pubic hair too.

Sugaring, which involves mixing sugar and lemon with boiling water to create a sticky solution that will pull hair from the skin, can cause severe scolding to the sensitive skin in your intimate area if the temperature of the water is too hot when applied. This can leave you with painful burns, dangerous infections and irreversible scarring.

Very worryingly, the recipe is very similar to a homemade substance often used by prison inmates as a weapon, known colloquially as napalm. The mixture sticks to the skin and intensifies burns, leaving people with horrific injuries.

This lockdown, I’d recommend leaving intimate waxing to the experts or buying an at-home kit from a recognised brand which come with tried and tested instructions to keep you safe.’