Yves Rocher Aloé Véra Essentiel Cold Wax Strips

Product: Aloe Vera Cold Wax Stips
Producer: Yves Rocher
Price: Full price £8.50 for 8 double strips (can usually be bought with some kind of offer, Yves Rocher usually has 50% or 2-for-1 offers)

I use these wax strips to remove hair from my legs and from my bikini line. The intructions say you also can use it for your arm pits, but I've never tried that, so my review will focus on the areas that I have used it for.

The strips are very easy to use. You rubb the double strip between your hands to heat it by friction, and then pull the tow parts apart. (Double strip? It means two pieces of paper with wax on, stuck together with the wax in the middle. This way they are not sticky when you take them out of the box. The 8 double strips give 16 pieces to use.) After pulling the wax strips apart, you put them on your leg (or chosen area), count to 5 elephants and then pull the strip away. Make sure to pull it against the growing direction of the hair, and try to get the whole strip in one pull, for maximum effect. Then repeat the procedure untill you are done.
The strips can be used 1-3 times, depending on how much hair you have. Usually I manage twice on one strip, after that they are not effective any longer, and then I have to re-do that area anyway. The strips are about 20 cm long and 10 cm wide, so if you use each strip twice you'll have enough for both legs and a few strips to spare. For small or tricky areas you can devide the strip into smaller pieces to make it easier.

So are they good? Yes, reasonably. They are effective in removing the hair, and they are quite cheap (if you get them with an offer, and as I've said before, with Yves Rocher you always do). I use them regulary, and compared to other ways of removing hair, waxing is the most effective. They leave your skin nice and soft. The scent from the Aloe Vera is just a faint hint, and not overwhelming as some Yves Rocher products.

The drawbacks then... Well, there is no denying it, it hurts to wax. It's not unbearable, but it sure does sting. So this is nothing for the sensitive. Also, waxing will always leave your legs full of bright red spots for 12-24 hours after, as you have just pulled out the hairs with their roots. This will go away, don't worry, but don't plan a big party with short dress and bare legs the same evening. Try to keep out of the sun for 24 hours, otherwise it gets worse. These problems are not specific to Yves Rochers wax strips though, they come with all kinds.
Drawbacks specific to these wax strips are that they tend to leave a small amount of wax on the legs, a thin line where the edge of the strip was placed. This is easily removes with the S.O.S. Post-Depilation Oil with Aloe Vera that both removes wax residue and soothes the red skin.

I don't know if these strips are the best on the market, but their effectiveness and their price makes me use them again and again. They give the desierd result, and leave you with a beautifully soft and clean skin. They remove all the hair (some strips I've tried leave half of it there). I use the strips together with the post-depilation oil, as recomended, and am happy with the result. If you want to remove hair from your body and can take a small amount of pain, I recomend Yves Rochers Aloe Vera Wax Strips.