Wax Play Introduction

Today’s focus is Wax Play.

Excuse my absence recently, My Long-term health issues have broken through the control of medications, so I’ve been all over the place with my physical and mental health. But I’m slowly building my tolerance up again so I’m not going anywhere, I’ve got way too many hacks and tips to share for your benefit. Can’t go leaving you in the dark!

Wax play is a kind of temperature play that involves pouring/dripping wax from a lit candle onto a person’s body. There are a few things you should know before you embark on waxy fun.

Number One: YOU CAN’T USE ORDINARY CANDLES!

There’s multiple tips, tricks and information you should have before starting off. Firstly, don’t buy any normal, off the shelf candles. Candles must be Paraffin free- No Paraffin or made specifically for wax play (there are many blends that are acceptable). I would highly recommend soy candles. Finding candles is easy enough on shopping platforms such as Esty by searching for “wax play candles”. A shop that is perfect and my personal GO TO for wax play candles is Red Rigger Candles. There are so many fantastic shapes, sizes and colours to choose from and you can feel at ease knowing the candles are specifically designed to drip wax on skin.

Before you purchase there’s another very important “hack” or rather, core piece of information you need to know. This is “Colour affects Temperature”. It’s easy to remember with this memory hack: “Light colour, Light Pain, Deep Colour, Deep Pain”. So, to completely spell it out so you don’t make a mistake, white is going to cause the least amount of pain because the lighter the colour, the less heat required to melt the wax. Black will cause the most pain as the burning temperature/melting temperature is much higher. Blue is typically a mid-range on the wax play pain scale however the shade of the colour could change this, as in if it were a dark/navy blue then that is definitely going to be higher on the pain scale closer to your deep purples and blacks.

My absolute favourite candles are the UV Candles from Red Rigger Candles. When used under black light they glow very brightly, and it looks so very pretty! Also, these are on the lighter side of the wax pain scales so perfect for beginners. Most of Red Riggers candles are made in a cone shape which means they fit into Shibari/bondage rope work very effectively so later down your adventure road it’ll be great to invest to combine kinks.

The last hack is “Distance from Skin”. When pouring/dripping wax on your or another’s skin, the distance you hold the candle from the skin will alter the temperature (Not Massively but a bit) of the wax when it hits the skin. The further you hold the candle away, the cooler the wax will be when hitting the skin as it cools down when traveling a longer distance through the air. Therefore, if you hold the candle close to the skin the drop from candle to skin is shorter which means less time to cool resulting in hotter temperature wax droplets. Be aware that some candle wax will splatter more than others and the splatter area will increase with distance held away from the skin. So be careful especially in areas where sensitive skin is nearby.

When beginning, start on the less sensitive areas of the body avoiding genitals, inner thigh and armpits. My added recommendation is to never go above the jawline under any circumstance, so you steer well away from the eyes. A persons back is always a great place to start as well as being a larger canvas in which you can play around making patterns. Further to genitals, inner thighs and armpits, any place on the body with new or damages skin such as stretch marks and scarring can be much more sensitive to pain and heat. Make sure when having your initial planning discussion or any point before you begin that you ask or express where these areas are if they exist so they can be pointed out to you as Red Zones ( No Go Zones) or Amber/Orange Zones (higher pain therefore more care and check ins must occur). Don’t feel weird about grabbing a (safe for skin) marker and drawing out the areas in fact I’d recommend this as it will make you both feel more secure and well prepared.

Different implements mean different types of pain, so always remember to start light with any new kinks which for wax play means a white candle. Have fun and Stay kinky in the safest way possible!

Nowhere have I said you need another person to do wax play so feel free to order some candles online and make pretty patterns on your belly and legs to pass the time in this time of isolation.  

Once Comfortable and some experience with temperatures you can introduce parafin blends and other forms of temperature play, however i highly reccommend starting with parafin free or low parafin blends in the begining. Start at a lower melt temperature before increasing for not only safety sake but also comfort with pain levels.

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edit:
Hi everyone, to address some quetions and comments that have come up…..

A quick google will tell you Parafin wax has a higher melting temperature resulting in a higher likelyhood of burn related injury when applied to skin, such as blistering. Parafin is also a by-product of gasoline and overall less safe for skin contact from a chemical point of view.

Soy wax (or a blend) has a lower melting point which is just above skin temperature and is safer for use on skin which is much more appropriate for beginners. Also Soy candles are made from Natural ingredients meaning less chemical by-product when used.

Basically Paraffin has to get alot hotter before it melts as its more complex therefore thats going to be alot hotter on your skin and more likely to cause injury. For a beginner and those trying it out, i personally don’t believe this is appropriate. I would rather promote safety and reduction of injury likelihood, especially for those just giving it a go. We want peoples experiences to be positive starting out, not blistering. If you’re into that kind of thing, and that’s what you want, then thats the next step AFTER the senario this post promotes.

With regards to candle making to extend the “life” of a candle parafin blends are introduced and this makes perfect sense. No shade. I come in peace.

Buying candles from vendors experienced in Wax play is totally fine as they will have worked out a blend that is lower risk of injury and have higher melting point candles for experienced wax play labelled. Basically this is a “Trust the expert” kind of thing.

There is alot of conflicting information out there but for beginners this is what i would reccomend.
With regards to pricing and accessibility, when just beggining id absolutely reccommend finding a buddy who is also interested and going halvsies for the safer blends of candles available. Yes it is more expensive because, capitalism is crappy like that and yes, a gasoline by-product is going to be cheaper than naturally obtained resource. Vasoline is a prime example of this concept in action if you need another example. It is bullshit. I agree.