Somewhere along the way, the beauty industry convinced us all that looking good is supposed to hurt. That “beauty is pain” was just the deal. That if you flinched, you were a baby.

I spent more than 15 years inside that industry — brand strategy and marketing for companies like Therabody, Dr. Zenovia, Replenix, and a long list of others. I love this business. But the longer I worked in it, the more one thing nagged at me: we kept selling people the idea that discomfort was the price of admission. Nowhere was that more true than waxing.

The moment it clicked

Waxing is one of the best hair-removal methods there is — longer-lasting than shaving, finer regrowth over time, no daily upkeep. And yet the whole category was built around dread. Burning-hot wax. Skin ripped along with the hair. Salon trips that cost a fortune and somehow still left you bracing for the pull. The other options were either useless or terrifying.

I kept thinking: why are we acting like this has to be miserable? The technology to make waxing genuinely gentler already existed — professional-grade stripless hard wax that grips the hair and not the skin, with a low melting point so it goes on warm instead of scalding. It just wasn’t being put in people’s hands in a way that felt approachable, or, frankly, fun.

So I called BS

That’s the whole idea behind Crybaby Wax. You shouldn’t have to suffer to feel good in your own skin, and you definitely shouldn’t have to pretend it doesn’t sting when it does. Being a crybaby about it is allowed. That’s kind of the point.

We built a system — Prep, Wax, Calm — around professional-grade Italian hard wax that’s vegan, cruelty-free, and free of the junk you don’t need (parabens, phthalates, silicones). It’s strong enough for coarse, stubborn hair, including the hormonal hair that comes with PCOS and menopause, but gentle enough to use confidently without a wax-shaped panic attack.

Who we built it for

Crybaby is for the beginner who’s scared to try. It’s for the person with PCOS or hirsutism who’s tired of expensive salon visits and methods that don’t hold up to hormonal hair. It’s for anyone who’s been made to feel like wanting an easier, less painful option makes them weak.

It doesn’t. We made a whole brand to prove it — right down to the name. The crying wordplay, the irreverence, the refusal to talk down to anyone figuring this out for the first time: that’s all on purpose. Beauty can be effective and not take itself so seriously.

Where we’re headed

We’re a women-owned company building the most approachable, least painful way to wax — and a community (hi, Sob Squad) of people who’d rather laugh through it than grit their teeth. If you’ve ever felt like the beauty world expected you to just take it, this one’s for you.

Welcome. Go ahead and be a crybaby about it.

— Cat

Start with the Starter Kit

Everything you need for your first gentle, salon-quality wax — minus the salon price and the dread.

Frequently asked questions