Every hard wax strip needs a lip created at the end of the strip. This is the tiny, lifted edge of cooled wax you grip between your fingertips to start the rip.
Your fingernails dig under the cooled edge to get it started. The initial lift pulls hair uncomfortably.
You grab the lifted lip, pull to remove the strip, and the strip tears in half.
You lay a second strip with the same issue. This time you try to pinch the lip trying to grip.
Wax that will not lift gets another layer over the same spot...hot wax twice on raw skin.
Estheticians spend hours of training learning how to make a lip at the end of a wax strip. Stiff Upper Rip removes need for the skill from the equation.From US Patent No. 12,611,023 B2
Stiff Upper Rip is a small biodegradable paper strip split into two functional zones. The top half is coated with a skin-safe adhesive and protected by a removable liner. The bottom half is bare paper, your built-in handle.
Every set ships with 50 tabs split between two sizes. Larger tabs for body, smaller tabs for precision work. Mix and match to match the area you are waxing.
Best for: full legs, half legs, underarms, bikini line, lower back, chest, forearms, any longer strip where you need extra grip area.
Best for: upper lip, eyebrows (shaping + clean-up), chin, sideburns, between brows, hairline, any small strip where larger tabs would crowd.
Side-by-side comparison with measurements.
See the step-by-step for using Stiff Upper Rip from placement to pull. The only thing that changes about your hard wax routine is the part you used to hate.
Remove the backing and position the tab at the lowest point of your application zone.
Lay your hard wax as you normally would. Make sure it covers the adhesive half of the tab (Cover the Crybaby).
Wait until the wax has cooled and grab your wax strip 'handle'.
Pull the strip off in the opposite direction of hair growth, parallel to skin.
Use the same four steps every time, but the angle, the pull direction, and the tab size shift by body area. Pick the demo that matches the area you are waxing.
Stiff Upper Rip is not a clever DIY item. It is a granted utility patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office. Here is what that means and what is protected.
The patent covers the use, makeup and materials of the wax tabs.
The specific configuration is now protected from being copied by anyone else in the depilatory category for 20 years from the filing date.
Stiff Upper Rip works for anyone who uses hard wax because the flicking pain point is universal.
Maybe you tried waxing with pre-waxed strips or drugstore wax once removed more skin than hair and. decided the hype was not worth it.
You wax regularly. You are past the worst of the learning curve. Stiff Upper Rip is the upgrade that turns a hit-or-miss strip application into a breeze.
You make wax lips and flicks a hundred times a day. Stiff Upper Rip shaves time off every strip removal and speeds up your application time. Across a full book, that is real savings. Sign up for wholesale pricing!
Each Stiff Upper Rip set contains 50 wax pull tabs - 25 of each size. Enough for multiple full-body sessions or weeks of touch-ups.
Paper substrate breaks down in standard compost conditions.
Non-irritating and not overly sticky with enough grip to remove one wax strip.
Lifts cleanly with the wax and nothing left on your skin.
Stiff Upper Rip Wax Pull Tabs work with any hard wax, regardless of brand.
Stiff Upper Rip is engineered for hard wax: the kind that hardens on the skin and gets removed by itself without a fabric strip.
Any professional or consumer hard wax will bond to the adhesive end.
Soft wax is already removed with a muslin or fabric strip pressed over it.
A small group of pros and home users tested early Stiff Upper Rip samples.
This made my time waxing so much easier. Creating a handle made it way easier to wax my own arm pits and brows.Carolina H. / consumer
I spent a long time and a lot of wasted wax getting the wax strip lip to lay correctly. This is perfect to speed up services or for new grads who aren't completely comfortable with waxing.Erin w. / licensed pro
I had put off trying to wax myself forever. It just seemed to hard. Crybaby Wax's formulas were easy to use and these strips made it even easier to removeAnna J. / first-time hard waxer
Stiff Upper Rip is a patented hard wax pull tab. It is a small biodegradable paper strip with skin-safe adhesive on the top half and a bare gripping handle on the bottom. Stick the adhesive end at the lowest point of your waxing area, lay hard wax over it, let it cool, then grip the bare tab 'handle' and pull. It eliminates the worst part of hard waxing: picking at cooled wax with your fingertip or applicator to make a lip you can grip.
Peel the removable liner to expose the adhesive and place the adhesive end of the tab at the lowest point of your application zone. Apply your hard wax over the top half of the tab so the wax bonds to the tab. Let the wax cool and grip the bare paper handle on the bottom and pull the strip off in the opposite direction of hair growth, parallel to the skin.
The two-part substrate with skin-safe adhesive on one defined half and a bare gripping half on the other is a novel device. Nothing on the market combined both functions in one biodegradable strip. The US Patent and Trademark Office granted patent No. US 12,611,023 B2 to inventors Catherine Smith and Jessica Smith on April 28, 2026 after a 21-month examination. The patent gives Crybaby Wax exclusive rights to make and sell this specific design for 20 years.
The hair-pull itself feels the same. What changes is the moment a wax strip is slightly lifted to allow for the strip to be grasped and removed. Traditional hard waxing requires picking at the cooled edge of wax with your fingertip to form a lip you can grip. Stiff Upper Rip gives you a handle bonded to the strip from the start, so you skip the pick step. No half-rips, no fingernail-digs, no repeating strips.
Yes. Stiff Upper Rip works with any hard wax. The tab will bond to the wax the same way.
No. Stiff Upper Rip is designed only for hard wax. Soft wax (also called strip wax) is removed using a muslin or pellon strip pressed over the wax, which already functions as a pull tab. Stiff Upper Rip is for hard wax users who want to skip the manual lip-making step.
Each Stiff Upper Rip set contains 50 tabs total: 25 large tabs measuring 1 inch by 2 inches for legs, underarms, bikini, and other larger body areas, plus 25 small tabs measuring 0.75 inch by 1.5 inches for the upper lip, eyebrows, chin, and other precision areas.
Yes. Stiff Upper Rip uses a non-irritating skin-safe adhesive that will not leave residue and lifts off cleanly with the wax.
Yes. The substrate is biodegradable paper and together they break down in standard compost conditions.
Yes. Many pros use Stiff Upper Rip to shave seconds off every removal, which compounds across a full day of services. Apply for wholesale access through the Crybaby Wax pro portal.
Stiff Upper Rip launches May 26, 2026. Join the waitlist to be notified the moment it drops and to receive early-access pricing.
A 50-count consumer set is $10. Licensed pros with an approved wholesale account get a discount.
Get on the list for early access pricing, drop-day reminders, and a behind-the-scenes look at how Stiff Upper Rip got built and patented.
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