The Pintester Movement and sugar wax recipe

I follow Pintester because it tests the pins that I like, before me trying them out. It is really refreshing to see that I am not the only person that messes things up. When Sonja Foust announced the Pintester movement and said that anyone can participate, I was up for it and I knew exactly the pin that I wanted to test. Sadly, the testing didn't go so well, since all three of my tries failed. I really thought I was going to do it right the third time, since third time's a charm, but no such luck. I think that there is nothing wrong with the recipe, but the instructions that were on the website.



The pin that I tested was from the Green Prophet, but I think that the video linked on the website from Maha is much more helpful. It has way more detailed instructions.

This is how the wax is supposed to look like.

http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/01/diy-natural-sugar-wax/

Here are photos of all three tries: (the photo quality is not that great, I'm not a good photographer)

First try:

I think that the sugar burnt a tiny bit because it smelled, but that did not ruin the texture. The problem was that the wax hardened really easily and because there were no instructions to pour out the mixture, mix it until it cools and etc. on the link like there were in the video. I found this out only after I watched the video after my SECOND try. So that was a waste of time.

You can't really see, but the sugar wax has completely hardened. I tried to "wax" myself, but the wax  was still too hot, it has already lost most of its elasticity, and most of all, it didn't grab any hair. Pretty useless.

Second try:

I did everything that the website instructed, but when it was cool enough to use it as wax, it was hard as rock. 

Once again, you can't really see, but the spoon is stuck in the wax, just to give you a comparison of how much the wax actually hardened.

Third try:

I was watching the video while making the wax. While stretching out the wax, it hardened like rock candy. It was then impossible to stretch it out since it hardened so much and random pieces began to break off.

There is really nothing to explain here. The wax suddenly hardened when I tried to stretch it out with my wet hands.

There are a few things that I learned though:

• you can easily clean and kitchenware that has been dirtied by hardened sugar by putting them in hot water
• sugar is really sensitive and you have to be really careful not to burn it or change its temperature too quickly, since then the sugar is ruined
• when making any sugar-based recipes like this sugar wax or caramel, make small batches, so if the sugar get ruined, you won't waste a huge amount of sugar and other ingredients
• when testing any sugar wax or caramel recipes be sure to have a lot of sugar on hand for all the batches

I know that all of my tries didn't work out, but I know that if I study the video and master the mixing/blending/cooling the wax, I will be able to succeed. So the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 g) sugar 
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
• 1.5 tablespoons (22 ml) lemon juice or white vinegar - beware that vinegar has a strong smell, so while making the wax, you will smell it, a lot.
• 1 teaspoon (8 grams) salt

Directions:

1. In a pan, stir together all of the ingredients and heat on low heat. Allow the sugar crystals to dissolve and keep stirring, all the way until the mixture gently changes colour, so be on the lookout!
2. When the colour turns to amber, take off heat and pour onto a moistened granite counter top.
3. Stir the mixture into one little pile with a spoon because it is still really hot. Don't let it cool for more than 30 seconds or else it will harden.
4. Wet your hands with cool water and start stretching the wax, like you would taffy.

To store any leftover wax, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until next use. Before using microwave for 7-10 seconds.

Here is the video that I used and is really helpful to watch while making the sugar wax.

I hope you will try out the recipe and maybe share any of your secrets if you succeed. :)