You walk into your local nail salon. There’s a handful of customers relaxing in spa chairs getting their finger nails painted around you. You scurry up to the front desk and quietly say “one eyebrow wax, please.” The attendant says “Right this way,” and you follow her to the back of the store. She guides you into one of the closed, lonely rooms far away from the manicures and pedicures. A place of isolation.

You nervously wait for your waxer to open the door and heat up the hot sugar wax that she will soon apply to your face. You cringe just thinking about the thin sheet of paper that will be viciously ripped off of your forehead pulling up every little hair it finds. You are shaking with fear and anxiety, but don’t want to look like a coward. You can't leave now. How embarrassing! Plus, your friends keep commenting about your unruly brows. You have to stay. Your eyebrows need to be waxed. All you can tell yourself at this point is “beauty is pain, beauty is pain.”

This day in age, society has extremely high standards for women and how they are supposed to look. Many women, old and young, think they need to comply to these societal pressures to look their best at all times. Some women are so desperate to look younger, thinner or prettier, that they will do anything.

Not all beauty treatments are a walk in the park. In fact, some are downright painful. Having hot wax poured onto your arms (or face) and getting it ripped off, doesn’t sound too delightful, now does it?

Not to mention women have to wear the most uncomfortable clothes. While men can wear comfy dress pants and loafers to work, women have to either cram their feet into flats or suffer through blistery high heel hell. If the thought of high heels or waxing makes you cringe, well, you’re not alone.

Read on for 21 Painful Things Women Do to Look Good:

21 Piercings

Is there an unwritten rule that women have to get their ears pierced? Because it seems that every woman has hers done. Simply put, piercings are painful. Why are women expected to have a needle shot through their ear at lightening speed to create a permanent hole for jewelry? Ouch! Many young girls want to get their ears pierced and don’t mind the pain, which is fine. However, fashion magazines and websites always include earrings in their complete outfits and make them seem to be a crucial element of fashion. That being said, ears aren’t even the most painful piercing. Some women endure belly button, nose, eyebrow, cartilage and lip piercings to achieve their desired look.

20 Waist Training

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If you are unfamiliar with waist training, it is analogous to wearing a corset. During waist training, a tight fit piece of fabric is strapped around your waist and holds it in as a result. According to Yahoo Health, many celebrities, including reality stars Kim and Khloe Kardashian, publicly use waist training and have posted pictures wearing tight corsets on their social media accounts. The problems with waist training are: one, it doesn’t burn your fat and two, it can cause breathing problems. Oh, and waist training can even bruise your bones. Who knew that was possible? “For [adult] women, your bones are formed. You can bruise them and harm them, but you can’t change them.” A waist trainer won’t slim down a wide ribcage — it’ll just leave it bruised, or worse,” MD Holly Phillips told Yahoo Health.

19 Eyebrow/Eyelash Extensions

To get the iconic Twiggy look, many women include eyelash extensions in their daily beauty routine. Well, to those women: you’re not going to like this news. According to StyleCaster, eyelash extensions can cause an infection, pain and lash loss. Oh, boy. Just like hair extensions can damage your scalp and cause traction alopecia, so can eyelash extensions. The eyelash extension process is a vicious cycle. Women “feel the need to continue applying falsies to bulk up their lashes as their real lashes continue to deplete.” Eyebrow extenders don’t get off easy either. The glue used in both products includes formaldehyde and is widely known to cause allergic reactions. Even if you aren’t allergic to formaldehyde, the glue still traps bacteria near your eyes which can lead to conjunctivitis or keratitis.

18 Tattoos

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Lately, the tattoo trend has been rapidly growing among women in the United States and other countries. Whether it is a crazy sleeve or a girly solo tattoo that says “infinity,” all tattoos are painful. Like piercings, tattoos involve a sharp needle piercing through your skin. While piercings are done in a second or two, tattoos can take hours to complete depending on how complex the design is. Some women are taking tattoos to a whole new level by getting their makeup tattooed on their face. Makeup tattoos, also known as permanent makeup, include eyebrow fillings, eyeliner and lip liner.

17 Lip Injections

Kylie Jenner did it, so a bunch of girls are following in her footsteps. A lip injection, often referred to as a lip augmentation, is a procedure where a doctor injects collagen into a person's lips with a syringe. The procedure is done to increase the size of peoples' lips and make them look inflated and puffy. Although the procedure isn’t as intense as any other form of plastic surgery, it still stings to get your lips poked with a sharp needle.

16 Dieting

Nothing is more painful than seeing a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven and telling yourself you can’t eat it. Let’s be honest, dieting is painful. Emotionally painful. In America, women are constantly surrounded by junk food, but they are constantly being reminded that being fat is “socially unacceptable” at the same time. It’s hard to balance a healthy lifestyle without missing the luscious, rich taste of chocolate. Not to mention, thousands of women suffer from eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia that can be physically painful. If you’re a woman struggling with your diet, have yourself a cheat day once every two weeks. The cheat day will not only satisfy your strongest cravings but it will also reboot your metabolism keeping you happy and healthy!

15 Eyebrow Threading

Women who think waxing and plucking their eyebrows is too painful, usually resort to eyebrow threading. However this isn’t the best solution because eyebrow threading is still painful. Face palm. Many women are unaware of what eyebrow threading actually is. According to Wikipedia, “in threading, a thin (cotton or polyester) thread is doubled, then twisted. It is then rolled over areas of unwanted hair, plucking the hair at the follicle level. Unlike tweezing, where single hairs are pulled out one at a time, threading can remove short lines of hair.”

14 Plastic Surgery

Perhaps the most extreme form of body alterations is plastic surgery. Whether it’s a nose job, boob enhancement, liposuction or facelift, women of all ages are paying big bucks to get their dream body parts. Sure, surgeons give their patients intense pain medications, but plastic surgery still requires a knife and sharp incisions. Eek! Before you choose to go under, just know you’re going to be sore afterwards. Start stocking up on ice now.

13 Plucking

To keep your peach fuzz or eyebrows at bay, you have probably tried plucking hairs at some time in your life before. No matter what kind of tweezers you prefer to use, the process is always painful. Grabbing individual hairs and yanking them out is not fun whatsoever. To make eyebrow plucking less painful, do it right after you get out of a hot shower. The steam in the air will make the hair follicles slide ride out. Your eyebrows will officially be on fleek.

12 Thongs

Thongs are a pain in the a**, literally. They are the most uncomfortable type of underwear known to man and unfortunately, men love them. If you are wearing a tight dress or leggings and don’t want pantie lines, a thong may seem like it is the only option. Well, that and going commando, which is uncomfortable too in its own way. Sigh. Luckily, there is a semi-solution: seamless thongs. A seamless thong is an easy way to stay sexy while staying comfortable in your tight skirt. The panties don’t have any stitching and are just sleek, soft pieces of fabric. Your man won’t mind them one bit.

11 Tanning

Tanning isn’t painful all the time, but it is when you get sun-burnt. Whether you like to fake-and-bake in a tanning bed or just love getting rays on the beach, make sure to apply sunscreen before hand. You don’t want to end up looking like a lobster, now do you? Here’s an even safer option: Pick up a bottle of Jergens airbrush tanning spray at your local drugstore and spray yourself down for an instant faux glow. You’ll be a bronze goddess in no time.

10 Acrylic Nails

Acrylic nails, also known as fake nails, can H-U-R-T. Most people underestimate acrylic nails' pain power because they think the nails are just glued onto your fingers. These people are absolutely wrong. Acrylic nails can be painful while they are on your fingers and after you take them off. If you have brittle nails or if the salon files them down too far, expect to feel some soreness around your cuticles. For all you ladies that love the look of long nails but don’t want the pain that accompanies them, gel manicures are a good solution.

9 Spanx

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It’s 8pm on a Friday night and you are getting ready to go out with your girls. Since you got off work late, you just had a quick fast food dinner from Wendy’s and are stuffed with a large Baconator and fries. Your friends want to go to a night club tonight and your only option is to wear that little black dress you bought two years ago. You’re so full and know you’re going to have to keep your bloated tummy under control with the dreaded….. spanx. Spanx are a bodysuit for women that promises to hold all of their fat into place. Many women dread at this form of  shapewear considering they are the epitome of the words tight and uncomfortable. If you just had a greasy dinner and need to keep your bloat down, try a store bought product like Gas-X or Dulcolax.

8 Hair Extensions

According to dailymail.co.uk, getting hair extensions is a treatment when "synthetic or real hair is attached onto a person's existing hair or scalp by weaving, gluing, sewing or clipping it on." Hair extensions "first became popular with actresses, but the treatment has quickly moved on to the mainstream.” Unfortunately for thousands of women, hair extensions come with extreme side effects. Repeated weight from hair extensions can cause Traction Alopecia, a condition that includes balding and the termination of hair regrowth. Hair extensions can cause damage to your scalp too. Many women with extensions, including Britney Spears and Jennifer Aniston, have had red, dry scalps as a result.

7 Heat Styling

Some women won’t leave the house unless their hair is perfectly straightened, curled or blown out. You shouldn’t want to be one of these women. Heat styling is hurtful for two reasons: it dries out your hair and it’s dangerous. The repeated exposure of heat make your hair as brittle as a piece of straw. Gross! Who wants their hair to look like a scare crow's? Not to mention, if you’re using a curling rod that heats up to 400 degrees and accidentally touch it, expect to have a stinging burn for a couple of days. To get pretty waves without using a curling rod, try braiding your hair the night before. When you wake up, undo your locks and you’ll have super cute beachy waves.

6 Searching for and popping pimples

This is a public service announcement to all of you women out there that experience acne from time to time: don’t pop your pimples. Popping your pimples not only hurts but it also can cause scarring and damage to your skin. No matter how big that annoying zit may be, keep your fingers off your face. To treat pimples, follow the basic rules of skin care. Wash your face twice a day, apply an oil-free moisturizer after and then treat acne with a salicylic acid cream. If you don’t have a salicylic acne cream, old fashion toothpaste and honey are good substitutes.

5 Shaving

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You’re getting ready to go on a nice dinner date with your boyfriend and want your legs to be super soft and free of any hair. You fill up your bath tub, get out your handy razor and start shaving. Uh-oh! You see a line of blood running down your leg and feel a stinging sensation under the huge mass of shaving cream and soap. You cut yourself shaving. Ugh, not again. You try your best to clean up the blood and stop the pain, but it just keeps coming. If you knick yourself while shaving, there are a couple of things you can do. According to GQ.com, you can apply deodorant, lip balm, ice cubes, Visine or mouthwash to a cut to stop bleeding.

4 Push Up Bras

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What’s worse: Having saggy boobs or the pain that comes with push up bras? Unfortunately, many women pick having saggy boobs. Push up bras are uncomfortable for an array of reasons. The underwire in them presses into your skin and the extra cushion pushes your boobs up and keeps them there for hours on end. In other words, push up bras defy gravity against your ta-tas. The best way to avoid an uncomfortable bra situation is to get a professional bra fitting at your local lingerie store or Victoria’s Secret. If a bra fits you how it’s suppose to, you shouldn’t experience too many problems comfort wise.

3 Skin Tight Clothing

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Fashion experts always say that tight clothing makes you look thinner. However, most women know that tight clothing is the most uncomfortable. Why do you think t-shirt dresses are so popular? You know those skinny jeans you have that require you to dance just to put them on over your hips? Those are the worst. Once you get them on, you just feel like you can’t eat anything or else the buttons will pop off. The best way to balance comfort and the chic skinny jean look is to wear jeggings. Jeggings are “jean leggings” and look like jeans but feel like leggings. Many popular brands like Calvin Klein, Old Navy, Lauren Conrad, Levi, Wet Seal and Xhilaration for Target all sell jeggings.

2 High Heels

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High heels should be renamed to “high hells,” if you know what I mean. Although high heels, make your legs look long and lean, to wear them you have to cram your feet into a small, tight space. Not fun! A way to make high heels more comfortable is using moleskin on areas that are prone to blisters. You can also use Dr. Scholl’s Friction Prevention stick to relieve your heels and ankles from heel friction. Above all, make sure your heels are the right size for your feet. If your heels are too small or too big, you will not only be uncomfortable but you will also have a hard time walking in them. Don’t be that girl.

1 Bikini Waxing

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The holy grail of painful beauty treatments is none other than the bikini wax. Whether you usually get bikini waxes or another form of waxing you know that the treatment hurts no matter what. Even at home waxing can be painful, but luckily there are some hacks you can do to make the process less horrifying. According to BuzzFeed, if you are getting a Brazilian wax, it is beneficial to take a yoga class the same day. The more flexible you are, the easier it will be for your waxer to hit all of those hard to reach areas. Another tip BuzzFeed has is to take an over the counter pain reliever thirty minutes before the wax. Advil, Ibuprofen, etc. will all help minimize the pain. And last but not least, never get a bikini wax right before or after your period. Leyda, an esthetician from Bliss Spa, says that’s when your pain tolerance will be the lowest and the most sensitive.

Sources: webmd.com, victoriassecret.com, spanx.com, dailymail.co.uk, gq.com, yahoo.co, stylecaster.com

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