We all have a love and hate relationships with fajas. They have been a cultural staple and beauty secret for decades. Now that celebrities keep using them to waist-train, many have a glorified view on how fajas and Spanx work. We asked real women to reveal their faja horror stories and they made sure not be censored about it. Be prepared to laugh and cry. You may even want to ditch your faja for good after reading this!
Readmore ¿Qué más?: 5 Fajas that will give you a flat belly overnight
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It can get bloody
"I wore a dress to my high school prom and you clearly could see I was wearing Spanx. So I had this brilliant idea of putting staples in the bottom of the Spanx and I ended up with scars and blood all over my thighs. I was 15. This is proof teenagers are dumb." –From a beauty obsessed mother of one
You can't flatten "the little bean"
"I had this pesky pancita that just would not go away. So for a holiday party, I bought the most heavy duty, mamma jamma Spanx tights I could get my hands on–these things went up and over my boobs practically and took like 20 minutes to pull up each time–so bathroom breaks that day were limited. But the pancita would not budge. Three weeks later I found out I was about 5 weeks pregnant. There was no faja on earth that was gonna contain that little bean." –Colombian mother of two
It can get tricky from behind
"I tucked my skirt into my faja once and was just walking around with my [butt] all out until a kind lady told me what was up! I was mortified and crying because I was laughing so hard." –Mom-to-be from California
Post surgery companion
"After I got my liposuction done years ago, they had me wearing a faja so tight that I needed help to sit down the first week. But it had a system to allow you to go to the restroom, without a problem." –Grateful mother of two from Florida
Flashing the faja
"I wore Spanx to my best friend's wedding and felt nice and sucked in all day. I made sure to hit the dance floor all night. For the bouquet toss, I was lucky enough to have caught it. When the guy who caught the garter had to slip it on, I didn't realize I was flashing my Spanx! I didn't notice until I saw their wedding video and photos after. What a view!" –New York Puerto Rican princess
Waist-training sucked
"After giving birth to my daughter, my mom kept pushing me to put on a faja. She kept insisting that it would flatten out my belly and 'help put everything back into place.' I decided to take her word and try it. It was the most painful and suffocating feeling ever! I tossed it and told her never to bring up the subject again." –Mother of a 1-year-old
Wedding faja secret
"I wanted to make sure my belly looked super flat on my wedding day. My dress had a built-in corset, but I decided to wear Spanx underneath the dress. During the ceremony, I kept holding my pee and waited until the last minute to go. My sister and maid of honor couldn't pull the Spanx down fast enough! I ended up tinkling on them. We were all in tears in the bathroom. That's a secret my husband doesn't even know about." –Newlywed from New York
Not made for me
"I'm not afaja wearer, although I got my first one as a free sample from a vendor recently and on the first (and only) unsuccessful try all I have to say is: Holy macro, you need like 2 to 3 people to get that thing on. It has like 50 hooks and no breath holding, gut sucking is enough to make it fit around my waist! Evidently fajas are not made for me." –Faja-less mom of 3
