Be the Wax

During the time I spent in NZ, I met a man whose son designed the hull to one of the hopeful craft to race in the America's Cup. He imparted to me that the key to his son's success was his ability to empathize with or 'be' the hull of the boat in his mind in an effort to understand how the water meets the bow and how the two interact.
Ski wax is not too dissimilar. Understand how the sharpness of ice crystals or snowflakes at different temperatures want to interact with the ski base and wax. Gloppy applications are going to hinder not help a smooth glide. Uneven application will lead to uneven ski response.
Ski wax has a couple of jobs to do. It has to reduce the friction of the ski to the snow with regard to the base. The wax will also protect the base not only from moisture exchange but also some amount of physical damage.
Waxes come in different hardnesses. The harder wax is for harder snow with sharper crystals. Softer wax is more about breaking the surface tension of a rounded snowflake or water molecule. It has always stood to reason with me that if the wax truly permeates into the ski base, then I want the hardest wax at that level. As I layer wax away from the ski core I soften the wax until the desired hardness for the day's skiing has been applied.
This may take three or more coats of wax for one day of skiing. And by the end of the day you'll need to do it again for tomorrow. Try to wax carefully. It is the final step in a ski tune and follow through is not to be underestimated. Pay attention until you have both feet out of the project. Be the base.
The difference between not waxing and waxing for a day of skiing is the difference between having fun and having a lot of fun.