Hair removal

[hopefully]

I have this debate with myself every time I shave my armpits or wax my bikini line. How does one remove hair ethically? There is no way I am turning into a hairy beasty for the sake of ethical beliefs, but what do I do?

Razor = plastic, goes into landfill after a few uses, made abroad
wax strips - disposable, go into landfill after every use...

Anything I haven't thought of?

[themildmanneredstalker]

buy a good quality razor-like a man uses for his face and then just replace the blades every now and then

[PandaG]

wax - use pot of wax and material strips that can be reused? Veet do a pot that comes with some thin material strips that can be reused, but you could also use your own old cotton I would think

[hopefully]

Razor with reusable blades would be a reasonable compromise I suppose - is it still bad to buy gilette? Weren't they awful for testing on animals or something?

Reusable wax strips is a good idea - messy, but eco! Used to do it, but abandoned it on grounds of messiness. Given that I am so lazy I now only de-hair my legs about every 3 months, suppose I could cope with the mess...

[AMumInScotland]

Epilator? Buy once and keep using for ever - no parts to be replaced like razor blades/new foils for electric shaver.

[hopefully]

Are epilators any more efficient than they used to be though? I had one years ago and it literally took about 2 hours to completely epilate my legs...

[Nyx]

Epilators are pretty efficient now, I use one. Pretty painful but you get used to it. I don't think it's that great for underarms/bikini line though...!

[muggglewump]

I love my epilator. I bought it in a charity shop maybe 4 years ago although it appearred brand new and unused. It's fab and doesn't take long at all.

[notcitrus]

Epilators are great on legs - I did mine this morning in under 5 minutes despite the bump in the way - but crap on stretchy fiddly bits like bikini line or armpits (they just tug the hair and the skin and either hair stays put or it hurts like hell or both).

Some epilators are sold with a 'less pain guarantee' - if you try it 3 times over 3 months and still think it hurts too much you can send it back for a refund. I wouldn't be surprised if you could get one on Ebay/Freecycle. Ones with a vibrating massage attachement to relax your follicles are good.

I find one disposable razor lasts about a year for bikini line/armpits - it doesn't need to be very sharp.

I notice no-one's mentioned hair removing cream - clearly I'm not the only one who hates the smell and finds it crap!