hair removal...please help!!

[hipsdontlie]

I would really appreciate your advice on the most eefective hair removal method. I have been waxed at a salon nearly all my life and am starting to get frustrated with:

1. cost
2. ingrown hairs and itchiness
3. how quickly hair growth appears

Can anyone offer me any success stories? I'm willing to go back to my teenage yrs of shaving if the modern shavers for women are any good.

thanks x

1. better than the waste of money on epilators i tried when i felt the same
2. exfoliate and moisturise and if you do then do it some more and buy the nads ingrowing hair spray and use it for a week after a wax
3. unless you go the laser route i am not sure what the answer is!

I sympathise, I've found having someone come to the house a better solution, bit cheaper and a lot easier than wasting an hour on a saturday morning!

I second Monkey - stick with the waxing xx

I use an epilator and have for years.
I have to remember to give my self a go over every 3-4 days and then it only takes 5-10 mins. doesn't really hurt, no more than regular waxing does.
I do everything - legs armpits and bikini
I still get the odd ingrown hair but probably because I am lazy and don't exfoliate enough.

thanks for the input girls!

Any one have experience of laser/light treatment? ( esp the one you can buy from boots)

I have someone come to my house now. She only charges £12 for a full leg, so I can get it done more often. I might even buy a skirt this summer!

I used the veet microwavable wax for my underarms and bikini line. Takes a bit of practice but doesn't really hurt. I cut up old tea-towels and use them for the waxing strips.

Bio-oil has helped with the ingrown hairs.

I bought a new electric shaver last year and its really not up to the job of dealing with my thick hair, its fine for a tidy up a week or so after a wax though.

I use Veet cream about once every six weeks. Cost comes to about £50 annually. Never had an ingrowing hair but I'm fair and don't have very thick hair on my legs anyway.

I bought an Epilator about 6 months ago and I'd lever look back - previously I was a waxer. I got very few ingrown hairs waxing and I get very few epilating - maybe I just don't get them. But I have saved cost of course by now being able to do it myself. It doesn't hurt I suspect because I am a previous waxer.

I can now deal with regrowth when it suits me, not have to frantically book a wax before a swimming thing or whatever.

If you were to get a remedy for your ingrown hairs (there are products available) then an epilator may not be such a bad solution because the cost and regrowth would no longer be an issue. You just run it over you after your shower whenever.

Don't go back to shaving, whatever you do. Its so much better to be smooth, even if you aren't totally hair free. I think you've forgotten just how prickly it is to shave...

Having tried everything over the years I have now gone back to shaving. I use an exfoliator sponge (one of those scratchy things) with a creamy body wash first, then shave. Moisturise immediately after your bath/shower. Efoliate gently every time you bath/shower with the sponge and body wash.

No ingrown hairs, no pain, no sticky waxy bits. Ok it doesn't last as long as a wax but it's much less time consuming.

can you use an epilator under arms and bikini line? I remember trying it a few times when i was younger but gave really bad ingrowing hairs as well.

I must admit i dont exfoliate properly - just use a buff puff and rarely moisturise. Do you think it makes a big difference?

Any votes for the light treatment or similar? I swear I will buy it for my kids 16th birthdays to save them from all this hassle! ( mixed race girls - light skin, dark thick hair!)

You need to exfoliate and moisturise EVERY day to prevent ingrowing hairs IMO. I use those scrubby gloves every day and they do work. I also use an epilator on lower legs twice a week after shower to stay hair free, then get an upper leg/bikini wax every 2-3 months as necessary as I'm not so hairy there. If I let the epilating slip (in winter) I just let them grow for a bit then have a full leg wax.

Strange routine, but works for me !

Sounds like you are a bit prone to ingrown hairs OP

In which case any method apart from permenant will potentially give them to you - even shaving, though this is less likely because shaving in itself is an "exfoliant" - it takes a nice layer of dead skin with it that's ready to shed so its an all in one. And because you have to do it so often, it keeps it at bay.

Your daughters are good candidates for laser - light skin but dark hair - it zones in on pigment.

I have a Phillips lumea - it uses light to slow down the growth of hair, but you have to use it regularly to keep the regrowth down, so it is not permanent. I use it for underarms, bikini line and lower legs. I have to do all every 2 weeks to maintain hair free and, with my legs especially, I need to shave occasionally as it can be easy to miss places. You can't do it after waxing, as there needs to be some hair in the follicle in order for it to work - so before each session, you shave to get rid of any surface hair and then use it. One the plus side, my legs look so much better - no more ingrown hairs (I get these from epilating, waxing, shaving...) and, as I am very fair with dark hair, no more '5 o'clock shadow'. It is great to be able to just go swimming not worrying about a bikini line and a couple months ago I went to Spain for a few days and didn't have to worry about packing a razor. Downsides are that you have to do it regularly to keep the benefits and due to short battery life, it takes quite a while to do all the bits I want (a lower leg takes about 15mins and the battery life is 15 mins, so by the time you recharge it for 1.5 hours, it really adds up!). It cost me £300 new from Ebay and I am definitely sticking with it as the results just get better with each use. The unit covers about 40000 light pulses before it stops working, so in theory I will need to replace it one day, but when you add up the cost of waxing and the hassle of having ingrown hairs/letting hair grow, it is worth it IMO. Hope that helps.

I use an epilator, because it's quicker and easier and a lot cheaper than going to a salon, and I find home waxing a bit of a faff. The regrowth is about the same as waxing though, and I do get ingrown hairs, but get those from any form of hair removal - I think some of us are just prone to them unfortunately :(

i get rotten in growing hairs. Epilating terrible for this. I had laser on my pits and bikini line, and shave my legs. pretty much every fucking day. Might get one of those light things.

I use crotex hair removal cream. I got rid of my unwanted hair using this cream. It is a permanent hair removal cream and worked great for me.

Monica31 - I've just looked on the Crotex website - it all looks too good to be true and very expensive.

I am having laser treatment on the bikini line. 3 treatments in, another 3 to go. Hair is hardly growing back so I think it is going to be great. I hated having to deal with the bikini and as you get older it seems to spread! (sorry TMI!).

For legs shaving takes literally two seconds every few days and doesnt itch when it grows back so is no hassle.

I have just looked at the website for the crotex cream too. Does it really work. It is very expensive but I suppose not that bad if you compare to laser treatment and it does actually work. Also it seems a bit mysterious, the way they release it in batches twice a year, rather special!

I just shave.
I've never tried waxing. My friends who wax all have the hairiest legs ever - they say they have to let the hair grow for the next wax. It puts me off.
Are they going about it wrong or is that how it is?

(Oh. Just noticed it's an older thread, bumped by the crotex ad).