Hair removal help please!

[justabigdisco]

I am in my thirties and utterly fed up with hair removal. I suffer with ingrown hairs which are the main problem.

Shaving - the re growth is unbearably itchy, and I can't shave again within a few days, I have to wait for it to all grow out, otherwise my skin gets irritated and sore. Different razors/gels etc make no difference, neither does daily exfoliating (I don't moisturise as often as I could).

Waxing - less irritation but the hairs grow deep under the surface (esp bikini line) and have to be scraped out with tweezers. This then causes me to pick and pick at the offending sores. Also, I hate the way I have to wait weeks with hairy legs before having them done again.

Laser/IPL - I would consider this but I am fair so it might not work on my legs (could work for bikini line)

Epilator - never tried this, can't see how it would be any better than waxing?

Does anyone have any tips/magic solutions? I feel so horrible and hairy

Anyone have any suggestions (bump)?

Another shameless bump?

I have the same problem. I've tried the following which can help;

Electric razor seems to cause less irritation but not as close a shave
I always use shaving cream and mix with a bit of hair conditioner so mega soothing
Exfoliating when regrowth appears and moisturise skin everyday
I actually tend to just wait and get legs waxed. My beautician puts talc on my legs prior to waxing to reduce skin irritation which helps
I have an epilator but it takes ages and is sore. I also find in growing hairs worse and wouldn't even try on bikini line as would be way too sore for me
Laser would be my choice but way too £££ for me at the moment. If you are unsure about whether it will wrk most reputable places offer a trial patch test or around free/£20. I would go with the SKIN clinic if I could afford it

Tweet that's really helpful thanks. Do you mean you use shaving cream rather than gel? How often do you wax?

I have the same problem and would love the answer! Shaving makes me scratch til I bleed and underarms has caused cysts, one of which I had to have an operation to cut out! It's more comfortable for me to be hairy but makes me feel horrid and hate having to cover up all the time. Be easier to be a man!!

Oddly enough, I hardly ever get problems with my armpits, although I do have to leave it 3-4 days between shaving to avoid irritation.

I need to wax every 3-4weeks really. Hair starts to grow back after about 4 days :(. However I can just about get away with it for a couple of weeks then cover up until long enough to be waxed again.

A complete pain really! That's why I would love lazer treatment. Just had dc2 and that's are last planned child. Once horrendous nursery costs go down I will try to save for laser. Would ideally like legs and bikini line, currently that would cost around 1.5k so mega money. Hoping in a few years time prices may go down a bit. Sometimes limits have promos too like 30% off treatments etc.

I use shaving cream or gel. However razors and cream are for sensitive skin. Keeping your skin moisturised means that it's easier for hair to push through skin. This should mean less in growing hairs ad irritation. When you do have irritation using tea tree oil lotion immediately after shaving helps to clean and prevent further irritation. Check on a small amount of skin first though as can irritate more for some people.

Hair removal cream. It's in the pound shop too.

i have the boots home laser device. it's been amazing on my bikini and underarms but my hair is quite dark there.

how fair are you? i have had some success on my legs, where the hair is lighter. the good thing is, even though i still need to shave my legs, the hairs that remain are the finest and lightest so it's still much better than it was because the thickest and darkest hairs are gone.

the machine is quite expensive (about £400 i think) and i felt really guilty about spending all that money but it has changed my life so much that it was worth it. and if you have another hairy friend you can always go halves and share it?

I have the same problem. Horrible ingrown hairs no matter how I remove the hair, and rashes from shaving or waxing. I don't have a perfect solution but this is what I do:

• underarms: wax myself with strips, then tweeze with pointy tweezermans if ingrowns start. I've thought about laser hair removal but haven't managed to organise it.

• bikini: no hair removal. If I want to go swimming I wear girl board shorts. It doesn't bother DH and tbh if it did I'd make him wax his bits if he wanted me to wax mine!

• legs: hairy often, I wear trousers or opaque tights to work and jeans most of the rest of the time so it doesn't matter. I try to go to the beautician for a wax periodically so it doesn't get out of control - the old fashioned yellow wax seems to cause me the least issues. In summer if I want to wear a dress I shave very carefully (slowly, v sharp razor, shave gel) to try to avoid irritation

• everywhere: use one of these in the shower, helps prevent ingrowns a bit. Payot pate grise also helps when ingrowns happen.

Laser. Changed my life!