I Haven't Shaved in 3 Months



I first stumbled across epilators a few years back while doing a search on Amazon, and thought they sounded like the perfect hair removal solution.

- You don't have to wait until the hair grows out like you do for waxing.
And really, you shouldn't wait too long, because the longer your hair is the more it hurts.
- The results last 5-6 weeks.
This isn't true for me, but I'll explain that below.

- You only have to buy it once, because it lasts 10+ years.

- It's not messy. At all.

- You don't need to do it in the shower or take a shower after.
I do it while I'm watching tv or just bored.


Amazing, right? I jumped in and bought my first epilator in 2011.
It was pretty and pink, and sounded like a chainsaw. Unfortunately, I have a low pain tolerance and cried the first few times I used it. So my pretty Emjoi epilator went straight back into it's box, and it's been sitting on a shelf at my parent's house ever since.

Fast forward to a few months ago when two girls at work convinced me to give epilators a second shot.

After spending way too much time reading online reviews I picked up the Braun Silk-épil 5, because it's supposed to be great for beginners and much less painful. 


Once again, it is pretty and pink and I teared up the first time I used it. 

But this time, I stuck it out for a month and ended up loving it. It wasn't quite as painful as my Emjoi had been, but it was still pretty awful. There were a few times in the beginning where I just wanted to chuck it and pull out my razor (told you I'm a big baby). Thankfully the painful period doesn't last.  

Now it's as pain free as plucking my eyebrows. 

You get used to it and after the first few sessions, there's less hair to pull out. My hair also grows back much softer now, and I just go over my legs fairly quickly once a week or so. 

That being said, I really don't think epilators are the ideal hair removal solution for everyone. Sucking it up and dealing with the pain for an entire month won't be most people's cup of tea. Plus for those of you with super fine body hair (I'm jealous), you'll have to look around for an appropriate model. Quite a few epilators have trouble removing super fine hairs.

Should you decide to jump on the No-Shave bandwagon, here are a few tips that made things smoother for me:


- Read the instructions.
Before buying my epilator, I read a very long, negative blog post about epilators. The writer described in detail how she used it and why it sucked. However, she somehow managed to do absolutely everything the instructions tell you not to do. 
Now there are a lot of legitimate reasons not to like epilating. But really, anyone who takes the time to read can avoid every single problem that this particular reviewer ran into. This is also why it's generally good to read several reviews before purchasing a beauty product. Sometimes people are complaining because they're using it incorrectly, while others might be having legitimate problems with the product itself. 

- Run the epilator fairly quickly all over your legs, give a second for the adrenaline to kick in, and then go back over your legs very slowly. This makes the whole thing less painful.

- Rubbing a bit of talc on your legs/armpits lessens the pain, because it absorbs excess humidity, which helps the tweezers to avoid nipping at your skin.

- Pull your skin taunt while epilating, just like you do when waxing.

- Shave 2-3 days before you first epilate. If your leg hairs are any longer than that, it'll hurt like the dickens.

-Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate, or you will be cursed with loads of in-grown hairs.

-Be sure to moisturize after. If your legs tend to be sensitive after waxing or shaving, I recommend looking for a fragrance free moisturizer. 

..............................................................................................................

P.s. I'm currently on the hunt for a new body scrub. I love Lush's Rub, Rub, Rub, but would like to try something a bit cheaper. Any suggestions?


Disclaimer: I paid for this epilator with my own hard earned cash. 

Comments

Popular Posts