Getting Started with Hair Removal (Patreon)

There are a lot of products for hair removal, shaving, waxing, depilatory creams, and everything in between, I’ve tried them all. Eventually, I bit the bullet and got Laser Hair Removal treatments. In my opinion, the laser hair removal is well worth the cost.

I’ll be going over six types of body hair removal in this post from least painful to most. So without further ado...

Depilatory Creams
These creams basically soften the hairs on your body, damaging them enough to be wiped away or showered off. The chemicals they use break down the outer layers of the hair, leaving behind the brittle core, but not penetrating the root of the follicle. If you have ever gotten a perm, the smell of these creams will be familiar to you because they use the same chemicals to soften the hair and reform the strands into curls.

This method is completely pain-free unless you are allergic. DO NOT skip the patch test when trying depilatory creams for the first time. Depilatory creams use a lot of chemicals to soften the hair which will be absorbed by your skin and it is very important to be sure you are not allergic to the cream.

I have not had much luck with using depilatory creams for beard hair. I usually wind up unhappy with results and I shave. But for my arms, legs, and underarms, I really like Veet Gel Hair Removal Cream. Use it before you shower, applying a thick layer onto the areas you want to remove hair from, leave it for up to a half hour then use the provided plastic razor to scrape away the product and hair, hop in the shower to wash off excess. The skin is moisturized and exfoliated by the product leaving skin soft and velvety and most importantly hairs grow back slowly and finer so this isn’t a daily chore. It couldn’t be easier for a completely painless semi-long lasting temporary hair removal process.

Buffing|
A buffer will usually look like a bit of padded fabric attached to a plastic handle, because that’s basically what it is. You use it by “sanding” your hairs until they break off, leaving you with smooth exfoliated skin and less hair. I found that this worked well on very fine leg and arm hairs, but did nothing for thicker hair. If you have fine hairs, like between laser removal sessions, a buffer could leave your skin feeling soft without damaging the root of the hairs. I personally don’t suggest this method for hair removal.

Shaving
Stone Age men used sharp stones about 100,000 years ago to cut back their beards, and luckily today we have much better technology for shaving. I use two types of razors, one for my face and the other for my body.

A subscription to Harry’s has been my favorite subscription box. They take a lot of the “thinking” out of a good shave. I love the shave gel that comes in the kit, the handle is a very comfortable weight with a good pivoting joint to match the curves of my jaw, and the blades are sharp and strong. For my body I use Gillette Venus Sensitive Women’s Disposable Razors I like the moisturizing strips and the fact that they come in 14-packs at Costco.

Nicking yourself is probably the most common injury when it comes to self-grooming, it’s inevitable the longer you shave. Be sure to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding, then apply Neosporin or other antiseptics to protect from infection.

Razor burn is another issue that comes with shaving. Shaving thick hairs leave a “sharp edge” to the hairs, as they grow back out, they can get those edges caught and become ingrown, leaving behind itchy, red bumps. Luckily it couldn’t be easier to fix, apply a hot or cold compress to help inflammation of the skin and then apply aloe vera to the affected areas.

I usually shave to touch-up, since there are better ways to remove hair. But when it comes to ease, shaving will always be at the top.

Waxing
Waxing can be done by professionals or by yourself with at-home waxing kits or strips. Professionals will melt their wax in a small wax warmer, apply the warm wax to the area you want hair-free with a spatula, then apply a strip of fabric to the wax before quickly tearing the strip off your body. The hairs basically get glued to the fabric strip and torn off. It can be painful at first, but it usually takes long enough between sessions to forget how bad it was and you get used to it fairly quickly.

At-home waxing kits come in various degrees of difficulty. The easiest are the waxing strips which have the wax applied directly to the fabric strips. You rub them between your hands to warm up the wax, then peel them apart, apply the two halves with the wax against your skin and tear away. Then there are the kits that have a jar of wax, spatula and loose fabric strips. Use these by applying the room temperature wax to the hair, then press on the strip and tear. The hardest are the ones that the professionals use, with the wax warmer and hard pellets, these have the added step of melting the pellets, but get the job done the same way.

Overall, if I’m getting a wax, I’d rather just a professional do it just because it’s a lot of work and mess to clean up after. The results are great though, the wax takes off the hair and the dead skin, leaving you fresh as a newborn. The hair grows back slowly and comes back finer.

Epilators
These little devices are not fun. Basically they use rotating rubber rollers to catch your hairs and rip them out of the follicle fast and quick. It definitely works for removing hair at the cost of an unpleasant experience. Ever curious, I did also try this on my face and that was a mistake. If you do decide you want one of these, keep some ice on hand to help with the swelling and inflammation.

Laser Hair Removal
If you can afford to do so, laser hair removal should be the first step you take before any tattoos, as the laser breaks down the ink from your skin and those areas of your body will have hair on them which you will need to shave or wax. If you’re going to spend the money on laser hair removal, definitely do it right the first time and hold off on permanent body art. The at-home laser guns I find didn’t really do too much, it did seem like my hair was thinner, but definitely didn’t remove my hair permanently or as quickly as a professional session.

Laser hair removal works by targeting the pigment in your hairs, zapping them and damaging the root and follicle until it stops growing hairs. Laser works best on light skin with dark hair and can also help with pitted acne scars and keratosis pilaris!

Your laser technician will have you wear a pair of dark glasses to shield you from the light pulsating. Over a few years and many sessions for a full body treatment, you get fairly used to this pain as well. It feels like a rubber band snapping against your skin over and over. But the results have lasted years saving me money on all sorts of other products and treatments. The other downside is that there is a wait between sessions and your hair may grow back a bit at first, you need the pigmented root in place for the laser to work, so you can only shave the hairs between laser sessions which can be a hassle if you prefer waxing.

For habit forming mantras to help you on your skincare journey, listen to my subliminal, “Smooth” and become a Brainwash Slut for more content on Discord! Happy depilating!

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xoxo,
thelibrarian