Epilator and red spots

[JungianZoe]

I bought an epilator last week and finally had the nerve to try it last night, starting only with my arms.  Holy crap, that hurt!!  But it didn't look too terrible afterward.  It was a bit red, but not bad.

Today it didn't look bad either.  But in the last hour, both of my arms have severely broken out with little red infections and they itch like nobody's business.  What's going on?  Anyone else get this?  Is it a first-time thing since I've never used an epilator before?

I'd love to know how to make this go away if there's a way to do so.  Used to shave my arms and I NEVER had problems like this before.

[JungianZoe]

I've done my chest and stomach for a few months now, and things have gotten way easier over time.

I can't even imagine how painful that must be!   I've heard people talk of how much it hurts to pluck chest hairs, but... er... I kind of got lucky in that department.  Most I wound up with was 6 thin hairs in a line below my belly button.  Shoulders, chest, and back stayed naturally hairless.

Good to know it gets easier and these stupid red bumps go away.  I washed off my arms and scrubbed them lightly with a loofah, then put an icepack on them for a bit.  It's stopped the overall redness, but now it's down to spots.  Hopefully I don't have this reaction every time I use it, or I may never bother.  Waxing sounds good, but I need a job before I can do that.  And I really want to do my legs, but I also want my legs to enjoy the rest of summer and not look as bad as my arms now do!

[Padma]

Yup, familiar story. Instrument of torture, does the job, but ouch.

[Cindy]

I used an epilator once, only once. You girls are stronger than me Lasering the top lip was less painful than epilating my legs. Nowadays I wax.

Pleasure

Cindy

[Padma]

I was lured by the cost-effectiveness of a one-off layout for the epilator vs. every time for waxing - but waxing is way less punishment, and worth the extra outlay for decreased suffering! I also find that the epilator breaks off a lot of hairs, so I get a lot of the red spots simply from having hair stubs just under the skin. Loofas ahoy.

[Cindy]

I have to admit I weighed up the cost effectiveness and decided I couldn't continue with epilation as it was too painful so I couldn't do it. And the epilator hadn't cost me anything as it belonged to my wife. She hardly ever used it as she couldn't stand the pain and she was a lot less hairy than me.

I had my back waxed for the first time by a professional, it did not hurt at all. I'm going to get her to do my arms and legs, my back needs redoing but there is a heap less hair than last time.

$25 for my back and it was gross, looked like a monkey, sorry if that remark offends any TG monkeys on the site .

Feels heaps better and only took 20 mins

Cindy

[Hikari]

I get less red spots with waxing, I can only think that the heat helps the skin not be so tight on the hair follicles or something but, yeah it is pretty hard to avoid the little red bumps, I also get them plucking and waxing sometimes, but the epilator seems to bring out the worst of it.

Still, to have smooth skin, without stubble is just divine, I think it is worth quite a bit of pain. Then again I think body hair bothers me probably more than anything else about being biologically male.

[JungianZoe]

Thanks for all your stories!  I'm going to give my arms a week or so to see how they look.  Not doing my legs any time in the near future because I don't want them to wind up looking like my arms.  Seriously, they look like pepperoni pizza.   Today they look even worse than last night, like I have a serious disease.  I'm counting 32 huge zit-looking red spots and innumerable smaller ones.  I'm thinking this a pretty serious reaction.

[eli77]

I didn't find epilating all that painful, but I got horrible ingrowns all over my legs (similar to the zit-like things you describe). Never doing that again. I get some with shaving, but not nearly so bad. Hell, it's been 4 months since I tried it, and I'm still dealing with the after effects.

[JungianZoe]

I didn't find epilating all that painful, but I got horrible ingrowns all over my legs (similar to the zit-like things you describe). Never doing that again. I get some with shaving, but not nearly so bad. Hell, it's been 4 months since I tried it, and I'm still dealing with the after effects.

Oh gawds!!   I certainly hope this reaction I'm having doesn't last that long and I hope yours ends soon!

Definitely not going to run this epilator on my legs... it's still summer and I love my short shorts way too much.  Shaving isn't so bad, I guess.  Definitely better than the reaction my arms had to the epilator.  Then again, I should have known.  I have super-sensitive pale skin that freaks out about everything.  Don't know why I thought it wouldn't have a problem with this.

[Samantha Stone]

I have used the epilator on my legs and armpits for over six months.  The pain got better but the bumps continued especially on my thighs.  Never did get the smooth silky feel on the legs, always a little stubble, although you couldn't see any hair.  So I'm back to shaving and it looks and feels the best.

The chest and stomach were to painful to epilate and didn't work real well.  I would like to get electrolysis on my face someday as I am older and have mostly a grey
beard.  The only hair I like is on my head or on my wig!

Samantha

[jojoshare]

I try epilator already. For me , laser is the best method to remove hairs but it expensive. Waxing also very good but painful more than epilator.

[Ave]

I think an epilator with a hair-growth slowing lotion (I think they are available on Amazon) would be best if laser is too expensive for you.