Epilating- I'm doing it wrong?

[Embrace]

I started epilating my legs recently and have found I can't even get a week before regrowth.  I am not yet on hormones.

I'm using a Braun Silk epil 7 as it got decent reviews and was available locally.

I've been following the instructions, running it against hair growth, moving it slowly (ouch) and often covering the same area from different directions for full coverage.  By the time I'm done my legs are covered in welts (which disappear within 24 hours as expected) but otherwise are smooth.

No more than four days pass and I've got significant stubble.

At first I thought perhaps I was moving the device too quickly and breaking the hairs, but the regrowth is not sparse.  This has now occurred three or four times (each time I temporarily "gave up" and went back to shaving).

Any thoughts as to why this might happen or has anyone had similar experiences?  From things I've read some allege it's not possible for hairs to re-grow so quickly. 

For four days coverage, it's not worth the time investment or pain.

Thanks 

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Sounds like what is happening is that the hair is breaking off at the skin level. 

[Kevin Peña]

I'm guessing you're MTF, in which case, male biology sucks. I wax my legs, which also means ripping off hairs, and stuff still grows back in a couple of days. Body hair just grows too fast. 

[RedFox]

hmm.. I use the epilator but I'm bare for nearly a week before I see growth.  The first time I epilated it took me over an hour with each leg (or so it seemed).  Now I can do the whole body in an hour - down to maintenance I think.  Plus the hair has not grown back nearly as dense for me.  Personally, I shave every other week and epilate on the weeks between.  Maybe the fact that my estrogen count is already high without HRT makes a difference.

I feel for you.  It IS painful.  Waxing hurt less.

[Misato]

No more than four days pass and I've got significant stubble.

Familiar.  I've taken to epilating only for special events because of the same problem.

[Embrace]

Thanks for the replies.  And yes, MtF.

Sounds like what is happening is that the hair is breaking off at the skin level. 

I thought they might be breaking too, but figured if that was the case they wouldn't have been quite so irritated.  But I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

Body hair just grows too fast. 

I'm thinking more and more it's this.  I have pretty thick and dense hair growth to begin with.

The first time I epilated it took me over an hour with each leg (or so it seemed).  Now I can do the whole body in an hour - down to maintenance I think.

I had the same experience the first time.  But I'm certainly jealous of your results!

Familiar.  I've taken to epilating only for special events because of the same problem.

Argh! Sorry to hear that, but thanks for sharing.  Glad to know it's not just me.

[Jayne]

When I first started epilating a few months ago I would see hair regrowth within 4 - 7 days, now it's 7 - 10 days.
I'm not on HRT yet & have heard that the length of time between torture sessions will increase over time until I only have to epilate roughly once a fortnight.

Also, when I first started it hurt like hell, the first time I did my legs it took 3 sessions spread over 3 days as I couldn't bear the pain for too long, nowdays I don't notice it at all, if you stick with it it does get easier.
I strongly recommend that you have a warm bath or shower before epilating as this makes it hurt less.
Once i've finished I have as cold a shower as I can bear as this reduces the heat from the welts which in turn reduces the itching a bit, I hope this helps

Best wishes
Jayne

[Emily Aster]

There's a bit of an art to epilating. It seemed to come back for me pretty quickly at first, but over time, it started taking longer and longer. What I do is take a hot shower right before I use it and I exfoliate in the shower. Then after using the epilator, I moisturize.

[Jayne]

I tried moisturising afterwards but it blocked the open pores & my legs ended up covered in spots, some were the size of a 10p coin!!

[Emily Aster]

I tried moisturising afterwards but it blocked the open pores & my legs ended up covered in spots, some were the size of a 10p coin!!

Yikes!

[Jayne]

Yikes!

That's what I thought, I wasn't sure if it was the moisturising that caused it so when I did my arms a few days ago I moisturised my left arm only, this arm now has large red spots on it and the right arm is almost completely clear.
One spot on my arm is about an inch in diameter!! It's worth keeping in mind that I have bad excema & this is probably contributing however.

[Emily Aster]

That's what I thought, I wasn't sure if it was the moisturising that caused it so when I did my arms a few days ago I moisturised my left arm only, this arm now has large red spots on it and the right arm is almost completely clear.
One spot on my arm is about an inch in diameter!! It's worth keeping in mind that I have bad excema & this is probably contributing however.

Have you tried different moisturizers? Maybe there's an allergic reaction there too. I know as a kid I found out that I was allergic to Pond's Cold Cream. Not even sure if they make that anymore. We used to play wargames complete with face paint in the woods. My cousins would come back with poison ivy, which never seemed to affect me. So I go to take off the face paint with the Pond's and break out in hives from that lol.

[Jayne]

My dermatologist would have a fit if I used non-prescription stuff, on the bright side the skin on my legs has never been clearer, for some reason being hairy aggravates my excema? Maybe the hairs cause itching or maybe the extra hair makes my legs too hot? I don't know & my dermatologist is undecided.

[Embrace]

Jayne and Emily, thanks for the further advice.  I'm willing to make the investment even if I can get it to last even 7 days.  I have been taking a hot shower before hand, re-showering afterward (not cold, but I'll bet that does help) and applying moisturizer once the skin has dried. 

I had not been exfoliating before hand and I'll bet that gets the few little buggers that just it won't pick up standing at attention.

I'll give it an honest try, stick with it as long as I can and see how things work out.  Despite the pain, I prefer the time investment "all at once".  And those few days are great.

Again, thanks to everyone for your input!

[Jayne]

Keep in mind that as time goes by the pain will go away, trust me.
I can now run the epilator over my legs & I feel no pain or discomfort at all, make sure you keep it up & the pain will not return, if however you go too long between sessions then the pain will return.

[Jayne]

If you look at some of my posts on my original thread about this you'll see that I bleated like crazy about the pain, after a month or so I couldn't imagine life without an epilator, it's worth sticking with
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,125977.msg995514.html#msg995514