Do-it-yourself?

[Arwena]

Seems that everybody here go to professionals...
What was your experoence with do-it-yourself kits like One-Touch or similar?

We (I am a "significant other") have started it about a month ago and basicly are done, some touch-up left. I have done all the work and I am very proud of myself

[Kendall]

Very difficult and rough on the wrists. I have trouble doing it left handed. That is if you dont have help.

Also just like professional, will have to repeat several times. For dormant hairs.

[AnnieE]

Very promising results, although my motivation takes a hit by the 15 hair and I stop. Hopefully I will work up the ability to do square inches per day(not all in the same area).

[saraswatidevi]

I recently bought the One-Touch waxing kit. I hated it. It came with strips that seem to be non-woven interface that sometimes splits when it is being pulled off. I ended up with a thin layer of interfacing stuck to my leg with hot wax and no way to get it off except to scrape it off with my fingernails. Since then I found out that the professional kits contain muslin strips and wood strips something like tongue depressors. I bought a roll of muslin and the sticks and they work much better.

Since then I tried sugaring. I love it. It is the same technique as the waxing but you use a cooked sugar and water solution. You use it at room temperature. Apply with wooden sticks and remove with the muslin strips and it works great. Plus you can go over the same area to get any stray hairs repeatedly without irritating the skin. If you want to try it cook 2 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup lemon juice until it reaches 'hard ball' stage; i.e., 250 F degrees. Then cool it. You clean up with soap and water and you can wash and reuse the muslin strips. It is like pulling out your hairs with taffy. Very sticky. Maybe even more sticky then the hot wax and much easier to use.

[Melissa]

I recently got one of the one touch electrolysis units and tried it out a couple of weeks ago.  I did a test on a few hairs and have been waiting to see how my skin ends up.  On the box, it states that if you are sensitive to skin hyperpigmentation (injuries cause darkened scars) that you shouldn't use it.  Unfortunately, I AM susceptible to to hyperpigmentation (at least I have been since I started HRT ).  So far the test spots I did *have* left marks on my legs where I did it (like in 6 spots), so I doubt I'll be using that method.  I already had plenty of those scars on my legs though, so it's not that big of a deal.  I've at least figured out how to get them to fade.  Hopefully I'll figure out something that gets rid of them.

by the way, I've also had experience with professional laser and electrolysis too and those haven't left marks, but actually now that I think about it, I only seem to have the hyperpigmentation problem on the lower half of my body.  Maybe I should try the unit on a part of my upper body, although my armpits are about the only place I really have hair left that I'd want to remove.

[Dora]

I do both, professional and DIY. I made the mistake of buying the tweezer product because I now know that the general opinion on tweezer systems is it's a scam.  All was not lost though because I came across a web page that tells you how to convert or build a unit from scratch that will work.

http://www.geocities.com/hairfreethere/

Patience and perseverance is required.

Dora