Epilator to the face?

[Black Arrow]

Okay, so I just recently got myself a relatively cheap epilator to more easily get rid of all the body hair I frankly really don't want on myself at all. Now, of course, it did also occur me that using it to get rid of my beard and 'stache is something to be considered, since I don't want to grow either anytime soon. I've heard, however, that this is really a bad idea for various reasons - on the other hand, I've also heard of people who have reported overall success doing this, and searching for earlier threads reveals a similarly mixed response.

So, could I get some opinions (preferably from people who have actually tried it) on how much success I can expect from epilating my face? I'd like to note that the immediate pain of the process is not a concern. What matters to me is whether I can succeed with it, and whether there are any additional risks that don't show up (or not as much) when epilating other parts of the body. (For example, I've sometimes heard that the high density of male facial hair is a problem for the epilator. On the other hand, couldn't that be circumvented just by going slowly and more carefully?) I'd also like to note that currently, there are no other permanent or semi-permanent options available, such as electrolysis or laser treatment - it's either epilating or the regular chore of taking a razor to my face for less than a day of smooth-face.

Thank you for your responses.

[AnonyMs]

I tried it and its incredibly painful. I also managed to get an infection and had to take antibiotics.

I didn't manage to do it long enough to tell what it would be like longer term.

You could try looking in to Vaniqua (Eflornithine) instead. Its not permanent, works slowly, and is expensive. No pain though, unless you count your wallet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eflornithine

[Black Arrow]

Haha, no, expensive solutions won't work unfortunately. That's about 80% of the reason why I can't do laser at the moment - I am a university student with no steady income yet. Thank you anyways. Yeech, your experience sounds painful. I'm wondering how typical it is among those who try it.

[AnonyMs]

I think everyone says its every painful. Try google.

To put the pain in perspective, I've been in hospital on morphine, and it was for a lot less pain than the epilator.

[Deborah]

I've tried plucking my face with a tweezer and that brought tears.  I cannot imagine the pain of pulling a whole bunch of them at the same time.  I think I might pass out screaming.


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[Devlyn]

I have been tweezing my face and neck for a long time. I just bought a Braun Silk-Epil 9, it was $124 on Amazon. The first thing I did was run it across my face and neck. I was surprised that all I felt was tugging and bumping. I thought it was missing the hairs, but it left me smooth as a babies butt. It clears my face and neck in just a couple of minutes.

My suggestions are:

1. Epilate often so only some of the hairs are long enough for the rotating tweezers to grab, this should keep the pain down to a dull roar.

2. Keep your skin tight while you're doing an area.

3. Go slow, especially when approaching a tender area. I haven't been able to epilate my armpits or nether regions yet, but I intend to work my way into it eventually.

I hope this helps!

Hugs, Devlyn

[Devlyn]

PS: Y'all are a bunch of babies!!!   

Hugs, Devlyn

[pyhxbp]

3. Go slow, especially when approaching a tender area. I haven't been able to epilate my armpits or nether regions yet, but I intend to work my way into it eventually.

You wuss! I epilate my armpits every two weeks. Gential electrolysis - now THAT hurts. Oh yeah...

Here is a useful tip - rub talc into the armpits before epilating. It greatly reduces friction.

[Devlyn]

You wuss! I epilate my armpits every two weeks. Gential electrolysis - now THAT hurts. Oh yeah...

Here is a useful tip - rub talc into the armpits before epilating. It greatly reduces friction.

+1! 

[pyhxbp]

+1! 

Actually, I am fed up epilating my armpits so I am having them lasered later this month. The test patch was an enormous success and since I now have a large, empty stripe in one armpit I need to get them both done.

Epilating body hair was worked very well for me and I have very, very little left, but I suspect HRT was a big help too.

[Black Arrow]

Thank you for the responses so far!

1. Epilate often so only some of the hairs are long enough for the rotating tweezers to grab, this should keep the pain down to a dull roar.

Does this mean that it'd be a good idea to do my best clean shave possible before the first time? I understand that the hair needs to grow a little before it can be properly epilated, and that your solution exchanges efficiency for less pain - right?

Well, so far there have been opinions for and against. Some of the 'against' opinions did make me a bit cautious though. Would it be sensible to perhaps try it out on a small patch and see if it works for me? I'm thinking that around the ear, where my skin isn't as visible (I have shoulder-long hair) I could try epilating a little and see if I can remove the hairs there before possibly moving on to the rest of my face.

[Devlyn]

Keep it away from your long hair! I recommend an area with good visibility for you. Start on a smooth spot and slowly move into a few hairs to get a feel for it. Maybe skip a tiny patch shaving and epilate it?

Hugs, Devlyn

[TechGirl]

PS: Y'all are a bunch of babies!!!   

Hugs, Devlyn

You know, you've been tweezing long before you used the epilator.  That had to have helped with the pain when you started using the epilator.

Just got my Braun Silk Epil 9 and did my whole chest.  OUCH!!!

Should have waxed a few times first.  Oh well, done now :-)

[Kimberley Beauregard]

I rub shower gel all over the area before epilating (it's a wet and dry and I always epilate in the shower, I find warm water helps a bit). The most painful area to start with had to be my chest and armpits. Everywhere else was easily bearable (though I started with brief, shorter strokes on more sensitive areas). I much prefer it to shaving, it's the way to go.

I will never take an epilator to my face, but if I ever did, I'd use plenty of soap. I'd probably use numbing cream too.

[Lagertha]

SO did you try epilator on your face yet? How did it go?

[Deborah]

Please tell us right before you epilate your face so we can all put our earplugs in to drown out your screams.

[TechGirl]

I rub shower gel all over the area before epilating (it's a wet and dry and I always epilate in the shower, I find warm water helps a bit). The most painful area to start with had to be my chest and armpits. Everywhere else was easily bearable (though I started with brief, shorter strokes on more sensitive areas). I much prefer it to shaving, it's the way to go.

I will never take an epilator to my face, but if I ever did, I'd use plenty of soap. I'd probably use numbing cream too.

I of course approached it like I do everything.  I dove in and did the whole chest in one day dry.  Worst spot was center of chest.  I have a red bumpy chest of courage now to prove how courageous I was through the pain.

Doh!

Oh I look forward to the day in the distant future when I will finally be able to go on hrt and get my brain what it needs to think clearly :-)

[abd789]

I of course approached it like I do everything.  I dove in and did the whole chest in one day dry.  Worst spot was center of chest.  I have a red bumpy chest of courage now to prove how courageous I was through the pain.

Doh!

Oh I look forward to the day in the distant future when I will finally be able to go on hrt and get my brain what it needs to think clearly :-)

OMG! I just did this yesterday....

Ive had my epilator (silk epil 9) for a few months and the first couple days I did my whole body... what a nightmare.
but I resorted back to shaving my chest from the sheer pain. However, my growth seems to have slowed so I thought, lets clear it again and see what comes back.... it was just as painful, but Im smooth today and love it

face, I cant seem to get it to work on my face, but I rarely have any stubble because I like to keep smooth shaved (but I have shadow)
I have noticed recently that I have small clear patches starting on my face which gives me hope

Ihave successfully cleared my feet, lower legs, hands, forearms and most of upper arms, those areas rarely get stubbly
backs of my thighs hurt like hell

[Black Arrow]

SO did you try epilator on your face yet? How did it go?

Haha, well, since you've asked, might as well tell you about my adventures... I actually hadn't even started epilating when I posted this thread, so obviously I began with something easier than my face first. So, let's recount my experiences (potential TMI warning?)!

Mission 1: get rid of all the hair on the legs!

Well, that began kinda well. Assistants in the shops I was looking in all told me that it tends to be pretty painful for the first time, and that's consistent with the advice I received on the Internet. Compared to that, what I really felt when I began doing my lower leg was more of a mild inconvenience - it was surprising how the pain failed to live up to expectations. It only started getting painful near my thigh, especially at the areas where they join my torso. Still, it wasn't too bad - I could survive it. It was just really long.

Second time around, half a week later or so, and now, for the third time, the process was increasingly shorter and there isn't a lot of hair anymore. Only a few patches/streaks really got hairy (and not too long, either), and my legs feel nice and smooth now when stroked (especially if I go downwards, along the grain). Experimentally, I took the epilator to that patch of skin below my gut where all the pubes used to grow into a real jungle before I took a razor to them for a first time (long ago - seriously, why do I even need hair there?!). It was a bit more painful than anything before, but not too terrible - just not too efficient either, probably because I had shaved it quite short before just to be safe, and the hairs are not too long yet. (I didn't go down to the testicles or the penis, stopping at the area where the skin was still solid and stiff. Not ready for that yet! Not sure I'll ever be... I'll probably leave that to the permanent kind of treatment when I am in the financial situation to do so.)

As another experiment, I also decided to try epilating a few patches of my face - namely, parts of the neck and two symmetrical patches on my cheeks with a few streaks of facial hair on them. Well, what can I say - it really wasn't any more painful than what I had experienced so far. It was comparable to epilating away those pubes in both pain and efficiency, though - it really wasn't that good, though once again, I did do a clean shave a day and a half ago, so conditions perhaps aren't optimal. The skin is a little rough with red spots on the cheek areas, but I hope that will go away.

Ultimately, perhaps I just have a high pain tolerance to this machine, but the discomfort really wasn't all that cracked up to be. Nothing really hurts after epilating, either - it's more of an immediate pain that I have to handle in the sensitive areas. Not sure I'll actually epilate my face, though - I'll experiment with it later, in stages, and make a decision. It seems to be quite an inefficient process, although whether it's worth switching over from shaving depends on whether the end results are significantly better than the results of shaving.

[Ashley3]

Some of you are quite brave... I was saying "ouch!" quite a bit while reading this thread.

I would never ever epilate my face. Never! I had thought about it so much, I had so badly wanted a clear face, and I even had a Silk and other models. It was Ouch! on my legs, ouch! on my arms... arms were red the next couple of days.

I had one period where I achieved one good legs/arms/chest clearing, but the maintenance was too much... if I didn't touch up every day or two, it was really "Ouch!" time again. That says nothing, and I mean nothing of the ingrown hairs. That was a deal-breaker. Overall, I was not impressed with the epilating route.

On hindsight, I'd have rather saved my money (used for depilatories, epilators, groomers and the like) for laser and/or electrolysis. It's easy to say that on hindsight though. I obviously needed experience and time to arrive at that understanding.

An aside, once I got to facial electrolysis, I appreciated good skin care and removal steps (i.e., having a great laser tech and electrologist). I was SOOO HAPPY I had kept that epilator away from my face. That's an idle opinion though, so I'm not claiming to know what is okay or not with epilators. That said, I believe the epilator manuals often tell one to keep it away from thick facial hair, if not facial hair altogether (depending on model) for a good reason. If they're not supporting it, I think it means something. My understanding is facial epilation was described in manuals as being meant for fine one off removal, not thick bunches of hair. Apparently some are proving otherwise but...

I'm just saying!...  Please be careful.