My first time I cleared the growth with a beard trimmer first. Then used a lady razor to shave with. I have found a few lady razor brands work so much better on my facial hair also. I can shave in the shower with a bit of body wash and never get cut once. With a normal men's razor I would always get a nick or two even using a mirror and shaving cream.
I have used a home IPL on my face which has thinned it a bit but one of these days I'm going for laser removal.
Oh yeh, I have used an epilator on my legs a couple of times before vacation. The big difference is the much slower return of hair and way less red bumps from shaving my upper legs. Also no day after itch on the back thighs. That day after stuff kinda sucks.
I have kept my forearms shaved also. I can say since starting HRT the hair there has really slowed down. Much seems to be loosing it's dark color and is now more brown than dark almost back like it was. However working in a male field, they are starting to get noticed. No one has said anything but one guy next to me the other day looked at me a bit then kinda looked at his own arm. On the plus side there, at this point if I recently wiped a razor across my arm, the growth is so slow it looks like there is no hair there at all. Although running my hand across it I can feel a little stubble, I love the feeling of my skin being so soft.