Son of a.. OUCH. >.< (Epilation)

[Sinnyo]

Hurrah, I've gotten an epilator! It is nice to look at and its presence is a reassurance to me. But I feel like I never want to use it again.

Worryingly, given that I'm on the Braun Silk-Épil's starter tweezer with comfort rollers, the pain of my first few swipes has been excruciating. I was trying my torso, as while epilators are designed for legs, my chest hair grows much quicker and so had reached the 2mm minimum barrier for tweezage. It's also a much more visibly exposed area for me, so I consider it a priority.

I've chickened out, despite knowing this would be harsher the first few times. The epilator didn't get very far on either occasion, but it certainly did grab some hairs. To my horror, it's plucking 2mm of 'head' and 3-4mm more from below my skin. I imagine that this is not helping with the pain. Is there anything I can do to help reduce this?

The manual spoke of a gel cooling pack, which I would have to try to recreate somehow (since my epilator is second-hand). Bag of peas? Cool flannel? Leaving it until the hair's a little longer on the outside? Warm shower beforehand?

I'm already planning to cover up more anyway, since it's cold out and I am scared to rip this hair out any more - but I don't want to shave to keep appearances up, or I'll have to wait all over again.

[kyril]

Try tweezing a few hairs (with tweezers) somewhere on your body before using the epilator. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but the pain from tweezing individual hairs is less than the pain from pulling several out at once with an epilator, and the smaller amount of pain is enough to trigger endorphins that make further hair removal less painful. You can get a similar effect from pinching or biting yourself (gently, not enough to cause injury). Stretching or light exercise can help too.

(You want to be removing the hair from below the skin. This is the advantage of epilating or waxing vs. shaving - no stubble, no shadow, and you get the extra 3-4 mm of growth time before you have to do it again. Your epilator is doing what it's designed to do.)

[pebbles]

Aspirin helps it helps much more than paracetamol but yeah if you do it abit then wait 5 minutes your natural endorphins will also help.

Failing that if you like I don't mind coming over to visit you and doing it for you so you can't be a wuss about it as I won't give you any choice in the matter. XD Most people have to pay a beautician alot of money for that service lol.

[Sinnyo]

Failing that if you like I don't mind coming over to visit you and doing it for you so you can't be a wuss about it as I won't give you any choice in the matter. XD Most people have to pay a beautician alot of money for that service lol.

Eek! Hahah, sounds torturous. I like the idea of pinching and stuff first - I seem to remember from experience that yes, my skin can get pretty numb by doing that. Thanks, Kyril.

Dee, I really appreciate the recommendation! Someone was kind enough to send me this one, so I didn't exactly choose my epilator per se. But it's good to know for when I can afford one, if I need a different option. And no worries - they're a man's hairs I'm trying to be rid of, and are all the more alien for saying it.

[spacial]

A bag of peas will numb the skin quite a bit.

But suggest you should start on your legs, lower legs.

I have no experience of epilators, but hope to one day.

kyril's point about conditioning yourself is really good. If you know what to expect, your brain can prepare for it. Ask anyone who has to inject insulin.

[Colleen Ireland]

I bought the inexpensive (~$40 CDN) Remington Smoothe & Silky epilator from Walmart - the cheaper, corded version.  From what I could see, the only difference with the more expensive one (about twice the price) was that it was rechargeable.  Maybe I have a high pain threshold, but I don't find it too painful.  I've used it on my chest and tummy.  Not sure if I'm doing it right, some of the hairs seem to be breaking off in stead of pulling out.  I have used a tweezers to get the stragglers, and I moisturize afterward.  My only complaint is that it takes a while to do.  But I am loving the result, and it's far better than waxing, which I tried after I tried shaving.  I think also that it will take a few times to get all the hairs in their different growth cycles - some follicles are dormant while others are active, and they're on a 4- to 6-week cycle.  But I am looking forward to nice, smooth skin eventually, without breaking the bank.  I hope to begin laser treatments on my face in a month or so.

[April Dawne]

Quite awhile before I began HRT I bought a Braun Silk-Epil Xpressive epilator. I had grown really tired of having to shave my legs chest abdomen etc and deal with the itchy regrowth, razor burn, and obvious stubble within a day or two. The first couple of times it WAS pretty irritating, (but I wouldn't call it excrutiating) and took quite awhile, but I loved the results. Super silky smooth skin. Again, this was before HRT and as a result I had to epilate every week because hairs started coming back pretty quickly. I exfoliated after and between epilations, but I found that after a few months I was still getting lots of almost pimple-like red bumps all over my upper thighs that were being caused by ingrown hairs. My legs started to look awful, so I stopped epilating and went back to shaving.

Soon after beginning HRT I decided to try the epilator out again because my skin was changing. Lo and behold, no more red irritated ingrowns! I only have to epilate once every few weeks now, and most of the hairs come out so easily I can barely feel it at all. I tried the epilator on my underarms once, and ONLY once. THAT hurt like hell, and I even bled. I tried it on my face, and while it pulled the hairs out just fine, it simply hurts too much to do it. I was half-considering getting my face waxed, then going to epilating as the hairs slowly come back in.

I'm really quite satisfied so far with my Braun, although I must say my body hair has never been super thick and is very fine. I'd imagine with thicker, coarser hair that maybe it wouldn't be so great. You really also need to learn the right tecnique with an epilator; if you don't hold it at the right angle, or move it too quickly or in the wrong direction you will likely miss hairs or break them off instead of pulling them out. Also, never go with a rechargeable epilator... definitely not enough muscle and imagine getting halfway done one leg and then zap, the battery dies.

Also, perhaps starting out on your chest and abdomen wasn't the best area to get used to epilating. I personally found that the "beginner" and "intermediate" caps with their "massaging rollers" were more of an annoyance than a help so went straight to the "pro" cap.

[Vanessa_yhvh]

I have the pink silk epil.

At first, it was just unpleasant but tolerable in some areas, but brutal in others.

Within a few weeks, it was unpleasant but tolerable pretty much everywhere.

Now it's been the better part of several months, and it's just boring.

[spacial]

Just found this. Not a lot of information, but it does advise having a warm bath before

http://www.thehairfacts.com/rotary-epilators.htm

[AmySmiles]

Just found this. Not a lot of information, but it does advise having a warm bath before

http://www.thehairfacts.com/rotary-epilators.htm

That's what I've been doing (warm shower though).  It seems to help with the ingrowns somehow.  I've got a braun silk epil with a headlight on it and I'm thinking I will start using the pro head because the massage rollers don't seem to help much.

The first couple of times were excruciating but I found that if I took it slow and did thin strips of hair then it wasn't nearly as bad.  I still won't go near my bikini area with that thing though.  Talk about super ouches 

[Dana Lane]

Try shaving all the areas first then within a week start epilating. Hair doesn't grow back all at the same rate so it will take some time but will be less painful. Then once you have plucked all the hairs a few times they should be a lot less painful from there on out.

[April Dawne]

Sydney and Kieri, I have the same one =] that light is an absolutely perfect touch too, helps me to see every last little hair that is hard to see under normal light! I usually epilate after a long hot shower where I exfoliate with St Ives Apricot Scrub. I do my entire legs and thighs and right up to the *private* area, plus abdomen, chest, and the small of my back. Most of that hair is gone now. The only places I won't go are the actual groin area, underarms, and face. So much better than a razor!