Susan's Place Transgender Resources

And yeeeee-ooooooouuuuuuuch! It smarts! But I've been skateboarding since the dawn of the 90s, so I've built a huge threshold for pain. Today I epilated my chest, belly, and arms. I also dabbled onto my butt, shoulders, and back, but not too much. The hair's all gone, but everything's red. I took a post shower and exfoliated with bath salts -- no, not the kind that are popular in trailer parks all across the USA and Canada. After my cold-ass post-shower, I rubbed baby powder on everything that was red.

Tomorrow I think I'll do my legs, or at least some portion of them. The hard part isn't the pain; the hard part is that my house is freezing cold. Even with a space heater in my space-shuttle-bathroom, my feet still get numb and purple.

I also tried it on my neck for a second. The hairs are too short still, but it did pull some out. It'll be interesting to see how this works for me tomorrow. If I could epilate my face, that would be magnifique!

You're psycho. butt, shoulders, back, chest, stomach, arms.... that must hurt. I can barely do most of my legs!

It's just like the old saying, NO PAIN, NO GAIN!

Quote from: MugwortPsychonaut on November 25, 2013, 05:03:51 PM
If I could epilate my face, that would be magnifique!

Just... don't. Lol. Trust me.

Definitely not your face!  Except perhaps for a few straggly hairs on the upper cheeks.  Vaniqa/Eflora is a much better solution for the face.

Congratulations on making such a big start.  If you repeat at regular intervals it will be much easier because it will only be the last week or whatever's growth.  I now use tweezers on my arms because there is hardly any regrowth by now.

Thanks, everybody. My chest and belly turned red. My belly healed up quickly, but my chest still looks like I have the bubonic plague! No worries. I know that the more I do it, the less traumatic it will be.

I've reduced my facial hair to almost nothing with a year of constant epilating as well as lowering my T levels.  after a week or so of epilating the face it doesn't really hurt, but exfoliating daily is a must to avoid ingrown hairs on the face.  Also, abrating and inflammation can occur, so it's best to do it at night so your skin has time to recover by morning

Brave.  Very brave.

May I recommend bump eraiser for ingrowns and soothing that redness a bit.

I was wary of epilators after Laura Jane Grace said it hurt more than tats.  :)

Hun whatever you do. Epilating the face is not a good idea.  you'll pull your skin with the hair. . Andro hair on the Face really dig in

I just bought an epilator too! :D It should arrive on Monday.

I read that it's best to exfoliate before epilating. I've been using a sugar scrub and my skin is already soooo smooth, pre-HRT!

Also if you have a water proof epilator, I've read that doing it in the shower will help relieve both pain and irritation.

Happy plucking! ;D

I have much better results with sugaring - http://www.wikihow.com/Make-and-Use-Body-Sugaring-Paste
No irritation, no ingrow... I don't know why it makes any difference. That said I usually resort to my epilator, because it is faster and easier, sugaring takes time and it is easy to make a mess when you apply it.

My epilator is water proof, I tried that once in a shower and didn't like it. Doesn't add anything, except that you waste a lot of water.

Ah, epilators. I like to call mine "my little torture device" :D

But seriously, it always hurts the first time, since the skin hasn't gotten used to it.
Exfoliation before epilating is essential to prevent ingrowns (and don't dig for them or you'll be likely to get scarring - I did :'().
The skin redness can be helped with some burn gel (aloe gel with a little anesthetic). I tend to avoid oil-based products on skin freshly epilated, as in, lotions and such.

When I started transition I had terrible shaving skill (I didn't care much about looks so I didn't take good care of myself).
Thanks to that my legs and chest have scars still healing 6 months later (argg).

Nowadays I epilate my chest and belly regularly, my legs when I have time (else just shave them), and I alternate epilating and shaving my facial hair. So far I just shave my underarms since it's easy. I always exfoliate (using a poof and a body wash specifically for exfoliation) in a nice hot shower before epilating, and I use a little scent-free oatmeal-based shaving gel to keep lubrication (makes it easier).

Let me tell you, epilating facial hair is a bittersweet thing but I'm glad I did it. The first time was positively excruciating and took me three-rounds to get most of it (I didn't have the guts to do my upper-lip and Adam's apple areas). After a few weeks of doing it, the hair color changed, dark hairs sparse, lighter and less coarse hairs more prevalent, and some even went snow-white. I can do it without as much anesthetic spray but it still doesn't feel super good; even so, it certainly makes shaving easier. I still need to "psych up" for it, though. :P

I haven't tried creams and such for my face, but maybe that's an easier route.  ???
I can't afford electrolysis, but I'll be doing it eventually.

Too painfull for me, I could never do it on chest or belly ,,,jesus...even on my legs it hurts
I use it on my hands though , thats helpfull...I guess...  :-\

I've felt like my hormonal change has altered my mind-over-matter kind of bodily control a bit, so maybe it's just that, but:
I've found it useful to try to not focus concentration on the point of pain and remind myself (over and over) that there's no blades involved, I'm not going to chop my skin up, etc., and it seems to help. At this point some places, like my thighs and oddly my temple areas, actually feel kinda good when I epilate, like scratching an itch, if you can believe that.