I am five weeks on hormones and would like to do something about my manly arm hair. What have you all done? I guess I see three options:
1) Leave it alone for now.
2) Shave it and see what comes in.
3) Bleach it.
Thoughts? Ideas? Experiences?
Thanks!
Jane
Nair. Five weeks probably isn't enough to thin it out much. That'll take a few months but, no, really. Nair. Seven minutes of doing not much and then gone gone gone for a few weeks. Also exfoliates the dead top layer of your skin so you look 'fresher'. No ingrown hairs, no freaking cuts, no razor burn.
NAIR!!!
(I really love nair, can you tell?)
I epolated mine yesterday. The first time I did it and it hurt big time on the first arm. Then not so much on the second. Now my arms are so smooth and as far as I can tell no one at work has noticed. I'm still pre everything and doing things on the stealth side.
Follow up questions:
Does Nair work on chest hair? I tried it before but that was before I shaved anything and I was trying a cheap Dollar General knock off. However, it has started growing back and I dread shaving it again :(.
Was is "epolate"? Is that waxing?
Thanks! Love this site!
Victoria -- Love the glasses by the way! I am headed out later to pick out my first pair of women's glasses although I am going for a more unisex look at this point.
I epilate my vestigial male hairs.
Quote from: Miss Bungle on October 21, 2013, 01:00:58 PM
I just shave the arm hairs. They were never all that thick pre-HRT but I hated them anyway. Now when they do grow in, they are a LOT lighter in color and much thinner and sparse.
These days now that I pay closer attention, I see genetic females with thicker arm hair than what I have now. The few I have talked to about this (friends and family) think I'm crazy for shaving it because of the sparse nature of the regrowth but it is just something I choose to do.
It makes me a lot colder, though, I will say that. But I just deal with that since it is par for the course.
I had a genetic girl tell me to leave them as is, but to me they just seem manly.
I also looked up epilate. I'll have to check into that more. I hate shaving.
Thanks again girls!
Jane
As others have mentioned, using an epilator is pretty effective. Painful for the first few uses, but it does get better.
Another benefit of using an epilator ( or waxing ) is that the hair will generally come back finer. Combine that with HRT, and some hair may never come back. It's a slow process, but well worth it.
Bodygroom once per week. I could pass since it is nearly transparent and most of the CIA girl I know have hairier arms than me, but zi like keeping my arms clean, specially the hands.
I waxed mine yesterday, now they are baby butt smooth. My electrologist told me that waxing is the best way to get rid of body hair when on HRT, as it will grow back much finer every time, if at all.
Wax! After several goes they've now thinned up a lot, six weeks since the last wax and very few have grown back and what has is very fine. With man-scaping the rage it's possible to get a full body wax and not raise an eyebrow. Sure it hurts but subsequent waxing is less and less so.
I use hair removal cream, slap it on, leave it 3 minutes then remove and the hair just falls off. In the UK it's called 'Veet' but not sure what it's marketed as in the US.
Saz xx
Quote from: sazzy on October 21, 2013, 04:18:29 PM
I use hair removal cream, slap it on, leave it 3 minutes then remove and the hair just falls off. In the UK it's called 'Veet' but not sure what it's marketed as in the US.
Saz xx
Same here in SP, but I can't stand the smell. Might try it again the next weekend.
Do 1 session of lazer....it works very well on arms and legs. 1 session will not rid all hair permanently but it does slow down growth quite a bit....can then be managed well by shaving. I plan on doing a second one soon when I can afford it!
Quote from: Apple Sprout on October 21, 2013, 05:57:14 PM
Same here in SP, but I can't stand the smell. Might try it again the next weekend.
They do fragranced versions now (I have lotus milk and jasmine) that smell pretty nice. I agree though, the original version smelt awful.
Hair, hair, hair, everywhere except where we want it. My arms are terrible, I gave up & just use a electric trimmer to keep it down some, quicker.
Only 2-3 months on HRT. I sure hope this estrogen can change a few things Y maybe help remove body hair.
Starting facial electroysis next week, I'm sure I'll have weekly visits all fall & winter. Maybe by spring a clean face would be so nice.
I waxed my once and it worked great the first time. Only took 4 glasses of wine to handle. I tried the Nair stuff, but it was always so messy. Anyways, I had it lasered off and never looked back. Worked great on the chest too. I don't remember how many sessions it took, I practically lived part time at my laser clinic getting work done.
Using an epilator was probably the most painful experience I have ever gone through, and that includes several years of football with various injuries. I think it's the most effective besides maybe waxing though, so it's definitely worth it
I must have a high tolerance for pain or something. I've been epilating for over a year now, and while it was always a little rough the first time I did a given area, I just took it slow, and now it doesn't hurt at all. Tweezing my nose hairs on the other hand, now that is a consistently unpleasant experience. :D
Quote from: j.thompsongirl on October 22, 2013, 12:56:50 AM
Using an epilator was probably the most painful experience I have ever gone through, and that includes several years of football with various injuries. I think it's the most effective besides maybe waxing though, so it's definitely worth it
Have you done any electrolysis?
No, nothing major like that yet.
I use an epilator. It works like a dream on my arm hair. It hurt a lot the first time I did it, but the pain is less now.
Quote from: FrancisAnn on October 21, 2013, 10:38:10 PM
Hair, hair, hair, everywhere except where we want it. My arms are terrible, I gave up & just use a electric trimmer to keep it down some, quicker.
Only 2-3 months on HRT. I sure hope this estrogen can change a few things Y maybe help remove body hair.
Starting facial electroysis next week, I'm sure I'll have weekly visits all fall & winter. Maybe by spring a clean face would be so nice.
Just an FYI, unless you are doing different areas each visit, or have really fast regrowth, it takes several weeks for the hair to regrow to a length that the electrologist can work on. The skin can get irritated and need to heal, and the hair has to grow from the follicle. I personally need at least three weeks between sessions to get enough regrowth for my electrologist to be effective. I'm also taking Keratin Enhance with Biotin from GNC which speeds my body hair growth along with my head hair, so I might have faster regrowth than some. By choosing electrology you'll have to let your facial hair grow out so they can work on it, and most beards take over a year to remove :(
Quote from: Miyuki on October 22, 2013, 09:46:35 AM
I must have a high tolerance for pain or something. I've been epilating for over a year now, and while it was always a little rough the first time I did a given area, I just took it slow, and now it doesn't hurt at all. Tweezing my nose hairs on the other hand, now that is a consistently unpleasant experience. :D
Oh god, I can't tweeze nose hairs without my eyes watering and causing myself to sneeze before too long. Isn't there a way to put wax on a Q-tip and get them that way? I just use trimmers because I'm too reticent to play with hot wax in my nostrils.
It seems to me like a round of lasers would be the most effective for arms and legs, although costly. I've had some experience with laser treatment over the last half year and it has been rather effective so far at reducing density and thickness if not eliminating the hair on my chest, neck and back. It probably helps that I started somewhere around the middle on the hairiness scale of Hairless to Wookie.
Quote from: Obfuskatie on October 25, 2013, 04:54:40 AM
Just an FYI, unless you are doing different areas each visit, or have really fast regrowth, it takes several weeks for the hair to regrow to a length that the electrologist can work on. The skin can get irritated and need to heal, and the hair has to grow from the follicle. I personally need at least three weeks between sessions to get enough regrowth for my electrologist to be effective. I'm also taking Keratin Enhance with Biotin from GNC which speeds my body hair growth along with my head hair, so I might have faster regrowth than some. By choosing electrology you'll have to let your facial hair grow out so they can work on it, and most beards take over a year to remove :(
Perhaps you know since I've never heard it stated, just how long do they need the beard hair growth in order to work on it? One of the things that's holding me back from full-time is knowing I'll have to grow out my beard repeatedly for electrolysis. I'm almost done laser though so a year or so more to go for smooth skin isn't too crushing a thought. I couldn't get an opening for voice therapy until March 2014 anyway.
Quote from: Obfuskatie on October 25, 2013, 05:31:01 AM
Oh god, I can't tweeze nose hairs without my eyes watering and causing myself to sneeze before too long. Isn't there a way to put wax on a Q-tip and get them that way? I just use trimmers because I'm too reticent to play with hot wax in my nostrils.
I thought it was supposed to be bad to pluck nose hairs because of infection risk. Tried it before and even single hairs seem to cause major irritation. I'm sticking to small scissors.
Quote from: Violet Bloom on October 25, 2013, 04:20:01 PM
Perhaps you know since I've never heard it stated, just how long do they need the beard hair growth in order to work on it? One of the things that's holding me back from full-time is knowing I'll have to grow out my beard repeatedly for electrolysis. I'm almost done laser though so a year or so more to go for smooth skin isn't too crushing a thought. I couldn't get an opening for voice therapy until March 2014 anyway.
I thought it was supposed to be bad to pluck nose hairs because of infection risk. Tried it before and even single hairs seem to cause major irritation. I'm sticking to small scissors.
My electrologist prefers that the hair is long enough to easily grasp with tweezers to remove quickly after zapping it as it helps her work quicker. Since I'm paying her a decent amount of money to torture me, I very much want to make it easy for her to work efficiently. It makes her happy :)
In general, there needs to be enough of a protruding follicle to easily tell the direction it is growing out of the skin from so they can insert the probe through the follicle to the base of the hair. They should have something like a dentist's rig to magnify and illuminate their work area to help them see as well. A coarse beard should probably be about 2mm. But the more sparse and light your beard becomes, the longer it will take for your nearly eliminated hairs to grow. Hair will grow at uneven speeds, and shaving can become problematic if you want to get your money's worth. At that point, it might be worth it to simply let it grow out.
For nasal hairs, all you need is some antiseptic cream to apply via Q-tip to the inside of your nose to prevent infection or soreness after plucking the hairs, but I abhor plucking them. Trimming them works fine for me.
I've been shaving my arms for about 10 years now. When I first did it, nobody I knew noticed or said anything. Through the magic HRT (there's that phrase again) when I shave my arms, they're baby soft for days.