Already tired of shaving and unsatisfied with the smoothness but not wanting to shell out hundreds for laser, I bought a rechargeable epilator.

My first foray was misguided and heavy handed. I have large bumps and irritations all over my lower leg including what looks like rug-rash around my ankles. Thankfully it's cold here and I can wear socks to cover up. It'll clear up but it'll take a while.

Through trial and painful error, I've figured out what works for me.

After trimming the hair or letting it grow in from a shave: First I soak in a bath, then I put it on the lowest speed setting and gently (no pressure) work it against the grain a little bit at a time watching as it removes the hair. If necessary I'll vary the angle but never the pressure to make sure it gets everything. If there is a particularly stubborn hair I find that sometimes lifting the epilator OFF the skin actually gets it!
I make sure to re-wet the skin from time to time to ensure the epilator is spinning smooth without much friction.

Theoretically it'll get easier as the hair follicles won't mature fully when I go to do it again, but this first time is a ton of work.

I just did my knee areas and found overall that warm, wet skin and a light touch go a LONG way toward good results that heal quickly.

I found that way to painful to keep on going through myself and took way to long and my hair just kept groing back and i got lots of ingrown hairs but if you can great

Quote from: natalie.ashlyne on January 22, 2018, 11:14:09 PM
I found that way to painful to keep on going through myself and took way to long and my hair just kept groing back and i got lots of ingrown hairs but if you can great

I have a special little ingrown hair scrubby thing that when used most days in the shower seems to do a pretty dang good job at keeping the little buggers at bay. Lots of maintenance for something only I get to appreciate. 😍

Shaving sounds easier


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I think each are of the body is different. I epilated my entire body twice and had no issues with chest or underarms, but got a lot of ingrown hairs in my legs. So right now I'm using the epilator for the upper body and shaving my legs.

I do like the results from epilating but it take my legs two weeks for the bumps to go away and by that time the hair is already regrowing.

Also...that pain!
My friend says "well it's supposed to hurt a bit" a bit! haha either she's made of steel or I am doing it wrong.
Two ibuprofen and half a bottle of rum beforehand I thought would make a difference...nope lol

I'll stick to my shaving rash thanks

I get ingrown from shaving my legs horribly. My hair tends to be on the coarse side, so I'm hoping hrt will help on that front. Yet I'm scared to do much with waxing and epilating since I want to do full body laser long term and don't want to damage the follicles making that harder. :/

(I did the math, it's way cheaper long term to just have it removed. Not likely to find hair on legs going back in style anytime soon.)

QuoteAlready tired of shaving and unsatisfied with the smoothness but not wanting to shell out hundreds for laser, I bought a rechargeable epilator.

I used to use an epilator, but went with laser about 10 years ago.  I'm quite happy with the results.  However, I initially started with the epilator, because I almost committed suicide a few times, while shaving my legs.     It took some getting used to, but I (mostly) got the hang of it.

I recommend exfoliation to preent ingrown hair. I have an exfoliating which I use instead of a bath sponge and gave me great results.

Short of more permanent hair removal solutions, none of the temporary fixes work for me... epilation, hair removal creams causes me intense skin irritation, ingrown hairs, big red bumps and other unsightly things.   Until I can afford the more permanent solutions I am destined to continue shaving... carefully!

Quote from: Aspiringperson on February 07, 2018, 04:23:30 PM
Short of more permanent hair removal solutions, none of the temporary fixes work for me... epilation, hair removal creams causes me intense skin irritation, ingrown hairs, big red bumps and other unsightly things.   Until I can afford the more permanent solutions I am destined to continue shaving... carefully!

You and millions of other women.  The epilation is almost more work because I have to exfoliate heavily. Perhaps it will slow down over time, but for now it's a LOT of scrubbing to stay bump free.

Quote from: lexxy on February 07, 2018, 05:51:18 PM
You and millions of other women.  The epilation is almost more work because I have to exfoliate heavily. Perhaps it will slow down over time, but for now it's a LOT of scrubbing to stay bump free.

How often do you exfoliate?

To exfoliate I usually dry brush my body before I shower or wet brush in the shower.  This seems to work well for me. 

Until recently I was always epilating before I had a shower.  I couldn't believe how much easier and less painful it was if I did it after a hot shower.

Thanks for starting this thread.
Paige

Charlie, similar to what Paige said. Usually before or during each shower. I find that a dry scrub removes more skin overall... or it feel that way at least.

But my hair... holes? Not sure the technical name of it, still look quite large. I imagine that it something that'll change over time with no hair and lots of lotioning? Or am I doomed to look like I've shaved a lot of coarse hair all the time?

Thanks, I guess I'll need to add exfoliating to my already increasing daily routine.

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Quote from: Charlie Nicki on February 10, 2018, 04:30:22 AM
Thanks, I guess I'll need to add exfoliating to my already increasing daily routine.

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Get a good exfoliating cloth or glove, and just do it while doing basic body washing. Exfoliating is nice because it really doesn't add much if any time to a proper bath or shower, but you can see the benefits immediately. (When the exfoliated skin comes... ugh, sloughing off. Even just with pores, you can see the before and after difference sometimes.)

snipped: 

Quote from: lexxy on February 10, 2018, 12:44:29 AM
But my hair... holes? Not sure the technical name of it, still look quite large. I imagine that it something that'll change over time with no hair and lots of lotioning? Or am I doomed to look like I've shaved a lot of coarse hair all the time?

@ Lexxy:   "holes" ... I think you are talking about the pores in your skin???   I have been on HRT for well over 2 years and my skin is softer, the hair regrowth is finer and noticeably less, and my skin is much smoother with smaller pores. 

Since shaving with a razor seems to be the best option for my skin... other methods I have tried seem to result in terrible skin and hair follicle reactions....  so until I can put together a more permanent plan ($$$$) I am destined to shave for now.  Fortunately after almost 3 years of HRT my hair is getting thinner and thinner and lighter... and takes longer to regrow.
I was at Costco today and got a bargain on disposable razors... I should be set for a year or two!!  As a bonus in the package was a "Bikini area Trimmer"  It will be interesting to try it.
Click on pictures to enlarge them.

I tried shaving,waxing and epilating - but I got seriously bad ingrown hairs around the top inside of my thighs despite exfoliating every day. Waxing was to hard and too messy!! 
Then bought a remington IPL - smooth as silk thighs, pubic area , bum ( whole area), hands, feet, arms etc  I got the new one that doesn't need replacing the bulb and gives 'permanent' results.
So is it permanent?  well my wife and I gave eachother 4 treatments - 2 weeks apart and after 6 weeks I had very smooth skin with only a few hairs that had been missed.
But I didn't do my legs - because I'm not mtf full time and I didn't want to have smooth legs in summer shorts so I epilate those in winter.

The results - at the later stage of six weeks the results were fantastic but because we got busy going away over xmas etc we didn't keep up the zapping every 2 weeks and most of my hair has grown back since stopping in late november 2017.

So either the results are not permanent for me or I didn't do enough treatments to permanently kill the hair follicles - But i will say the results from doing it every 2 weeks are the best I've had with all methods and once I get back into it will keep going for at least 8 treatments before I see if the effect is permanent ( maybe just leave a small area untreated in case.)
Is it painful?  yes - the more hair you have the more painful it is -so the first time is quite painful but after 3 or more treatments there is less hair so its not as bad - pain is like being pinched.  Painful around bottom - and close to private area - but love having it smooth without ingrown hairs finally!

cost = mine cost $600 NZD  plus got a $100 rebate.
any questions feel free to ask.

Sonja

I have had excellent results with the epilator. I did already have pretty smooth skin which seems to be the key. Everything from the nose down gets it now, and I mean EVERYTHING. The first couple of times are excruciating, especially the genital area. I just keep my mind on the end result. The follicles do seem to die or come back in a more feminine pattern and texture. After almost a year of sticking with it, I am thrilled. My body is smooth, hairless and feels very feminine. My cis friends are jealous but won't try it or quit right away. We/I seem to have more determination to push through the pain for the result.