There are people who appreciate body hair and there are people who do not. I am definitely on Team No Hair. I don’t like it on my own body and I don’t like chest hair, beards or back hair on my man. Although I do admit I find 1 to 3 day stubble on my man sexy. Too Hottt!
But this article isn’t about my facial hair preferences on men, it is about what to do with body hair if you don’t prefer it on yourself—regardless if you are a man or a woman. What options really work? How much do they cost, and for goodness’ sake, does it hurt?? Permanent hair removal is a long road to success, so let’s start gathering the basics in what you can do to achieve hairlessness fast.
- Tweezing: You may be wondering why I would even bring this up when relating it to body hair. Before a cruise, I had toyed with the idea of tweezing a few errant bikini hairs while in the tub and wound up ripping every hair out that I could find. Then over the course of 3 days, I removed every leg hair individually with a pair of tweezers. Psychotic I know, but you tend to get numb to the pain. Not really. But I couldn’t stop once I started because I would have been patchy. Even the little black dots remain visible unless you pluck the hair completely out. Which is worse, enduring pain or looking as though you have the mange?
Average Cost: $9. – $22.50 for Tweezerman Tweezers, BTW I consider Epilady type machines the same thing as tweezing,it only hurts more. - Hair Buffers: I bought one of these before, the The Conair Hair Removal System HB1. It uses a rotating mildly abrasive disk that you apply to your leg and the hairs are for lack of a better word, ground down. Well it works and it doesn’t work. It works in some areas, but others you have to apply more pressure to get the hair to completely disappear, however this causes your skin to become raw as well. This has its benefits as well if you can learn the right amount of pressure to use. It exfoliates your legs and removes hair. I got lazy with the learning curve and gave up although I may try to use it again for the exfoliating properties alone.
Average Cost: $73.00 - Waxing: It may work for some, but I would rather be skinned alive and eaten by cannibals. I have distinct memories of my Mom heating up those little yellowish squares in a coffee cup in the microwave. These were the best, but you must have enough hair grown out for it to ‘catch’ the follicle. Waxing to me, in general, is such a pain to wait until your hair grows out 4 feet simply so the wax can grip the hairshaft. I have also tried sugaring, and feel it is far less efficient. I found sugar wax even more ineffective and painful. Nad’s is the worst nightmare I have ever had and I still need therapy because of it. I have had road-rash from motorcycle accidents which were less painful. I couldn’t even imagine a Brazilian wax.
Average Cost: Nad’s Sugar Wax 6 oz. for $17.00; GiGi Hard Wax $19. for 14 oz plus the applicators, add the warming unit for 24.95 (I might get this) - Chemical Hair Removal: I remember back in the day that after using Nair Body Hair Remover, my skin would feel very strange. So strange, in fact, that I cannot describe it. Granted Nair has been reformulated over the years so the weird-this-is-not-my-leg-feeling when you touch it are not as pronounced. I have used it, but I still think that shaving takes less time and is just as effective. Although the bottle says it can work in less than 3 minutes, I beg to differ. I truly do not notice anything special after using Nair, not only does it irritate my pores and leave red spots on my legs, it doesn’t remove my hair even after having kept it on for the maximum allowed time. No hair removal creams work well enough for me to even bother with anymore.
Average Cost: $6.95 for a 9 oz bottle of Nair Hair Remover Lotion with Aloe Vera. - Laser Hair Removal: You will more than likely need about 8 treatments, at about 1 treatment per month, resulting in only 75% (on average) permanent hair removal. Maintenance treatments may be necessary a few times a year as well. Shaving doesn’t look so bad anymore, does it?
Cost: $400-$900 per treatment, depending upon the size of the area to be treated.
Removing The Short & Curlies
Interestingly, I had this conversation with my girlfriend the other night. We were talking about shaving the nether regions and she said she doesn’t know anyone who does—men or women. I told her I don’t know anyone who doesn’t except for her and I proceeded to tell her to get off of my couch. Many people today hold the belief that pubic hair removal is neater and cleaner and make it a normal part of their showering routine. I agree. Even men trim their pubic hairs these days. In fact, my tattoo artist recently commented on how next he’ll be expected to shave his legs.
Just be careful what you use to remove it with. Nair is a no-no. You don’t want that caustic stuff anywhere near your hoo hoo! Nad’s will hurt so badly you’ll want to throw yourself under a bus. Shaving, trimming, a hard waxing seems to be the only way to go unless you want to spend the money on bikini line laser removal. And keep the Conair System away from there!!
