Hair removal seems like fighting a never-ending battle to achieve your beauty target. It may surprise you that there really is no one-way-for-everything method for hair removal.
Different methods are better for different body areas. Here, we will review our recommendations for how-to’s on all your little bits.
Eyebrows
For those of you that aspire to tame those eyebrows by waxing, do not try this yourself unless you want to risk accidental eyelid burns, overzealous hair removal, and intend to start drawing on your eyebrows.
Seriously, go to a salon for the wax. Eyebrow grooming is best done by tweezing or threading.
Get a white cosmetics pencil and hold it straight up to the side of your nose, then make a mark where the pencil crosses the eyebrow. Next, tilt the pencil from your nose across the outer edge of your eye and mark the eyebrow at that point, too.
Once again, hold the pencil to your nose and tilt it so that it passes just by the outer edge of your iris. Mark that point with an upside-down V at the top of your brow.
These are your guidelines for left and right extremes (pluck anything outside of those lines) and try to taper the upper part of your eyebrow so that the V is the highest point of the eyebrow arch.
Upper Lip
For upper lip care, your choices are long-term (laser!) or short-term (wax). If you want a great look that lasts about a year or more hair-free, then a salon laser treatment is the way to go.
However, these treatments use specialized equipment and are expensive. A more affordable alternative is home-use IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) machines that can be purchased online or in larger beauty supply stores.
A short-term but effective and affordable way to go is waxing. Just make sure to choose a low-temperature wax kit that is specifically designed to be used on the face.
When waxing, apply the warm wax in the direction of hair growth (for example, down and away from your nose) but pull the wax off in the opposite direction for best results.
Armpits
Here, your options are shaving, waxing, or lasers. As above, laser treatment is really, really effective, but really, really expensive. Use of an IPL machine, particularly one with galvanic plates, can achieve nearly the same results and give you a longer-term hair-free solution.
For shaving, lather the area thoroughly with gentle shaving cream or soap and shave upward, then downward, then across the armpit to catch hairs from all directions. Never use a razor more than three times (twice only is best), since a dull blade is more likely to cut.
Waxing gives better results than shaving and hair should be waxed on unshaved armpits. There needs to be some length for the wax to get a good grip.
Waxing is a solution that you can do once a week to keep your armpits clean. When selecting a product, get a stripless wax that can shrink around and properly grab hairs.
When waxing this area, work in small sections and from different directions.
Forearms
For your forearms, your best options are waxing and laser treatment. Many women shave their forearms, but this is really not recommended and leaves uncomfortable stubble.
Laser treatments typically can be adjusted to either completely remove hair from your forearms or to simply reduce the density of hair on your arms. Treatment sessions to achieve this are typically one to three visits to the salon but cost several hundred dollars apiece.
As stated above, an effective, non-chemical approach is by using an IPL machine. This is somewhat of an investment, but most machines have a respectable use life before bulb hairfree1-20nt and can work for you for several years.
Waxing is an effective method that is affordable, produces great results that last a few weeks, and can be performed with a minimum of discomfort.
Groin
Cleaning up your bikini lines is a bit of a touchy proposition for most girls. Basically, any method will work, but some produce better results whereas others are more non-fuss.
This is one area where we do not recommend laser removal, for several reasons. The first reason is the fluctuating nature of bush fashion.
Going Brazilian is still an in thing, but the fashion trend is beginning to swing back towards a natural, trimmed look. So, laser removal, although not permanent, will produce long-term results that you cannot easily reverse.
The second is the cost. You can drop thousands of dollars on bikini area laser treatments and still need to wax anyway, so why bother?
Although shaving works well, with the risk of cuts we strongly recommend waxing. It’s not as bad as you think it is and can produce really great results.
Before you start, take a few anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen or acetaminophen) and not a glass of wine or a few shots. The alcohol will actually make you more sensitive to pain, despite all the old west cowboy dentist references in the movies.
Let your hair grow out to about a quarter-inch for fine hair and a half inch for coarse hair. Sit in front of a mirror so you can see, then put one foot on your opposite knee.
Spread the wax in the direction of hair growth in small sections, like 1×3 inches. Small sections will be easier and less painful to strip off.
Plaster a strip of muslin cloth over the wax so that it embeds in the fabric, pull it tight, then give a good yank in the opposite direction of hair growth. When you finish waxing, be sure to use a soothing moisturizing lotion with aloe or apply some hydrocortisone cream if a rash develops.
Read Related Topic: Homemade Hair Removal Creams – A Guide
Legs
Removing hair from your legs can be done by any method, though we do not recommend laser treatments since the area is so large and leg hairs are usually so stout that you would break the bank in the process. If you want to try a method that does not involve the usual suspects (shaving, waxing, depilatory creams), then try an IPL device that is a larger model and covers more skin surface area.
Most women simply shave their legs (about 70% of them), but be sure to use a fresh razor every other time and preferably one with multiple blades. Some women find that they can squeeze up to 4 or 5 uses out of a razor, but many of us know that after the first couple of goes, you get diminishing returns.
If you are going to shave, just make the investment and buy some good, multi-blade disposable razors, use them twice or so and toss them. Follow-up with an aloe vera lotion to make your skin happy.
If you aspire to wax your legs, know that the pain factor is rather high since your leg hairs are usually some of the heaviest on your body. However, you cannot argue with the excellent results of a good leg wax.
Just wax down the hairs in small sections (1×3 inches) and strip off in the opposite direction. Just make sure to grow out your leg hair a bit before a wax (like ¼ to ½ inch) since this is a longer-term solution and you will not have to repeat it for weeks.
Chemical depilatory creams are very effective, but smell and can be messy. Many women prefer their use to the pain of waxing and they can be a relatively pain-free approach to hair removal.
Just make sure to follow the directions, do a test patch on your skin before going full Monty on your legs, and stick to the application time limits. This latter point is very important if you want to avoid a chemical burn.
See Related Topic: Best Hair Removal Sprays and Lotions
