What is the best method of hair removal for the face?

[~Megan~]

I currently get waxed but its expensive so I'm looking for something better.

None of the at home waxes I've done work very well.

[Spastica]

I'm a former Nair user and tweezer person for upper lip/chin etc area - Nair only took off the surface hair and it sometimes left chemical burns (and it just takes a long time). Tweezing is good, but you can't do all your moustache hair with tweezing.

Since then, I've bought a small epilator from Target, made by Emjoi, it's a little white and blue epilator. It took a couple of tries to get the hang of it, but I've been using that on my face, armpits, arms, belly, etc. It's working great and it's so fast on your face. It even gets the crazy sideburns I have and everything looks neat. I figure if you're used to the pain of waxing, epilating may be a piece of cake for you. It doesn't bother me much at all in terms of pain - I just had to get used to using the epilator correctly and not be shy about bearing down and making firm circles. It hurts more if I got skittish and kept the epilator far from my skin (it just grabs whatever it can get from a distance and that hurts more than if the epilator grabs the hair closer to the root/surface of skin).

[Marni]

I tried NADS some years ago. It's all sugar -- kinda works like wax, minus the heat. I HATED it. It made me break out.

I don't have another solution -- as for some reason, having 2 kids has made me less hairy. I think it is coming back though (facial hair) so I'm following this thread for some good answers myself.

[lisac77]

I have to wax. I have a LOT of facial hair and having it professionally waxed is the only way to keep it at bay. :

[~Megan~]

And the epilator doesn't cause thickening or a greater return of hair?

[Jay'smom]

I'm a shaver. : PCOS does funky things to facial hair. I'd like to find a better way. I can get away with bleaching the lip with occasional tweezering, and I get my brows waxed. but it's the razor for the chin.

Can I just say that it is making me feel really, really good that other women are dealing with this?

[Spastica]

I've got PCOS too - I'm glad I epilate now. And no, epilating is actually ripping the hair from the roots, like waxing without the wax and it doesn't grab your skin like wax, so it hurts less. Your hair does not grow back thicker and you may even end up with finer hair or even less. I do my arms with it now (I used to shave them) and shaving was great, but I'm noticing that my stubble isn't so spikey and harsh now. I can run a hand on my arm and I don't get embarrassed by the spikiness that can hurt. You just need to invest in a little bit of money to buy the epilator - it depends on the brand and size. I got the Emjoi which is medium in price and quality, because I wanted to see if it would work on me. It was also small enough to use on my face. It basically is a bunch of metal or wire pieces that rotate, grab your hair and yank out, really really fast and covers a larger area. It's like hundreds of tweezers working at the same time.

LisaC - I tried waxing and I'm so hairy it just yanks the hair from the surface and doesn't even get to the root like normal people. I find that epilating yanks it from the root (most hair), and I can do touchups whenever. I pluck my own eyebrows, but for the rest of my face, including gnarly sideburns, chin hair and my Fu Manchu moustache, I use the epilator. It even grabs some of the fuzz on my cheeks and throat, which isn't really gnarly looking hair, but once you take it off, you kinda look much more radiant and 'clean.' I am Indian and have black hair, so somehow, taking off the peachfuzz, along with the crazy thick hair, makes it so much nicer. I also like that I'm not giving myself a chemical burn and there are no fumes. I can also use this on armpits - and I wasn't going to use it on armpits originally, but it's been almost a month and I haven't had but like one or two hairs worth of regrowth (and you can't even see it). So I haven't had to deal with my armpits for about a month now.

Now that we're talking about wookie-worthy women here, I will also talk about a life/time saver that I've also purchased this past year before the epilator. It's a personal groomer, also from Target or Walmart. It's basically like a beard trimmer, but for women, and it has different hair lengths "to express yourself" down there

I use to hand-trim and/or shave and sometimes totally butchered myself and it used to take a long time. This electric shaver is done in a few minutes and it's soooo comfy. I only wish I had purchased the personal groomer and epilator before instead of feeling like a complete hairball freak all the time and feeling like I couldn't keep up with my fast growing, thick foliage. Some people on MDC think trimming up isn't natural, but I like keeping a cootchie-buzzcut for several reasons, most of which is hygeine and comfort related.

Anyway, I know this post and forum is totally TMI, but I've battled with hair overgrowth for all my life and it's only been this year that I feel like I've gotten a handle on it. It's too bad my baby isn't around to enjoy it - but I don't feel as bad being in close proximity to somebody for fear that they'd stare about my moustache.

[Marni]

Spastica -- I just LOVE your posts!

Dumb question -- in what secion of Target does one find this Emjoi? (Because Lord knows, the folks that work their never know where ANYTHING is.)

[Barbee]

so i can see from target that the epilators range from about $30 to $100. i was thinking of the this one for $40. does anyone have one similiar? should i spend the extra money.. gosh i would love to not spend an hour in the mirror plucking my face if i don't have to.

[~Megan~]

Is it worth it if you don't have that much hair? Mine is mostly noticeable (to me at least) because its dark but there isn't so much of it.

I guess over time a $15 wax ever month or so adds up.

[Barbee]

i guess what i was asking was.. should i spend the extra money for the more expensive model, or will the $40 version do? i wasn't very clear, was i?:

[Siennaflower]

Originally Posted by Spastica

Some people on MDC think trimming up isn't natural, but I like keeping a cootchie-buzzcut for several reasons, most of which is hygeine and comfort related.

ahem, I prefer the cootchie-buzzcut myself these days..I used to wax but I'm just flat out tired of it. I think I've got the same little personal trimmer, it's great. I might need to get the epilator too. Right now I Nair and tweeze the hair on my chin, I suppose epilating can't be any more painful.

[milky_mama]

Hmmm, I may need to try this epilator ... I have tried several different home waxes and just can't seem to get them to work! I have tried regular waxes and recently just bought this Chamomile Body Sugar (it's like wax but it's a sugar hair remover). When I saw it at the store I was so excited, but I brought it home I couldn't get it to work. Maybe I'm not patient enough, I hate messing with the wax and all of the muck and mess. Any hints, home waxers? I have a whole jar sitting in my bathroom. I have blond hair but the peach fuzz around my face (moustache) bothers me and I can't afford to get it professionally waxed.

[Spastica]

Barbee - the one you selected - if you look on the bottom, the opinion of it was that it was 'cheap but no good.' I think I got the middle of the road one that most people liked e-opinionwise. You can check to see other brands (sort by highest ranking or highest score) and see which ones are the best.

For me, I wanted to get something that was decent enough quality so I knew it wouldn't break after two uses, had better materials so that it wouldn't hurt (I'm guessing that, like most electronics, the cheaper it is, the less effective they are), and was small enough to use on my face.

Megan - if you wax anyway, I think the costs add up and investing in a home gadget where you can remove your facial hair on your own time may be worthwhile. If we were talking about home waxing, which can be tricky, you could go either way - some people simply cannot do waxing themselves and need professional help. Epilating is pretty darn simple. I'm kind of mad at myself for not thinking to buy one sooner. I think the old 80's models hurt a lot and the whole epilating thing wasn't much in fashion. I think it should make a comeback!

Marni - good question. Um...I think they were in the same sections as shavers and hair clipping supplies? Don't ask the rep where the 'epilators' are. They will look at you like you have three heads since they don't know what an epilator is. They will, however, know where the beard trimmers, personal groomers, and hair-cutting buzzers are.

Anyway - if you'd like to do some online research on the best epilators, great. I didn't want to invest $70 or more without knowing if I liked it first, so the one I saw looked decent and the packaging said it could be used for the face and delicate areas. My friend highly recommended it too and said she used it for armpits. Originally I wasn't going to use it for armpits, but now I'm sold. My arms -- are a bit iffy - the hair keeps coming in at random times, but it still is a lot softer than the prickly hairs I was getting from shaving. Maybe I'll find a better trick for them, or find out what the growth schedule is or whatever. Honestly, only I can notice this arm hair now, whereas before, the spiky hairs were really noticeable.

The first time I used the epilator, I had some irritation, like you would the first time you waxed. After I did it a few times, I had less irritation and redness, if at all. It seems to do better on completely dry skin (my friend uses baby powder on her armpits for extra glide). I put on coconut oil or cocoa butter afterward to moisturize and help keep irritation down to a minimum and it seems to work well.

[Siennaflower]

Spastica, just curious, do you have a method for using the Emjoi? I purchased one today and gave it a test run on my chin but it didn't pick up much. I'm sure it takes practice to get good with it but just how I should use it is escaping me lol.

[lisac77]

Originally Posted by Spastica

LisaC - I tried waxing and I'm so hairy it just yanks the hair from the surface and doesn't even get to the root like normal people. I find that epilating yanks it from the root (most hair), and I can do touchups whenever.

Thanks for the info! I'm just wondering if the epilator would be right FOR ME. Plucking takes SO long (I have lovely Bert eyebrows)... I don't even try on my chin anymore because they just grow back the next day it seems like.

All the waxers I've gone to swear they love my eyebrows, because they are thick and easy to shape. I just hate it when they grow out and I look like Bert.

BTW I also like to trim my pubic hair because it gets really long and out of control.

[calebsmama03]

So, does anyone actually use an epilator on the bikini area with success? I was getting waxed last year but it's so expensive and having to have so much regrowth before you can go back kind of defeats the purpose of doing it for swimsuit season! I bought the Moom sugaring kit from WF but am worried it won't actually work, plus it seems like a PITA! My mom had one of the original Epilady epilators and swears it is a torture device so she just laughed when I said Id thought about buying one. If anyone actually uses it in the bikini (esp, um, "extended" bikini ) then I may just get one to try....

[Spastica]

Lisa - no clue whether it would be good for you or not, you'll have to assess that. It's not for eyebrows because it's not precise. For eyebrows, waxing and tweezing or threading is probably your best option.

Flutter - bear down with your epilator and make circles with it. It doesn't really work like how you would think like a razor or buzzer would, just up and down motions doesn't suit the product. Keep your skin tight and bear down on your skin and rotate the epilator in circles and see if you have any more success. That's what worked for me - I think the instructions mention something like that too.

[Siennaflower]

Thanks Spastica, it does say to do circles but I don't recall it saying bear down, in fact I was doing the exact opposite (out of fear lol) so that's the missing piece I think!

[Semi_Crunchy]

Originally Posted by Spastica

I got the Emjoi which is medium in price and quality, because I wanted to see if it would work on me. It was also small enough to use on my face. It basically is a bunch of metal or wire pieces that rotate, grab your hair and yank out, really really fast and covers a larger area. It's like hundreds of tweezers working at the same time.

Which Emjoi did you get? I too have PCOS and need to find something that works besides shaving! (Which was a mistake to begin with bc ever since then, the hair has just been more coarse! ack!) I snooped around a bit on Target's website and tried to find some decent reviews and came up with one for only 20 bucks thats blue and white called the Emjoi EPI Slim Hair Removal System. Same thing?