torture thread: the necessary evils of hair removal

does anyone know where you can get a strong lidocaine otc for pre-waxing numbingness?

wahhh ingrowns on my legs, i have been wearing pants all week because of you! also do not buy the sally hansen pads to prevent ingrowns, they smell like pineapple barf.

yikes! yeah, i had some sally hansen after-removal cream that smells incredibly foul.

missha had a great 'aftershave' sort of gel/moisturizer w/ mint in it that was kind of cool, but i think the last of their stores in the city have closed up.

tehresa, do they still sell Solarcaine sunburn spray? Because that was mostly lidocaine.

yeah, that's what i was thinking... do you think it is strong enough?

I just looked it up - it's only 0.5% lidocaine. Found this though - 4% and 5% gels. You might be able to get stronger from an on-line veterinary supply house.

i just wanna have one of those laser machines in my house. how much do they cost?

god seriously.

Solarcaine after a sunburn made me sizzle, peel and CRY for days

apparently they only cost $1000. i've been hoping laser hair removal prices would go down drastically, it is so ridiculously out of my range.

what?? only 1k? ok i might have to save up

i know you think i'm kidding but i'm not so sure.

yes. it's called the tria device http://www.triabeauty.com/

i'm really skeptical about laser hair removal though...but shit, my sister spent $1000 just getting her face laser'd and it wasn't even permanent.

http://www.sephora.com/browse/brand_hierarchy.jhtml?brandId=5883&cm_mmc=us_search-_-GG-_-br%20nono-_-S1213896559_ADOGOE_AGI1092054_CRE1222720097_TID104607083_RFDd3d3Lmdvb2dsZS5jb20%3d

^there's also this thing for $250...though i'm skeptical about that as well

bell this is exciting, but i'm skeptical as well.

not as much about the first one tho. but i would need some real-life confessionals before taking the plunge.

yeah i've seen that in sephora but am also skeptical...

i really hope this makes salons start cutting their prices by a ton. who is going to pay $1000 for a single area when you can buy a laser for that much?

i'm definitely considering laser hair removal for bikini line. i love getting a brazilian, so much 'tidier' and nicer, but daaaaamn $65 (in nz) every 6 weeks??? so expensive. also i would totally like my armpits lasered so i never have to shave them again.

yeah so i am getting bikini wax before hawaii... i am terrified.

it only really hurts the first time, in my experience (and i have low pain threshold and am also v v shy).

I'm thinking of leg waxing. Is it ok to do this at the cheap manicure place, or should I take extra caution?

are you supposed to get a headache from plucking nose hairs?

dude i wouldn't pluck them - you should just trim. you can buy special clippers for that sole purpose.

What's wrong with plucking nostril hairs?

i'm no expert, this is just an opinion, but: i'm pretty sure the inside of the nose features some pretty delicate membranes. they don't need the aggravation of having hairs plucked out, when a nice trim will do. it just seems like an unnecessary pain. but if you are going to pluck, then i suggest doing it after a shower, when the hair will come out easier.

dudes you are not supposed to pluck yr nostril hairs, i thought this was common knowledge! too close to brain zone

word

get one of those trimmers! essential in a man's bathroom

http://www.uberreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/nose%20trimmer.jpg

no!

Yeah - if you pluck nose hair you can get an infection that spreads to your brain and then you will die. Fact.

jordan are you ok?

also if you pluck nose hair the sound of the plucking attracts parasitic microbes that live in yr nose pores and they will crawl into yr nose and then into yr brain and then you will die.

plus if you pluck nose hair you will cry and what kind of man will you be then
a crying hairless brain-infected one

and the trimmer is so quick and pain-free! i have to be honest, that's one of my peeves, when i'm talking to a guy and he has like a situation there. it's like look in the mirror.

nose hair, the situation

I pluck my nostril hairs and do not cry, I also stri my coffee with my thumb and hammer my cheek bristles in so I can bite them on the inside. To date I have not pulled brain out with enthusiastic nostril hair jerking.

i think you need the hairs for filtering icky out though! just trim em!

so yeah second virginia's ? about manicure place... i've been thinking about leg wax too.

i recommend victoria's on 5th ave btwn 13th & 14th sts. a bit more than the bargain-basement places, but not by much. the women know what they're doing, and it's very clean and pleasant.

i'm trying to grow my leg hair out for waxing, but wearing stockings/pants in this kind of weather isn't very awesome.

i don't know how you people do it.

yeah that's the worst. altho this week has been pant-acceptable, weirdly.

yeah it has! but i am wearing tights with my skirt today and it just looks stupid. i am like the only person in the whole office/seen during walk from the subway without bare legs.

There's this stuff called Epi-Stop you can get at the drugstore which is a neutralizing after-wash.

You put it on after using a cream hair remover like Neet, Nair or Veet so the chemicals stop working and you donn't get burned. Works really, really well for what I use cream removers for (bikini and leg).

wait so how long does leg hair need to be again? i may be getting close... i feel like my hair grows really fast, so i'm worried about getting the wax done too soon before vacation (i leave a week from sunday), though i think i will get it at least 3 days before i go to allow any redness to settle.

i also have like 4 ingrown hairs that are ugly red bumps that i feel self-conscious about. how can i get them to go away faster? it seems like things on my shins heal twice as slowly as the rest of my body, for some reason.

you guys make me feel like i am living in the dark ages what with my 3-blades and not-always-utilized shaving cream

i am only interested in lasers because they are lasers

there shld be a laser brazilian called the lazilian
and there shld be disco lights

rrrobyn i am like you too. i have never done anything but shave. i am just really sick of 2)ingrowns and b)because i'm really pale and have very dark hair, you can still see the shadows of the hair under my skin after shaving. it looks like i am covered in dots.

i have only ever done shaving and nair, but i really do not wanna be all shaving all the time while icould be enjoying the beaches of maui, y'know?

ooh the fair-haired will never know how lucky they have it

ugh seriously. my little sister can get away with not shaving for ages. i am like bell - dark hair w/ v. white skin.

i have just recently realized that i am not only fair skinned but in fact sorta fair haired despite my hair appearing to be dark! it is kind of weird

maybe i will try waxing with the pros one of these days

so i got the waxing done yesterday. amazing: the bikini part actually hurt less than the legs! i went to a place where my friend gets her legs done regularly, and she highly recommended it, but my legs did not come out so well. it feels like there are bits of stubble...like immediately after it was done, which from my research means that either there were hairs that were too short (which is hard for me to believe because i grew it for so freaking long!) or they were using cheap wax and/or bad technique and many hairs were broken instead of pulled out at the root. argh. anyway, now that i know i can live through the pain, i may get this done more often, just at a better place.

also: no lidocaine beforehand and i survived!

whenever i read about hair removal I realize I am sort of a hippie. I think one razor blade lasts me 6 months.

so like 30ish hours later the redness is gone and they look ok, but to the touch you can feel hair on my legs. this makes me angreeeeee.

oh also i think the waxing was a) for vacation and b) bc i am so sick of shaving.

What is the best kind of razor to use? I just bought shaving cream because my last shaving disaster involved a cold shower, goosebumps, and lots blood.