To wax or not to wax ????

[40'sfetish]

The home laser I have is the Silk'n. Yes it was pricey and replacement lamps are expensive, but I figured, I use it, my daughter will use it, hubby uses it too for his back lol, that's a lot of waxing or laser visits.

Edited to say you can't use it on the more intimate parts of the "lady garden" like most laser treatments it works best on pale skin with dark hair, as it works by picking up the pigment, so using on .... ummm darker skinned bits is not a good idea. Hope that's not TMI

 

[bettydarling]

Sugaring

I see sugaring was mentioned at the start of this thread, but does anyone do it regularly?? And on the bikini line?

I tried it last night, with some success, I used the ball method where you roll the paste along the area spread and flick back to remove the hair. But, I think I should have use strips for a more consistent result. It wasn't nearly as sore as regular waxing, and from what I've read its a much better way to remove hair and diminish hair growth over time, apparently, eventually it can prevent it altogether through the damage to the follicle.

The only dilemma for me as a pale skin Irish lass with translucent skin and blue veins is that I bruise very easily, I went over a few spots around my legs a few times and I have a few little bruises now. Hopefully with some more practice will I'll get the hang of it, anyone else tried it with strips or ball method?

Really wished I'd never shaved, my mum never shaved her legs and doesn't have a single hair, I didn't either until I shaved mine!

 

[Drappa]

I see sugaring was mentioned at the start of this thread, but does anyone do it regularly?? And on the bikini line?

Well, half my family is from Turkey, and the women there sugar regularly and it's done at salons as well as at home by friends or family. They have been doing it for generations, my grandmother and her mother did, so waxing and hair removal is certainly not a modern idea. And yes, they do the bikini line as well.
The European part of my family (aunt and grandmother) didn't remove any body hair at all, so it depends on the area I think.

 

[Leonora]

My mother grew up in Canada - 50s/60s. As a teenager, she turned out to be very hirsute - including facial hair. This caused her huge misery and apparently she tried various hair removal treatments some of which involve injections, sound rather like torture. As an adult, she rejected all hair removal except facial, and I grew up to the sound of both my parents shaving in the morning.

Thing is, though, I'd prefer to be rather more hairless - though thank goodness I haven't inherited the facial hair. Main problem I've had is shaving bumps and burn after removing coarse dark hair which extends beyond reach of the most "generous" bikini-line. Bumps after shaving, veet or waxing...V grateful for all the advice offered on this!

On the waxing - a couple of people mentioned the embarrassment of getting this professionally done. Well, that put me off for a long time, but I found a local salon where the woman works on her own, and she was very reassuring and matter of fact. My legs are gross, but there must be even worse legs out there. It was terribly painful, though, and I had tiny spots of blood in some areas. Anyone else get this?!

 

[Veronica]

It truly is amazing someone has not come up with a better idea to remove hair. :eusa_doh:
I shall never understand why some things are so not modern.
I feel the same about sheetrock. Surely someone has enough brains to figure out a better idea.

I know there is laser but I mean at home by the average person.

Well...hum...my own personnal theory is that because we live in a patriarchal system for centuries...
A famous french saying tells something like "Women have to suffer to be beautiful"...maybe a little bit fftopic:

Sooo...I am not coherent about it...but I am as feminist as wax addict. Specially for my "Lady's Garden". I use an epilator during summer to keep my bare legs smooth everyday.
I have a big problem with "embodied hair" (? not really sure for the translation) : When the air grows under the skin and creates a cyst that has to be medicaly removed... I manage to cure embodied hair myself when it is waxed...
After two surgical removals at the hospital (with a doctor, a nurse and two students) I prefer showing this area to only one person : the wax lady ^^.

 

[HadleyH]

To wax or not not wax?

Easy


To wax. [huh]

 

[MissHannah]

One of the great myths about waxing is that it is long-lasting. After a bikini wax I get 2 days smooth before it starts to grow back. Oh and then there's the in-growing hairs (Veronica this is the translation for your "embodied hair") and the itching as the hairs push back through the skin.

The worst part is that men and society want us to pretend that it is all no bother, it's completely fine - we don't mind really. But you know what? I DO mind! It's a massive pain in the backside having to remove hair from our legs, armpits, bikini line and, for some of us, faces and arms too. Oh and nipples. By not complaining about it we perpetuate the myth that hair removal for women is perfectly normal. Our bodies are made with hair on them, just like men's, and yet we are made to feel that it is 'unnatural' and 'unfeminine' to have body hair.

If I had the balls I wouldn't shave or wax any part of me. I used to go au naturel when I was younger but it made me feel like a freak and I succumbed to the pressures just like everyone else. I don't have the strength of character to go against society on this one but I am damn well going to talk about it and complain and moan - I won't go quietly!

 

[HadleyH]

^
^
^
MissHanna i understand perfectly what you are saying

It's just that i have been doing it since i was 13 or 14? My mom used to take me to the same beauty salon where she had it done (waxing) and for me it was all so normal and natural! and expected .... and still is!

Thank you mom!

 

[Miss sofia]

One of the great myths about waxing is that it is long-lasting. After a bikini wax I get 2 days smooth before it starts to grow back. Oh and then there's the in-growing hairs (Veronica this is the translation for your "embodied hair") and the itching as the hairs push back through the skin.

The worst part is that men and society want us to pretend that it is all no bother, it's completely fine - we don't mind really. But you know what? I DO mind! It's a massive pain in the backside having to remove hair from our legs, armpits, bikini line and, for some of us, faces and arms too. Oh and nipples. By not complaining about it we perpetuate the myth that hair removal for women is perfectly normal. Our bodies are made with hair on them, just like men's, and yet we are made to feel that it is 'unnatural' and 'unfeminine' to have body hair.

If I had the balls I wouldn't shave or wax any part of me. I used to go au naturel when I was younger but it made me feel like a freak and I succumbed to the pressures just like everyone else. I don't have the strength of character to go against society on this one but I am damn well going to talk about it and complain and moan - I won't go quietly!

Hear hear, i'll second that, i hate the fact i'm a SLAVE to the tweezers and creams and razors and wax strips, lately i seem to have got more hair on my face than the rest of my entire body and spend hours with a magnifying mirror, contorting myself into odd positions trying to pluck the little blighters. Much as i'm loath to say it at least in the sixties and seventies you didn't have to worry so much. My mum said all the Italian women then had hairy armpits and legs, in fact it was de rigeur not to shave them. Why is it seen as so unfeminine as Miss Hannah said to go 'au naturel'

 

[TillyMilly]

I get in-growing hairs on my Bikini area, sometimes they are just visable growing beneath the skin, sometimes they are red and painful. I usually end up digging them out with tweesers- pulling bits of flesh out in the effort or slicing my skin open with a piercing needle. I am now covered in scars in this area which might fade with time. I tried to grow it all back (I like a 'Hollywood' aka completly bare look) but it comes back very patchy now after years of waxing and epilating. It makes me feel deeply unsexy!

 

[KittyT]

One of the great myths about waxing is that it is long-lasting. After a bikini wax I get 2 days smooth before it starts to grow back. Oh and then there's the in-growing hairs (Veronica this is the translation for your "embodied hair") and the itching as the hairs push back through the skin.

Hannah, this is exactly why I don't indulge in waxing. It's a big, regular expense and in the end, it really does little more than shaving, maybe giving you one or two days of smooth. For me, that's absolutely not worth the cost - especially when I'd have to fight for a convenient appointment time at a salon or spa AND take the time to go, when it takes less than 5 minutes to shave in the shower. So in the end, the cost is much higher than the $$$ - my time is worth a lot more.

Wax strips on the other hand are not such a bad idea, but I've never found them to be that effective on my legs. I do use small ones every once in awhile to clean up those annoying hairs at my hairline in front of my ears - they never get long enough to pull back or tuck behind your ears and are more easily dealt with when they're not there!

 

[Drappa]

I totally agree that the hair removal industry is patriarchal and to feel that women have to be clean shaven or hair free is sad, especially since girls start to worry about this at such a young age.
But, I am not quite sure how it is much different from all the other pains we go through to look and feel pretty, such as make-up and setting your hair and wearing heels or clothing that is much more revealing in form than men's clothing? How many little girls, if they grew up in a secluded commune free from the pressures, would choose to sleep with rollers or practice putting on perfect eyeliner or wear girdles?
In terms of vintage style and beauty, there is a lot that is inherently sexist, even if it is pretty.

 

[KittyT]

But, I am not quite sure how it is much different from all the other pains we go through to look and feel pretty, such as make-up and setting your hair and wearing heels or clothing that is much more revealing in form than men's clothing? How many little girls, if they grew up in a secluded commune free from the pressures, would choose to sleep with rollers or practice putting on perfect eyeliner or wear girdles?
In terms of vintage style and beauty, there is a lot that is inherently sexist, even if it is pretty.

The difference is that EVERY girl is expected to engage in hair removal, while our society does not dictate that every girl need wear girdles or set her hair. Girls are not made to feel that they are somehow unfeminine if they choose to not set their hair.

 

[MissHannah]

Drappa, I do agree with you but I think that the difference is choice - we choose to wear make-up and set our hair. While there is immense amounts of pressure on girls and women to be pretty, not wearing make-up wouldn't get them shouted out in the street or assumed to be in some way mentally-ill or a political extremist. The hair removal issue for women is the most oppressive I think because, unless you are lucky enough to have very fine body hair, we actually don't have a choice about it in real terms.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Drappa, I do agree with you but I think that the difference is choice - we choose to wear make-up and set our hair. While there is immense amounts of pressure on girls and women to be pretty, not wearing make-up wouldn't get them shouted out in the street or assumed to be in some way mentally-ill or a political extremist. The hair removal issue for women is the most oppressive I think because, unless you are lucky enough to have very fine body hair, we actually don't have a choice about it in real terms.

Exactly.

Even the sporty non makeup wearing, never set foot in a dress group of women, (which is an accepted look in many places) are still expected to be hairless.

Miraculously so....don't ask don't tell....it's just what we all -do-.....men are allowed to glory in the whole 'shave in the barbershop process'....but women skulk into a salon without telling the world why they are going that day.

Public perception of hair removal by each sex is -very- different....

 

[Drappa]

I disagree that there is a choice with make-up or hair. I think the social consequences are just more subtle, but they are still there. Any celebrity that gets caught without make-up on immediately has the relevant magazines doing stories on them, similar to Julia Roberts' unshaven armpit incident years ago, and there are many jobs where the unspoken rules about wearing make-up or hose are quietly enforced by not hiring women who don't comply or presenting company rules about appearance.
Just recently some rules about clothing and make-up by some American sorority were leaked, and the demands in there were outrageous. Some people found this funny, but I found it shocking that such cattiness and exclusion was allowed in the university setting. http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beau...-sorority-no-mustaches-or-muffin-tops-636982/
If you listen to groups of men (or women) chat sometimes, there are often comments about so and so not wearing any make-up and therefore not being attractive or feminine. And I have known women who chose not to shave (quite a few actually), and the repercussions for them weren't any worse than for those who wear no make-up.
If anything, the hair removal issue is becoming less sexist by men starting to follow the trend and increasing numbers of men booking waxings at salons, whereas make-up is still a big no-no on men unless you are in a teen boy band or a goth.

 

[Miss Crisplock]

FYI

Regarding ingrown hair: There really is no need to suffer ingrown hairs or dig them out with tweezers or a needle. TendSkin will fix ingrowns in 24 hours or less.
(TendSkin was the original product, there are others on the market now)

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

Miss Hannah and Kitty T

I think both you Ladies are on the money. I spent a few years of my early life not shaving and got way more attention for it than I would have liked so I gave in too and now shave a few times a week to keep the Hubby happy. Think I should ask him to take care of that unsightly hair on the backside?

 

[KittyT]

Think I should ask him to take care of that unsightly hair on the backside?

Yes! Tell him that if you are required to remove hair in order to please him, he should be willing to do the same.

 

[LizzieMaine]

For whatever it's worth, when I was growing up I was told that the main reason for removing underarm hair was hygenic: that unshaven pits would give off more of an odor than shaven ones. I think this is likely a holdover from the days before deodorants were universally used, but in any event I never thought I was doing it for the sake of appearance.

I think there's some truth to that theory, too -- I worked with a gal once who refused to shave for political reasons, and who used only "natural" deodorants. All well and good if that's what she wanted, but she did get to be pretty lethal to be around toward the end of a hot summer afternoon.

There were at least some men during the Era who subscribed to this belief too -- Clark Gable, for one, was well known for shaving his pits to keep his manly aroma under control.