I loathe hair. Well, I loathe the hair on my body that isn't the hair on my head, my eyebrows and my eyelashes. I find it ridiculous that we have to spend so much time, energy and money to fight off hair growth! Unlike playing with makeup... shaving, tweezing, waxing, buffing, zapping and whatever else we do is just
not fun.
Ever since I was a little girl in elementary school, I have battled against unwanted hair. I used to get teased by vicious little boys about the "mustache" I had. Looking back at pictures I had little more than some peach fuzz, nevertheless the teasing and taunting was enough to start my lifelong battle against unwanted hair.
I first started lightening my the peach fuzz on my upper lip with Jolen Creme Bleach. It worked well enough, but I still hated the hair, even if it was lighter. Next, I tried tweezing out every single hair one-by-one. Not only was it time-consuming, it was also painful. I tried at-home microwavable waxing kits, which were messy and since I could never get the temperature just right, rarely did the hair come off in one or two rips.
My mom finally took some pity on me and allowed me to get electrolysis on my upper lip when I was no more than 13. I remember the experience to be excruciatingly painful. The woman would stick a needle into each hair follicle and zap it with a strong electric current and then tweeze out the hair. By the end of my session, my lip was red, inflamed and raw. It was MORE embarrassing to walk around after the session than it was to have a little fuzz there in the first place! I went for a few more sessions, but the experience was unpleasant enough and expensive enough that I stopped going. (I do wonder if I tried electrolysis again now, at the age of 25, if it would really be that bad).
Fast forward through my high school and college years of shaving (getting nicks,cuts and razor burn), tweezing (and over-tweezing), experimenting with Nair and Sally Hansen depilatory products, buying an at-home hair zapper (complete waste of money), paying through the nose for expensive waxing services, battling ingrown hairs under my arms and in my bikini area...
I finally found a regimen that keeps me (semi)-sane:
- I bought a professional wax pot (Jilbere de Paris European Wax Warmer that retails for $40), wax, waxing strips, and applicators. DEFINITELY worth it!
- I wax once every week or two for my lip and to clean up my eyebrows. It takes me no more than 10 minutes to do.
- I wax the bikini area once every month. This is a more challenging feat, which can get messy and be painful.
- Shave my legs once every week or two (I am lucky in that my Asian genes have left the hair on my arms and legs sparse, thin and barely noticeable)
- Shave my underarms and tweeze stray hairs from my eyebrows once a day
It still seems like a lot of grooming, however I have figured out a way to cut down on hassle. It's called LASER HAIR REMOVAL!!! I am going to undergo laser hair removal on my underarms and bikini area (which I find are the most aggravating areas). I have been researching the matter and will let you know more once I have begun treatment. I can't wait until the day when I don't have to think about waxing or shaving in those areas EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!
Feel free to share your experiences and let me know what works for you. Feel free to ask questions about my experience with laser hair removal once I get started.
