Trying Epilation for the first time.. tips and tricks?

I am going to buy myself an epilator today to use on my arms. I am currently having laser done on my legs, but I know I won't be able to afford it on my arms for quite some time, and waxing is getting pricey! I have to go every two weeks.

So do any of you have any tips on how to make the process as pain free and reaction free as possible? I keep hearing you should moisturize a lot, which I already do, but how about using homemade tendskin as well? Or is it best to moisturize right away with some sort of aftershave gel?

Any info would be greatly appreciated as I have pretty coarse hair and I am scared!! lol

Thanks!

Use an icecube on the area before your use the epilator, it helps a bit, but eventually i scream .

Oh man, I wish my husband was here to help me.. it always hurts less when someone else does it for you. He will wax me and it's soooo much easier then getting the courage to rip off the strips myself!

You are so brave!

I sometimes think I would like to go that route but dang. I think I would get 1/4 of the way through and give up from the pain!

I can pluck and sometimes focusing on a spot on my leg to pluck sometimes satisfies my trichotillomania but I don't know if I can do an entire removal.

I find it easier to epilate my legs rather than my arms. Try to do it after your shower so pores are open from steam.

Thanks for the tips everyone. So I have had laser on my lower legs and have a few sparse hairs as well as a lot of light coloured hairs that the laser didn't pick up. This was no problem at all to epilate. Down by my ankles was a lot more sensitive though and I quickly ran it over the top of my feet to get a couple hairs there and OUCH. But it was bareable.

Then I tried it out on my arms. Luckily, I wax my arms, so my hair grows in at all different times. If I had it fully grown in, I think I would have needed someone to do it for me. It did hurt, but not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to. It was totally tolerable, and I can see myself doing this on a weekly basis to keep the hair at bay. I am *very* impressed with the results. I couldn't find the newest Silk Epil when I was shopping which has a facial attachment. I would have really liked that (if it could be usedo nthe upper lip), but maybe it's not available in Canada yet. But for now, I am thrilled with my purchase.

I recommend it to anyone who is tired of shelling out a crazy amount of money on waxing. I spend $20 about every 3 weeks to wax my arms. The epilator was $89.

Hi! I used an epilator on my legs for a couple of years then I noticed that I was getting red dots on my legs that wouldn't go away. They looked quite ugly. I think they were damaged hair follicles or something because there was no hair growing where the red dots were. Anyway I went back to shaving and after six months or so the red dots are nearly gone. For this reason I wouldn't go back to using my epilator except for the occasional touch-up after waxing. Of course, you may not have this problem but maybe don't rely on using the epilator all the time and alternate it with waxing. I wouldn't recommend epilating you face. I have the facial attachment and omg it hurts! I recommend Surgi-Wax facial wax that you heat up in the microwave. I was really surprised that it worked so well and hurt less than getting waxed at the salon imo.

I have to say, it did reduce my hair for sure! but yes, the ankles are the worst part. OUCH!

Originally Posted by jaybe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi! I used an epilator on my legs for a couple of years then I noticed that I was getting red dots on my legs that wouldn't go away. They looked quite ugly. I think they were damaged hair follicles or something because there was no hair growing where the red dots were. Anyway I went back to shaving and after six months or so the red dots are nearly gone. For this reason I wouldn't go back to using my epilator except for the occasional touch-up after waxing. Of course, you may not have this problem but maybe don't rely on using the epilator all the time and alternate it with waxing. I wouldn't recommend epilating you face. I have the facial attachment and omg it hurts! I recommend Surgi-Wax facial wax that you heat up in the microwave. I was really surprised that it worked so well and hurt less than getting waxed at the salon imo. I had that too, those red bumps (not sure if it was ingrowns, I didn´t see a hair coming out. Maybe a little infection/irritation?) on my legs. Epilating hurt bad enough but I tolerated it because I wanted smooth legs. And with all those bumps my legs didn´t feel smooth at all, and the bumps stayed for like 2-3 weeks! I exfoliated regularly but somehow it didn´t help. I haven´t used my epilator since.

oh yeah, it's scaring me, i doubt if i can withstand the pains then.