Hello. I figured posting here was worth a shot. I’ve been browsing and looking at all the hair removal methods and I’m just hoping for some advice. (:
Courtesy of my father, I’ve had hairy arms all my life. It’s painful as a girl as you could imagine. When it’s long the hair is brown and curly and just disgusting. I’m in my freshman year of college and, finally fed up with dealing with it, I decided to shave it off. My friend shaves her arms and has for a long time and they’re always smooth and beautiful.
When I first shaved them, of course, they looked gorgeous and I was ecstatic. When I shave my legs and underarms I just scrub with a bath fluff thing and then lather them up with bath gel. My legs get very small red spots and the occasional ingrown but nothing I can’t deal with. My arms were fine with this method for a while, too.
But recently I’ve been getting a lot of ingrown hairs on my arms, especially around my elbows and my upper arms. I started using a shave gel but it seems that it doesn’t help at all. My friend who shaves suggested using men’s shave gel because apparently it’s better, and I also considered switching razors. I use a Venus razor now and it works way better than anything else on my legs, but the blades are expensive and switching them every couple times I shave is tough on my wallet.
I was considering using a depilatory cream on my arms and continuing to shave my legs and underarms, which have never really been much of a problem. I know it requires just as much or more work than shaving, and just as often, and that it smells bad, and my skin is slightly sensitive. But it is said that the hairs, when they grow in, are softer and less blunt, which would be nice for my arms. I remember using it once on my arms when I was younger and it worked beautifully, but I tried the Veet stuff with the plastic scraper thingy on my legs more recently and it didn’t work at all. I don’t mind the maintenance, it’s just the red bumps and embarrassing ingrown hairs that bother me. I doubt it would be cheaper than shaving, but the results might make it worth it?
I had never considered the epilator option until looking here, but apparently it causes a lot of ingrowns and is rough on your skin, and since ingrowns are the problem I’m already having, I’d rather try something else. Although I do tweeze my eyebrows and am relatively happy with my results there, and I never get ingrowns there, but the skin is way different than on my arms! (I admit it would be nice to not have to deal with shaving every two days.)
I’d appreciate anyone’s input on this. Should I try a depilatory cream or switch shave gel/razors? With summer coming and short-sleeved shirts beckoning from my closet, I’m eager for something that might help. Has anyone had the same problems? Is there a specific product you’d recommend?
I’ve also thought of bleaching the hair on my face. It’s not really noticeable, but it’s there, and if it were lighter I don’t think it would be noticeable at all.
Needless to say, I won’t have the money for electrolysis or laser removal for years, so please don’t suggest it. It’s not THAT expensive, I know, especially for the self-esteem boost it would be, but I’m in college, as I mentioned, and my boyfriend lives in another country. All my money will be going to school and visiting him. (: But when I do see him I want to be pretty for him, not covered in red bumps!