Stuart, that is very reasonable compared to costs here.
It’s definitely more expensive to get the legs done in the US. From what I’ve seen prices start at about $2000. Andrea has a post on typical prices in the laser section.
RJC2001
Hi Andrea and RJC.
It looks like the same story regarding buying parity between us and the US. We are at about R 10.50 to 1 US$. My quote was R 3500.00 per session. This was from a good private clinic situated next to a good private hospital. We have always had excellent medical facilities here since the first heart transplant done, so I suppose this has something to do with costs. Maybe come across and have all the stuff done cheaper?? By the way Mark is recovering well and with some antibiotics he should soon be back on line (his wife trashed the soldering iron type device). 
I have now got a great suntan on my shaved legs and despite the hot weather there are no night sweats- guys go for it, you won’t regret a thing!
Good Luck
Stuart
I second that.
RJC 2001
Hi All,
I have read all your posting with interest.
I have been shaving my chest/stomach and arms for the past few months (and definitly prefer the smoother look), but as I am really hairy, I get stubble daily (sometimes I notice and feel stubble every 12 hours!!! 
I would love to remove the hair from my legs but I may as well camp out in the bathroom if I did that!!! 
Is the foil-type machines really better than the Norelco? Any particular brand/model that is better than most?
Thanks and regards
PS. Stuart, it is nice to hear from another South African.Maybe the next time I go back for a visit, I may just get my hair laser’d there ($350 is MUCH cheaper than here in NYC. I was charged $600 to just do my back/shoulders)…
Hi HairyGymRat
I hope life is treating you well in NYC. I was last there in 1998. As you say don’t bother camping out in the bathroom with a razor, it sounds like you could really benefit from permanent hair removal. Given the prices for lazer in the US above it’s probably well worth a holiday here again and a couple of lazer sessions locally. Have a look at the site for the Mayo clinic in florida (this is a suburb on the south western side of Johannesburg, not the US state for those not familier). They do the whole range from knees, lower and upper legs, feet and full. I can’t recall the URL offhand, but just do a search on ananzi.co.za and they should pop up. They also offer online quotations.
All the best.
Stuart
South Africans with hair problems? Ag, no man! 
Foil razors won’t get as close, but they are safer as far as cuts. Some get more irritation from them, though , especially of you don’t keep them clean.
For a big area like legs, laser beats razor if you have light skin and dark hair. I know a lot of fitness types and South Africans like their sun, so be super careful about tanning before and after laser!
Foil or rotary razor is a matter of personal preference. You should try each and decide for yourself. I prefer the Braun Synchro 7526. It’s a foil razor available at Wal Mart for about $129 and worth every penny. I feel that a foil razor shaves closer than a rotary, and the Braun is the best! The Braun foil can stand up to body shaving much better than a Remington or Panasonic foils do. The Braun is also self cleaning you put it in the included cleaning stand press the button and it takes care of the rest.
The Norelco is the best rotary and it is worth a try too. You can always return them if you are not satisfied. Both Braun and Norelco have 30 day money back guarantees. If you return an electric razor they send it back to the manufacturer so you don’t have to worry about buying a used one.
While nothing shaves as close as a Mach 3 Turbo, I believe that the Braun comes the closest. If you haven’t tried the Mach 3 Turbo version I recommend that you try it. IMHO it is significantly better than the Mach3 which was also a great razor.
Laser is still the best option if you have light skin and dark hair. $600 for the back and shoulders is not bad. Even if laser doesn’t remove all the hair you will find that it makes the results from shaving much more satisfactory. I have had my back, chest, shoulders and upper arms treated with laser and about 90% of my chest and back hair is gone. I can now shave my chest and abs in about 5 minutes.
RJC2001
I went out and bought the Braun 7570 (top of the line). Cost quite a bit of money ($175 but got 20% discout so paid $155). 
Laser removal is not a viable option right now.I had 2 back and sholder treatments at $600 each and as far as I can tell, there is no reduction in the amount of hair. I would love to have my whole body laser’d but that would cost 000’s as I would have to have multiple treatments (and there would still be no guarantee that I would end up with a hair-free body). Will have to wait 'til I win the lottery for that. 
I did have my back waxed (twice). They have ‘pain free’ wax now (which means it is not free of pain but is less irritating to the skin). It was not too bad, just hot and pulling out short hairs was ouch! Was charged $45 per treatment. I did NOT want to try waxing other parts of my body. I think it would be too painfull.
Thanks and regards
Thanks for the report, HairyGymRat! It often takes a few weeks for your skin to acclimate to a new razor, so I hope you’ll continue to update us on your progress!
Hi Andrea & HairyGymRat
(Andrea) A bit off the topic, but it sounds like you know SA. (Jislike!, al die pad van Amerika af!) Have you been here before or maybe met a lot of people from SA?
Anyway for HairyGymRat, you probably have seen the conversation here between RJC and myself and some others regarding leg shaving. With a lot of hair, I would suggest you only concentrate on the areas that you most want to remove the hair from. For my sports activities, personal comfort and appearance, I shave my legs. This helps to heal injuries when I fall off my bike (not very often!). Also it gives me a good athletic look, and an even suntan in summer (Andrea was right, we do like sun here, as you know). Shaving regularly will save you time, whichever razor you use. I have tried trimming my chest etc. but I don’t give this much attention as it is not to much of a problem. I also don’t spend too much time on other hair removal, so (I think), try the important areas first that most affect you and shave these areas regularly. Lots of lazer can then be applied when you have time and are ready, but shaving is still safe and cost effective.
Regards
Stuart
[ September 22, 2002, 05:54 AM: Message edited by: Stuart ]
Me again.
Just a quick update on my new razor - I have been using it for a few days now and so far so good. Did have a bit of skin irritation on my upper chest for some reason. My skin might not have been bone dry when I shaved, so that could be the reason.
I also have a question for those who have used an electric razor - I notice that when I shave say my arm, it feels pretty smooth for a couple of hours but then when I run my hand over that area a few hours later, I notice a bit of stubble (I know my hair grows fast, but this is way to fast ). Is it possible that some of the hairs that are too small for the razor and not been cut but instead are been ‘flattened down’, so that immediately after the shave it feels smooth, but once they ‘recover’, it feels stubbly? I try and shave in every direction to make sure that I get each and every hair…
To HairyGymRat
Actually I don’t think the stubble problem on your arms is unusual. I use an electric rotary on my legs and within a few hours the stubble can be clearly felt even with taking a lot of care. It only becomes visible the next day though. To keep the smooth skin feel a bit longer you can try what is reccomended from the manufacturer of my razor. The trick is after you have shaved to then run over the area again while pulling the skin tight in that area. This makes the small hair follicles stand upright and allows the razor to shave the last bits of. Apparently the hair then retracts slightly below the skin for a completely smooth shave. One drawback is that you can get red razor bumps by doing this unless your skin is well used to the razor.
Hope this helps.
Stuart
Also remember not to press too hard with the razor. That too would flatten the hairs rather than leting them enter the razor.
RJC2001
Hi Again
A product branded here as VEET is getting a lot of coverage and acceptance. A lot of guys are also using this now. I haven’t checked everything on the forum to see if this has been covered before, but I would like to see if anyone has some real experiance with this product. The Ad’s all show a woman shaving one leg and using VEET on the other. VEET is supposed to reduce hair regrowth dramatically. Does this brand have any benefit over stuff like Epil Stop etc.?
Stuart
Stuart, there’s a thread or two in the depilatories section on VEET. Use the Search feature at the top if you can’t find it there.
VEET has been availible here for many years and I used it for a while some time ago. It’s a depilatory like any other and comes in many different versions. The result won’t last as long as shaving with a good razor, but the stubble won’t be as coarse and I feel I got fewer ingrowns in the bikiniarea. Lately it has gotten a lot of bad press over here because of reports of people getting burnt using it. So (as with any other depilatory) do a test first and be extremely cautious about sensitive areas.
Also there have been reports of the product causing discoloration of furniture and painted surfaces as doors and floors. One consumer ended up with permanent pink footsteps on her white bathroom floor . We didn’t use to hear a lot of that before they introduced the spray version, so take ekstra care if you’re spraying it on !
Stuart, I was at Costco (wholesale shopping club) today and saw a new electric razor from Norelco (same as Phillips). It is called the Spectre. You can rinse it under the faucet to clean it, but other Norelco models have that feature too. The cutting heads look totally different from any other Norelco, even the Quadra. It has slots for longer hairs and holes for stubble. It also has adjustable spring tension, less for sensitive skin or more tension for a closer shave. I don’t know if it is on their web site or not.
The worst thing about depilatories is that awful smell! I do not find that the reults from them last any longer than a good blade. The results from the Derma Nude, which is a relatively strong depilatory, were not any longer lasting than a shave with a Mach3 Turbo.
RJC2001
Thanks to all above.
It seems the circle just goes on and on with depilatories. I agree with RJC about the smell of these products. It seems to be around for days. Shaving still seems the safest and best option from what I see, as I also had burns trying depilatories.
Stuart
I did not find depilatories to provide any longer lasting results than shaving especially when compared to shaving with a blade.
RJC2001