I’m back! Apologies for the long hiatus, I just kind of lost interest in all things social media. But, I’m back for the time being and decided to knock out a post I’ve been meaning to write for the last 5 years. Seriously, it’s been on my TODO list for that long.

My wife always gives me shit for trying to be a naked mole rat, but I don’t know, I just really do not like body hair. I’m not really sure why, but I just can’t stand the feeling of not being smooth everywhere. So, over the years, I’ve experimented with different hair removal methods to see what works best for me. There are notable hair removal techniques that are left out here like waxing, electrolysis or epilators, but I’ve never tried them so I can’t provide any insights.

NOTE: I was lucky enough that I did not have much body hair to begin with. Unfortunately, hair removal is going to be different for everyone, so take my experiences with a grain of salt. What works for me might not work for you, and that’s okay!

Shaving

Shaving is the most common and beginner-friendly form of hair removal. It’s also something you’ll probably always have to do, even if you pick a more permanent solution. It’s quick and cheap (but don’t go too cheap). Pick up any decent 3+ blade razor, some shaving cream, and just make sure not to nick yourself, or you’re going to be bleeding for a while. While people talk about the “pink tax” with razors, personally, I still choose to go with a women’s razor because:

  1. They come in prettier colors.
  2. It makes me feel more feminine to shave with a women’s razor.

I use the Venus Comfort Glides that I buy in bulk from Costco.

Pros Cons
Fast and convenient Hair grows back quickly
Painless (mostly) May cause razor burn, ingrown hairs, and irritation
Cheap and accessible Requires frequent shaving

Laser Hair Removal

Laser hair removal is probably the most common form of permanent/semi-permanent hair removal. The main allure of laser hair removal is the prospect of never having to shave again, which in my experience hasn’t really become true. I think with enough sessions, it might happen, but at that point, you’re talking about potentially thousands of dollars depending on what area you’re targeting. For me, I was most concerned about my face and the Brazilian area (I also wanted to do my legs, but at the time, I couldn’t justify the price).

For the Brazilian area, I did eight rounds over the course of around a year. I would describe my results as permanent hair reduction. I still have to shave, but the hair is noticeably thinner and slower-growing. The pain wasn’t too bad; lasering the shaft was the only part that I would classify as painful. Honestly, what hurt the most was that most of the beauticians were fairly attractive women, and the clinics were always fairly cold…

I did way more rounds on my face. I didn’t have much facial hair to begin with, so I was hoping to never have to shave after. But again, I would say my final results were permanent hair reduction, which I was a bit disappointed by.

Laser hair removal also has quite a few restrictions:

  • It works best if you have dark hair. If you have very light hair, it may not work at all.
  • You cannot have tweezed or waxed your hair for six weeks prior to treatment. This was especially annoying to me because I would “shave” by tweezing.
  • You cannot be on Accutane/Isotretinoin.
  • Maintenance sessions are often needed to maintain results.
  • Make sure to shave a day before your appointment

One last thing to watch out for is that if you have darker spots on your skin, lasering over them may cause temporary darkening. I had a spot on my face where I noticed was darker after a few sessions.

Pros Cons
Permanent hair reduction Expensive (especially for large areas)
Safe-ish for any body part Requires multiple sessions
Doesn’t work well on light-colored hair or darker skin tones
Can’t be on Accutane
Can’t wax/tweeze before sessions

I would still recommend it if the price makes sense for you, but just be aware that the Groupon packages or sale bundles that include six (or sometimes even only three) sessions are almost certainly not going to be enough to see significant results.

IPL (Intense Pulsed Light)

IPL is similar to laser hair removal but uses a broad spectrum of light instead of a focused laser. The biggest advantage over laser hair removal is that it can be done at home, and decent devices can be purchased for under $400. If you’re consistent with usage, this will be significantly cheaper than professional laser hair removal, even when factoring in the cost of replacing lamp cartridges.

Initially I was skeptical of how well IPL would work, but given the price of how much sessions of lasering my full legs would be, I decided to give it a try. I ended up buying the Remington IPL6500 (I think it’s been discontinued since then and I’m sure there are way better devices now 5 years later).

Along with the IPL device, I would recommend purchasing a white eyeliner to mark and track the treated sessions. You’ll also need a razor (which you hopefully already have) as like laser, you’ll have to shave a day or so before you use it. DDO NOT use it on fully grown hair, or you’ll end up singeing it.

I opted for a 2 week cadence and started around June of 2020. I’ve included my progress pictures below. Each picture was taken one week after the session.

1 Week After 1st Session

1 Week After 2nd Session

1 Week After 3rd Session

1 Week After 4th Session

1 Week After 5th Session

I stopped taking pictures after this but continued the sessions for a few months. 5 years later I can go weeks without shaving my legs with only very little hair growth in certain spots. When I began, I read to expect some form of semi-permanent hair removal, but I ended up with very significant permanent hair reduction which I was extremely pleased with.

Each session does take a while though. I would just put on a show and play it as background noise as you make your way around the area you’re IPLing. Pain-wise, I would say it’s slightly more painful than laser. It was enough that I avoided doing the brazilian area. I’m not sure if that was because I was pressing the button or if it was actually more painful.

Pros Cons
Can be done at home Some devices may not be used on your face
Less expensive than professional laser Does take a while each time especially if you’re going over a large area
Permanent hair reduction if you keep up your sessions Initial cost to buy the IPL device may be a deterrent to some
Will eventually need to replace the lamp cartridge which is more cost
Seems to hurt more than laser especially in darker skin areas
Similar to laser, works best with dark colored hair and lighter skin tones

Honestly, if price was a concern and you had to pick between laser hair removal and an at-home IPL device, I would pick the latter and hit multiple areas for the same price.

Threading/Tweezing

My experiences with threading and tweezing have been limited to only my face. This is realistically only an option for small areas like your eyebrows or your upper lip. Threading involves using cotton thread twisted in between your fingers to grab onto one or more hairs and pulling them out. Tweezing is the same, just with tweezers. I’ve tried threading before and I just couldn’t reliably get it to work. I’m sure I could after some practice but it was so much faster just to use tweezers that I didn’t bother. There’s also something really therapeutic about plucking each hair out with a tweezer, but maybe I’m just weird. I mostly use it when shaping my eyebrows or pulling out what’s left of my facial hair. And because you’re removing the hair follicle, it lasts longer than just shaving.

Pros Cons
Great for small areas Painful in certain areas (upper lip is ouchies)
Lasts longer than shaving Not realistic for large areas
Kind of feels nice Potential for ingrown hairs

Tweezing my facial hair is one of my guilty pleasures (I know I’m weird). When I get bored, sometimes I’ll just walk to the bathroom and pull out a few hairs growing out and then go back to whatever I was doing.

TLDR

If cost is a factor and you’re like me and can’t deal with body hair, grab a decent razor, lots of shaving cream, a tweezer and an IPL device. If money is no object or you convince your insurance to pay for it, laser it all off.