Epilating Help Needed

[Guest ValerieD]

I just bought an epilator because I'm sick and tired of spending an hour twice a week shaving in the shower (in addition to the regular length of my shower routine) and running out of hot water before I can do anything else on those days, especially since the time needed for this will not be sustainable if I get a job or have to move back in with my parents (they don't have nearly enough hot water, and the lighting in their shower is very poor). I was just trying it out on my legs, but it doesn't seem to do anything other than make my skin look like I scraped it - I can make several passes, but the hairs are all still there. What am I doing wrong? I was looking for freedom from an oppressive shave routine, but it looks like all I managed to do was throw $40 down the drain.

[Charlize]

That does not sound like the epilator i am used to. Mine rips through hair like a hungry beast. I have to spend some time on areas such as my bony old knees but otherwise it is more like a harvester than a tweezer. Perhaps yours is not adjusted properly and if it is new i would complain.

Hugs,

Charlize

[tracy_j]

After my first which seemed to work well but failed (I think motor burnt out - maybe stress of thicker male hair?) I bought a cheap one (I now only do underarms as I had issues which I could not sort with ingrowing hairs on my legs etc). The cheap one is nowhere near as good as the previous one and also it almost stalls with heavy work but it still plucks Ok, just less efficiently. I would not like to use it on larger areas as I don't think it would cope. It does not give 'scraped' skin.

Tracy

[Guest ValerieD]

What exactly is "adjusting" an epilator? Mine just has a switch for fast/slow/off. I bought the cheapest one I could find on Amazon. Is it possible that I'm using it wrong or that the hairs aren't long enough? I'm not sure if I should give it another try or not. I want to return it, but have no idea how to do that since I bought it online.

I guess the bigger question now is "how do I make my shaving routine work?". It takes me an hour additional time in the shower (and my morning routine is already 2-2.5 hours long) and I routinely run out of hot water before I'm done even in my apartment; at my parents house, it's flat out impossible to do things properly, not even factoring in the poor lighting there. It's completely unsustainable; the only reason it's worked so far is because my only job after college I didn't need to be at work until 10. I also hate how my hair gets in the way when bending over to shave my legs (it also interferes with shaving my upper arms and chest), and I have a tendency to slice off pieces of my fingernails if I'm in a rush (I also have many shaving scars near my ankles and on my right shin), and I'm always in a hurry because I hate the routine, it takes me too long to get ready as it is, and I'm always in a race against the hot water heater.

[tracy_j]

For general body hair I use electric shavers - set to very short (~ 0.5 mm) - does not get rid of hair totally but is far less noticeable and I have far less issues with ingrowing hair! Except for the odd spot I don't have issues with shaving scars unless I am careless. (No issues with the hot water either).

Tracy

[Guest ValerieD]

I gave it another go and it did better when I got rid of the "efficiency cap" and didn't shower first. However, it still leaves a bunch of hairs, and my legs seem to have perpetual small red spots where the hairs were. Also, my skin isn't smooth period, so even with all the hair gone, I still can't get smooth skin. Basically my skin looks about 20 years older than my biological age.

[tracy_j]

To get a really smooth skin feeling I use all over body cream twice a day. My skin is not too bad without it but I can really tell the difference and it soothes the skin as well after shaving.