Body hair removal

[Clara84]

Hello,

On last Monday I did hair removal on my whole body and tried different techniques.

- Cream : effective for the beginning but about 20% of the hair remains
- Hot wax : Absolute not effective for me, I used wax 6 times on my arms and it was still hair remaining. On the chest : no result, my hair is too hard
After 6 hours of attempts I finished everything with shaving

- Shaving is effective but my skin don't tolerate it very well. And it hurts very much when the hair come back

It was 5 days ago and today most of the hair are already visible (black dots)

For the beard I will do laser.

But for the rest, what should I do ? The doctor said I am a good candidate for laser because I have light skin and dark hair. But... insurance pays only for the beard.

The price for the laser for the whole body is around 16,000 $, it's too much for me. Perhaps I will do that but it will take years to save the money ( I cannot invest more than 2,000 $ each year)

Will HRT help for hair removal (apart beard) ? I always heard different answers about that. I will see the endocrinologist next week and hope to start HRT soon.

Or should I plan to spend a whole day every week for the rest of my life to get rid of this ?

[MarcieMarie12]

For laser they may offer 16,000 for the whole body. See if you can just do it on a per session basis. Also, if and when you start HRT that will help with the body hair, it will begin to grow like Cis-girls. So you will still have hair it will just be come thinner and stop growing in certain places (like the stomach). BTW some cis-girls have to shave their legs once every few days, others less than once every other week. I would focus on the beard first and see what HRT takes care of. The thing with HRT is that its effects vary from one person to the next.

[Guest Alicia Rose]

The best option is electrolysis, but will come at a price. Shaving has proven to be the best method of hair removal, for me at least. It's both cheap and easy, and starting Hormone Replacement Therapy will likely help with your hairs too. For me, HRT seems to have helped a lot.
 
The $16,000 price tag is a lot, but shouldn't be all upfront. Try paying per session and see how it works. With Laser Hair Removal, it's not permanent but will help a lot. Electrolysis is the only FDA approved permanent hair removal method that I know of, and once again HRT should help too. It most likely will but an endocrinologist will help you with that.
 
Personally, I'm not super satisfied with my body hairs being on HRT but it has improved. My endocrinologist put me on another medication that might help but so far, I'm not sure if it has. Either way, once I shave everything I feel good.
 
I've tried Laser on my face but wasn't happy. Although it will help make electrolysis easier. I've had some electrolysis done in the same areas on my face and I'm very happy with that treatment. Currently, I'm sticking to HRT and shaving exclusively but will plan on getting more electrolysis work done because IT WORKS!
 
It's important to note that results aren't always the same for everyone. Hair type, amount and age can all make a difference in both cost and quality - based on everything I've learned.

 

 

[Guest Alicia Rose]

After shaving (with shave gel), I've been using Witch Hazel, which is usually recommended by an electrolysis to help fight against red irritated skin. Specifically: Oily, Irritated, Red, Damaged, Blemished or Inflamed skin.
 
I bought T.N. Dickinson's Witch Hazel (16oz) brand at CVS for pretty cheap and enjoy that. Maybe, give that a try and once you do start Laser/Electrolysis it will become useful even more. 

[Clara84]

Thanks for your advices. I hope HRT will decrease my hair. If I have as low hair as some cis-girls I could perhaps live with it.

The doctor at the beauty clinic said for my skin, laser should work well. I hope it's true.

The most important is the beard, I will have my first session in 3 weeks. Removing my beard will be big step for me in the journey to happiness.

I will give Witch Hazel a try for my irritated shaved skin.

[MarcieMarie12]

7 hours ago, Alicia Rose said:

The best option is electrolysis, but will come at a price. Shaving has proven to be the best method of hair removal, for me at least. It's both cheap and easy, and starting Hormone Replacement Therapy will likely help with your hairs too. For me, HRT seems to have helped a lot.

The difference between electrolysis and laser is that laser is quicker and less time consuming. But you will still need electrolysis to mop up the light hairs and any stubborn hairs that grow back. Laser is advertised as permanent hair reduction, and for me was great as it removed 80% of the facial hair. the remaining 20% was the white and grey hairs that is getting electrolysis. That was enough to get rid of my beard shadow, so in theory I can go without make-up if I want to as long as I shave every day. While electrolysis will get rid of the hairs permanently, it is on hair at a time (tweeze, poke, burn ). Laser does an area the size of a quarter (at least the machine my technician uses) and for me it each session was bout 15 minutes. It took about 3 sessions for it to become noticeable for me,  My facial hair seemed to increase in the days right after session, and that was just the dead hair foliclesnthe last hairs falling out. By the 7th or 8th session (January to August of 2016--once every 6 weeks) we switched to electrolysis as about that point I had very few dark hairs left.  I've been doing electrolysis for 1 hour every 2 weeks for the most part since then to get rid of the remainder. 

GT004, based on your pics I think you will do very well with laser. You will probably have some electrolysis though.I'd also check with your technician, and use some lidocaine on your face (a numbing cream used to treat burns--also great for when you actually burn yourself while cooking too!!! )

[Clara84]

Okay I understand that I will be fighting against hair for years. And I also see that the "solutions" are different for every person.

My therapist said I shouldn't be so afraid about that because ciswomen also have hair.

The endo told me HRT may help, but it depends of each one individual reaction.

I have just ordered a "trialma" home laser device. I will try to have some results with it on my body. 

[tracy_j]

I can see that the darker the hair the bigger the problem, but laser is also likely to be much more effective. I know it would not work well with me so have never tried.

Over time I have accumulated several electric shavers and epilators, each being used for specific tasks / areas. As my hair is fair I do not have too many issues. I have never used a wet razor, and would be afraid to use one. After a considerable time, I have streamlined things and now shave all over once a week (taking around an hour) and the odd area in between (like top of chest if I am to wear a low cut top). I use an epilator on the backs of my hands and arms once every two or three weeks. I get too many ingrowing hairs on my legs to use the epilator but I find it the most efficient where I can use it. I do not shave my legs flush to the skin, but use a shaver which cuts to 0.4 mm. This and good hygiene seems to minimise problems well but does mean more attention to shaving or the wearing of sheer skin coloured tights or stockings in the summer (this is useful anyway as they do cover variations and the very white colour of my legs).

My biggest problem has been with ingrowing hairs causing inflammation. I use a foaming cleaner (from Boots here) which is, I think, designed specifically for the face but I use all over my body. It's ingredients include Witch Hazel, and I think it is that which makes it so good. I also have a overnight intensive care  balm which also includes Witch Hazel. It seems to work very well in sorting post epilation 'red spots'. On my arms they occur after epilation, which I do in the evening, but have by and large disappeared by the next morning.

Faces aside I have noticed that many cis women live with hair. I came across a young (20's) female therapist when I was at work who had more hair on her arms than I had ever had both on my legs and arms combined. It was dark too, but no-one took any notice. I think, in many cases, the need for totally removing most body hair is more to do with clues and having to be more positively female than a cis woman than anything else. I must admit though that I do not suffer at all with underarm odour since removing all my hair and daily wash down with the foaming cleaner (plus afterward moisturise). This seems to be similar to the change in body odour with the using of hormone therapy (which I don't). I suspect it is the effective removal of hair for the odour to build up on, hence no odour, rather than any other change.

Tracy

[Clara84]

Wow Tracy. You have a complex "protocol" for hair removal. I have ordered some Witch Hazel and I will ask for a visit to a dermatologist to help me and my sensitive skin. 16,000$ is really too much for me. I invested 500$ in the home laser device. I hope I will have some results with it. Will give some feedback here.

0.4mm cut is good but not close enough with black hairs like mine are.

I am becoming mad about my hairs, perhaps too much. I always think that everyone will see when I forgot to cut one single hair.

When hair come back I feel bad and I cover myself, too afraid that it can be visible. Now we are approaching summer and weather is too hot, so I can't afford any hair. My therapist told me to calm down, she shows me her arms, she has a lot of hairs like a man but they are very fine and light colored. Even my wife told me that she don't see anything when I complaint... but I don't trust her sayings about me.