Dear Reader: This is my first article on hair-removal. It is still a good place to start for beginners, but I have found better ways. Please read the later articles to learn about those! And, as always, thank you for your interest!
In her list No. 5 Dom de Luxury commands us to shave our body hair: "A smooth sissy is a sexy sissy." A command from our Dom is a command to be followed. To be clear, Dom wants you to remove all of your body hair. She has allowed me to keep the hair on my head (you might not be so fortunate).
Truthfully, I didn't need much encouragement. I don't care for body hair, and I'm much happier now mine is gone. It's worth the effort and then some.
Waxing
In my experience, the best way to have your hair removed is waxing. Nothing else even comes close. The result is much better and, with the possible exception of laser (which I have not tried), it lasts much longer than any other method.
Unfortunately, there are some practical problems:
- It's expensive. In my town, full-body waxing costs around $400.
- It's time consuming. It takes several hours out of your day.
- A lot of waxing salons are awful, and you are better off avoiding them.
- A lot of waxing salons refuse male clients.
You are probably already worried about the pain. I was, but it turned out to be a non-problem. The pain is minor and not what you see in comedies or hear about on the internet. Even if you are more sensitive to pain than I am, it's all for a good cause, so relax and do it.
Assuming you can afford it, problems 3 and 4 are the most serious. You can solve both if you are lucky enough to have a Strip Ministry of Waxing in your area. They welcome male clients and are incredibly good at what they do. I also appreciate the light touch and humor of their advertising.
If you don't have a Strip Ministry in your area, you'll have to search. Once you have found a place that will accept you as a client, do not neglect the issues of hygiene and expertise. Waxing salon horror stories abound, don't become one of them.
Most of us will compromise and do some at home and some at a salon. Strip Ministry of Waxing does a 'boyzilian' and back stripping for $160. Those are the tough areas for most of us, and it's nice to have it done by a pro. You can have the arms (a lovely extra) for an additional $55, leaving the legs, chest, and underarms for you to do at home.
In my case, the time is much more of a consideration than the expense. As a result, I have been doing more of my hair removal at home. I've found it is possible to do a relatively decent job, although there are challenges.
Home Hair Removal
Shaving
Using a razor is an obvious choice. An electric razor doesn't do as good a job as a blade, but that takes skill and lots of blades. If you are a virtuoso with the blade, good for you, but I use an electric razor.
This electric razor works really well. I bought this in 2017 when it was only about USD 60 - it's way more expensive now. There are newer versions for much less, and I encourage you to try those. Many people prefer to use it in the shower. It's shower safe, but I've never tried it.
If you are waxing for the first time or haven't done it in a while, the trimmer is a lifesaver. Your hair should be about 6 mm (1/4 inch) long for waxing; if it is longer, you will have trouble. The Body Groomer trimmer blade makes it easy to get the hairs to that length!
Waxing
I've tried a few different waxing options. The best I've found so far is from Nair: "Nair Wax-Ready Strips." Make sure you get the ones for the body and not the face. They're ready to use immediately and don't require messy microwave warming or rubbing with your hands. They are easy to find (probably cheapest) from your local drug stores. If you can't find them, you can get them from Amazon.
Here is the basic procedure:
- Take a shower and dry well. The strips will adhere better if your skin is free of oil
- Separate the strips, fold one in half and set it aside.
- Dust the area to be waxed with baby powder to free the hairs from your skin.
- Note the direction of the hair's growth. You want to apply the strip in the direction the hair grows and pull it off in the opposite direction.
- Apply the strip, pressing it into the hair firmly and along the direction of hair growth.
- Hold the base of the strip in one hand, then rip the hair off (opposite to the way it grows) with the other. Don't pull straight up; pull back along the skin. Quicker is much less painful.
- You can repeat this for the same area twice. You can re-use the strip as long as it is still sticky.
Removing Hair From Face
I hate to shave my face and have long wished to try waxing, threading, or some such device. After investigating my options, it seems that facial waxing for men is rife with problems. We are stuck with shaving.
Full Body Hair Removal Process
This takes a while. If you are preparing for a session and need to do your entire body, then allow plenty of time and do it a few days before.
I wax my legs, arms, hands, underarms, and the front of my torso. I use the razor on my private parts and areas that prove resistant to waxing. I would love to wax my privates, but I haven't found strips that work well there. Your mileage may differ. Waxing authorities (yes, there are such people) advise tweezing any hairs not removed by waxing. They use tweezers in the salons, and if you have their skill (and excellent wax), this is probably great advice. Whether it's the waxing strips or my technique, I don't get salon-level results when I use these at home. If I were to tweeze the hairs left from using waxing strips, I wouldn't have time for anything else. I shave any hairs remaining after the waxing strips. Many people advise against it, but I haven't had any bad effects from doing it.
Here are the steps I follow
- Trim any hair you will be waxing to between 35 - 70 cm (1/4 - 1/2 inch) long.
- Shave the rest of the hair.
- Wax (see above for the procedure).
- If any hairs remain, shave or (if you have time) tweeze.
Conceptual simple. In execution, less so. Waxing your arms is awkward, but the results are worth it. Give it a try, and don't forget your hands. There's nothing grosser than hairy knuckles.
Touching Up
If you have waxed/shaved recently, you may not need to do your entire body. Shave the areas that are not looking tidy. Waxed areas remain smooth and lovely for a few weeks, but hair starts to grow. There's always that awkward period while you wait for it to grow to a decent length so you can wax it again.
Post Waxing Care
Proper care after you wax is essential. It's possible to get infected follicles from waxing which is neither fun nor cute.
- After waxing, do not exercise. Avoid any activity that can make you sweat for 24 hours.
- Avoid scalding showers or baths if you have redness. You can use over-the-counter steroid creams, which help to reduce the redness.
- Do not exfoliate for one week after waxing.
- After one week has passed, exfoliate regularly. If you do not, you can get ingrown hair or infected follicles.
If you get infected follicles
If you don't follow the above procedure, you will surely get them. Sometimes you get them anyway. If you do, scrub the area with an antiseptic soap and apply an antiseptic cream. You can buy these creams at waxing salons, but I find that Finipil works great and at around $13.00 is much less expensive.
Other Hair Removal Products
Various companies sell chemical creams and lotions that supposedly dissolve the hair on your body. I haven't tried these because I am sure they will also do something awful to my skin. If you try them, let me know how it goes for you.
You can have your hair removed by a laser. Laser hair removal is said to be permanent. I would love this, but the risks of operator error are much higher, and there is some chance that this can cause skin cancer. While not proven, I prefer not to take the risk. If you are a darker-skinned person, this risk will be much less.
I'm interested in learning about more advanced waxing techniques, such as melting my wax and using strips like they do in salons. Unfortunately, there is a wide range of conflicting information on these topics, so some experimentation will be in order. I will let you all know when I figure out a good method.
Thanks for reading!
I hope this has been helpful. I'm always happy to get good suggestions and nice comments. If you have some, feel free to contact me!