Shaving legs?

[Uncle Al]

What is IPL/VPL

Uncle Al

[nzfreestyler]

Hi UncleAl,
IPL is intense pulsed light and vpl is variable pulsed light.
Best thought of as a laser procedure (perfectly safe - been around for decades for beauty therapy stuff)

Neat thing is it is permanent and cumulative - so you don't loose the progress gained.
For me here it costs approx 8X as much as waxing - but then the payoff is 5 years of waxing, thereafter free forever.

Big thing I found was after 4 IPLs that my hair was almost non existent and you couldn't see it at all - even after 3 weeks of growing - but I kept on and did 3 more IPLs to get really smooth permenent, and then I went back for some spot stuff (they did it for free) to get rid of literally any single hair that appeared over the next year. You can guarantee to be perfectly silky smooth all day - every day - forever with IPL and the newer VPL technologies.

No surprise I am a big fan! But I like to be smooth. (Currently getting my armpits finished off too)

[Daryl]

Epilation is for people who don't want the hair to come back. It might come back, but much more slowly, and after enough epilation, perhaps super slowly. I go months now. I don't think the hair on my legs would ever come back to its normal weight. I have heard this from women who wax their legs too (though I have no idea why anyone would go through the rigmarole of waxing when they could just epilate).

They both share about the same amount of pain. but the epilator is not messy as the wax is.

I have tried both and prefer the epilator. I have one but still do not like the pain involved.

I don't find it painful at all. It wasn't painful even the first time I did it when the hair was heaviest and most well-anchored.

(Well...it was painful when I went straight at it before even reading the directions, but that was my fault.)

For least amount of trouble, time and expense, the epilator has my nod. I found the Philips Bodygroom great for the initial (and necessary) pre-ep shave, and it is still useful for some things, IYKWIM.

[Daryl]

I found waxing better - and way faster than epilating. I had it done at the salon - because I found being waxed by someone else is way faster and doesn't hurt as much - in fact I got used to waxing where it didn't hurt at all really. I had full leg and bikini wax every 4-5 weeks.

This illustrates how people are different. I'd have found the time getting to and from the salon longer than the time it takes me to epilate at home. I mean that literally.

Also the pain thing. For me epilation is painless, so "the hurt" is just not a factor. I often think people grossly overstate the pain of waxing, for comic effect, to the point of giving the procedure an undeserved reputation as super painful.

Then maybe my hair is just lighter and more cooperative than some other people's. Maybe it's different during a full moon, too.

[nzfreestyler]

Hey Daryl - you're exactly right - everyone is different, and the 'pain' factor is imdividual, and also it varies a lot.
For instance if you are dehydrated waxing will hurt more, if you are skinnier then it will hurt more, obviously if you are unlucky enough to be a hairy mammoth then it will hurt a heap (at least to begin with). I found personally the areas that people dread waxing and fair to be sensitive hurt less than others. My inner thighs for instance hardly felt anyhting ever, whereas my calves were sensitive - and also my shins used to sting a lot. But we are all different. Mind you I actually enjoyed the temporary pain factor of waxing because I enjoyed the results.

As for travel etc - I used to get waxed on the way home after work - a lot of salons here have a late night or go to 6pm so I ducked out of work at 5pm and went straight there.

[Jetblasted]

I’ve shaved my legs daily for the past five years. I’ve also done a previous five year stretch. I recently purchased a LumaRx IPL Pro, and lasered my body from the neck down. Being smooth just feels so much better. I’ve never had one comment about my legs unless I mentioned it.

[Jetblasted]

IPL in Action.

[Jetblasted]

That’s one pair of my old gym shorts that I sewed into a skirt.

[Daryl]

I’ve shaved my legs daily for the past five years. I’ve also done a previous five year stretch. I recently purchased a LumaRx IPL Pro, and lasered my body from the neck down. Being smooth just feels so much better. I’ve never had one comment about my legs unless I mentioned it.

I've had two comments, over a period of about 8 years, and only since I started wearing skirts full time. One was a security guard in the checkin area for a domestic flight. She found my Utilikilt novel and asked if I shaved my legs too. The other one was my sister inlaw, who was sitting beside me and placed her hand on my calf leaning in to say something. She ran her hand up my calf a little while talking then added "ooh, smooth".

Not really a dramatic amount of attention, and definitely not all unpleasant!

[Jetblasted]

The question from a security guard would have annoyed me, not that it’s any of their business. Questions like your sister in law wouldn’t bother me a bit, but yeah. People really don’t notice, and if they do, they don’t say anything. Several years ago I had a health scare and when the nurse was attaching the EKG? tabs on my legs, she got visibly flustered. I almost doubled over with laughter. In my twenties, I was mortified of being ostracized because my shaved legs. As I continued through life, I’d only shave in the winter, so long pants would hide them. About 20 years ago is when I started shaving my legs full time, and in those two decades, I can’t recall anyone who said anything, unless I mentioned it first. Even when I did say something, their reply was usually fumbled & bumbled. I stopped bringing attention to them a long time ago. I don’t even think about it anymore. I’m very very very happy to be hair free now in mylife. It was a mental struggle for many years.

[dillon]

My legs have been shaved continuously for a dozen or more years now. I find it a tiresome and time-consuming task, but the initial sensation of perfect smoothness is rewarding, if short-lived. My stubble comes back fast, so the thrill is gone, as BB King might sing, after about 48 hours. I need to shave about every five days to maintain my legs without a lawn mower. Yet the hair on my ankles is so irregular and patchy I can’t stand the sight of it.