Waxing vs Shaving vs Epilating
July 10th, 2010 | Categories: Style | 29 CommentsWhen it comes to leg hair removal, I am a sufferer of the following things:
- Sensitive skin. Like, SUPER sensitive, to the point where if I scratch my leg a rash will break out.
- Pale, pale skin. Think blindingly white.
- Dark, dark hair. Think jet black. 1
- Thick and/or coarse hair. (This one is pretty self-explanatory.)
Waxing: It works okay on my legs, except I’m not willing to shell out the money needed to see a professional regularly. Therefore, my experiences with waxing are those kits designed for you to use at home that you can buy at any good drugstore. I like the longer lasting effects of waxing, but since I’m not a professional, I don’t always rip the hair out at the root, which means I don’t get to enjoy one of the best benefits of waxing.
Shaving: Shaving is just… ugh, horrible. I don’t like the cuts and nicks, I don’t like the fact that hair grows back faster and thicker and I hate the feeling of stubble on my legs. To top it all off, my legs had a tendency to break out in a rash whenever I shaved, so it was just awful all-around. I could only shave once every two weeks, tops, because of my skin’s reaction to shaving, and because the hair grew back so fast I’d only be able to wear skirts or shorts for about two days. Definitely not worth all the trouble.
Epilating: I tried out epilating for the first time several nights ago. It’s an “electrical device used to remove hair by mechanically grasping multiple hairs simultaneously and pulling them out.” Basically, it’s most similar to waxing, minus the messy wax part. Hair takes about an estimated four weeks to grow back in and you don’t need to wait for it to grow out the length that waxing requires. Because there’s no blade, there are no burns or cuts. Yeah, epilating is going to be more painful than shaving, but I have a high pain tolerance so the pain didn’t bother me. The pain is also supposed to diminish with regular epilation.
Verdict: With the help of a little witch hazel, exfoliating body scrub and moisturizer, epilating is my favorite type of hair removal (already!). The best part? You can also use it on most areas of the body that require hair removal, so I’m only going to need my epilator and nothing else. Talk about convenience and saving money2 while enjoying long-lasting hair removal!
- Disclaimer: I do not look like a goth, despite my pale skin and dark hair. It’s just the result of my mixed heritage and which set of genes won out over the other in the looks department! [↩]
- The epilator doesn’t need any replacement parts (e.g. you don’t need to replace the epilator head) so while the cost is higher up front, you save money with repeated use. No more need to shell out for professional waxing appointments, do-it-at-home wax kits, razors and/or shaving cream! [↩]
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Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
I want to try epilating, but shaving is so easy and pain free! I’ve heard epilating is also more painful than waxing; is that true?
I’d say it’s about the same. However, the difference is that the pain is distributed differently. With waxing, you feel pain along the wax strip in one go because the wax strip is ripped off. With epilating, you feel continuous pain as you work the epilator up your leg. Again, I have a high pain tolerance so others might not agree with me, but I think the pain is the same, just felt differently.
Yes it hurts more than waxing.. i epilate my underarm and its darker than when i used to shave i would recomend it but … NO PAIN NO GAIN lool
Hmm. I wish I could like try epilating for a hot second to see if it’s do-able for me. Shaving is fine for me, but it would be sweet not to have to shave every other day. (My hair’s thick and fast growing like yours.)
We have the same problem. Black hair + pale, sensitive skin.
I tried waxing at home but it was more work that it was worth. I couldn’t get all the hair off and you should have seen what my bathroom looked like when I was done :P Wax is sticky!
How bad is the pain from epilating? I too have heard epilating is worse than waxing.
Honestly, the pain is not bad at all. I’m not sure what your pain tolerance is, though. The first time is by far and away the worst. The second is easier, the third even more easier, and after that you don’t really feel much of anything. I’d compare the first couple times to something that has a small, continuous stinging sensation. Kind of like when you are in a lake and minnows nip at your ankles, only somewhat more intense than that (because I can hardly ever feel the minnows!).
At the beginning, yes, epilating is worse than waxing. However, after you’ve done it several times you learn to ignore it. I have been epilating my armpits, and whilst it was very painful at first, it has certainly become much better :)
In addition to that, it also lasts much, much longer than shaving, which is really good. Some parts of my legs don’t even grow hairs anymore
I epilated my underarms for the first time and while it was bad, I still expected it to be worse, so I’m happy about that. Do you get in-growns? I’m terrified about them and exfoliate regularly to try and keep them at bay.
I got an ingrown under my arm the other day, but that’s very, very rare. On my legs I get them more often, but you just have to be vigilant about watching for them and getting rid of them as soon as you see them :)
I’ve never heard of epilating before but holy geeze, that thing looks TERRIFYING. I could never, ever do that, so kudos to you for being brave. I have a very low tolerance for pain though. I get lightheaded just plucking my eyebrows and that’s like… 6 cm of skin. If I had to pull out all of the hairs in my legs, I think I would die. XD
I know it’s kind of expensive, but would you ever consider laser hair removal? I had that done on my underarms and it’s one of the greatest things ever. No hair. Horrah! :D
You get light hearted from plucking your eyebrows?! Whoa. That IS a low pain tolerance. I’ve never felt anything when plucking mine :P
Laser hair removal is too expensive for me, so currently not an option. Also I am wary of targeting lasers at my underarms because there is a whole network of lymph nodes in that area and I’d hate to get lymphoma or anything like that because of it. But I’m just super cautious about potentially cancer-causing treatments of any kind.
I’ve never gone to a professional for waxing, tried it at home with mixed results, decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and stuck with shaving. The only problem is that I don’t like to shave near my girly bits, but I’m too chicken to go to a professional. Still have not decided what to do about that.
I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but epilating still looks kind of scary.
I used to shave, but I’m like you and have sensitive skin, so it gives me rashes. So, then I moved to waxing, but found it to messy/time-consuming, and went back to shaving (and tending to wear pants due to laziness/aversion to rashes). And then I got an epilator! And it is the best of both worlds. My only problem is that it gives in-grown hairs a lot more often than either of the other two. But then that’s solved with exfoliating, so win!
Do you have lots of problems with in-grown hairs? While I was looking some stuff up online, that seems to be a common problem and I’m TERRIFIED of getting them. I exfoliate daily (lightly, because anything more than that is too intense for my skin on a daily basis). I also use witch hazel as an astringent after I epilate and aloe vera as a non-comedogenic moisturizer. But I’m still scared of in-growns :(
Hmm.. I’m like everything you just described. I don’t always get rashes after shaving, but I do get red bumps a lot. I don’t know if it’s just from being so pale or if it’s because my skin is sensitive or what.
I’ve never heard of an epilator. That sounds really interesting and something I’d like to look into in the future. Sounds like it might be helpful and the thought of not shaving every other day is really nice.
Are the red bumps in-growns or razor bumps? If so, shaving over them is probably just going to irritate them more.
At this point in my life, I don’t think I’m really a religious or a spiritual person. I’ve never had a really moving spiritual experience, you know? I do think a lack of organized religion is a nice concept… believing what you want without feeling forced into anything.
Thank you! As it stands now, I’m not going because the lady never got back to me after I called her today. =/
I’ve never tried waxing, because honestly I don’t mind shaving. I used to haaate shaving, but I’ve gotten used to it and it has become sort of a routine to me now. Luckily, the sensitivity of my skin seems to have died down a bit over the years, so I don’t have such bad reactions as you. D:
I had never heard of epilating before reading your blog… definitely something I’ll have to keep in mind if shaving ever gets too annoying! I’m glad you’ve finally found something that works for you. :)
I waxed my legs a few days ago and in total it took time over a 2 day period because the residue would not shift. I like waxing for the longer lasting effect and not keen on shaving because it’s not, but this last experience has made me unwilling to try again for a very long time.
I’m going to try plucking next, it’ll take forever but at least there will be no stickiness and it’ll last longer; epilators cost a lot here.
I’ve never heard of wax residue lingering like that! Were your wax strips premade, or did you buy a pot of wax and make the wax strips yourself? Was it hot or cold?
Epilators are pricey in general (a good one goes for about $80USD; Braun is my company of choice) but I find the cost to be worth it in the long run.
I have exactly the same problem, super sensitive pale skin and horrible thick dark hair.
I epilate, and have done for about a year now. It hurts at first but it’s like plucking your eyebrows, eventually the pain just stops and you barely notice anything. I wouldn’t say the effects last four weeks though! I epilate one day and the next more hairs have grown back. I’m obviously a freak XD
Well, hair grows in cycles. Based on what I’ve read/researched, once you’ve epilated regularly for about a week or so (read: daily), then the effects last longer because you’ve gotten all the hair out in all the cycles. I don’t think I’ve reached that stage yet :P
I just bought an epilator and used it for the first time just now, but I really can’t tell if it’s pulling the hair at the root like tweezing or grasping and breaking – am I doing something wrong?
Make sure you are holding the epilator perpendicular to your skin. This ensures that the hairs will be pulled rather than just broken.
[...] Break The Sky: She takes a look at popular methods and compares them in pain and effectiveness for her pale skin and dark hair combo. [...]
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Hey :)
was researching the entire waxing vs. shaving vs. epilating debate online and came across this blog entry.
I wanted to ask since your preference is epilating and you’ve also looked at various opinions do you think it’s true that hair growth lessens over time as you wax/epilate? I’ve heard and read this so many times and have heard people vouch for it; some saying that after a while not only their reaction to it(becoming a lot less painful) but overall hair growth reducing dramatically, and some saying it remains the same though it may ‘appear’ finer, after consistent use and I’d like to hear what you’ve experienced.
Kaya
In my experience, the hair slowly gets finer over time and it grows back less quickly. It takes a while to get to that point, but in comparison to a method like shaving, where hair grows back thicker and faster, epilating definitely causes hair growth to lessen over time.
try epilating on never before touched leg hair it hurt so bad and if your having a bad day it’s very stressful but I love it because it lasts for ages and you can get away with it one they grow back , I have never tried anything else but I would like to get that hair removal cream for emergencies.