I have been waxing for years…starting at the ‘outskirts of my village’ and moving a little closer each time until I had a little landing strip. Recently, I read a post on Studio Veena on this topic and one of the women suggested the Braun Silk Epil. I bought the Silk Epil Xpressive which can be used wet or dry. The jury is still out on it though. Some of my hair seems to be coming back quicker, so I think it may be breaking or cutting some of it instead of pulling it out. It’s definitely less messy than shaving and whole lot easier. So far, no ingrown hairs or razor burn either.

I meant to say that the Silk Epil was less messy than waxing (not shaving).

It seems you have made up your mind not to go there – BUT – I just wanted to offer an anecdote just in case.

I was terrified of waxing. Once, when I was 16, I let my sister use home wax strips on my legs and we got about 2 strips in before I ran off screaming and crying and locked myself in the bathroom. I tried to shower the goop off but it wasn’t going anywhere! THEN to make matters worse I had a driving lesson so I ended up wrapping my leg in baking paper, so I would’t stick to my jeans! LOL!

The next time (years later, of course) I tried waxing – it just didn’t work and we went over the same spot 2 or 3 times, and basically we ripped up skin and I had a red raw patch for weeks.

Obviously, none of this is intended to encourage you to wax. HAHAHA! But wait… there’s more!

I have a list of “things to do before I die”. It includes things like learn bass guitar, learn spanish, have a baby, make my own jam, ride an elephant, eat caviar etc.

It also says “get a brazillian wax”.

Why? Well – because I like to challenge myself, to try new things and I suppose I would feel like I achieved something I managed to get through one.

SOO – I did. I booked a wax. My sister and I went. I was terrified.

It wasn’t that bad.

Yes, my body practically buckled when she ripped the hot wax from me. Yes, I was tense and scared the whole time. Yes, it FUCKING HURT! Buuut – it was nowhere near as bad as my home attempts.

And now I get it done every month and they get a lot easier. Trust me.

Wow, those are some real pube-coiffing horror stories, indeed. I am amazed you risked a Brazilian after all that!

I love this topic! i don’t have any horror stories, but here’s what i’ve been doing. I’ve been waxing for 14 years. at first i was getting it done professionally, then i started doing the whole thing myself, with professional hot wax (not the ready strips).

About having to wait for regrowth before waxing again- i personally would shave a couple times between monthly waxes, and then start letting it grow out right before my monthly visitor (since it’s in hideout anyway at that time ). By the time visitor is gone, ready to wax again!

Last month however i decided to start laser treatment for hair removal down there & i absolutely love it! Smooth as a baby’s butt, no ingrowns or bumps, and hair takes forever to grow back! plus one day it’ll be permanently gone!

Just a note for those considering laser hair removal. I tried that too. Unfortunately, no one told me that if you’re on hormone replacement therapy (I had a hysterectomy when I was 35) that it doesn’t remove your hair permanently. And in my case, it actually caused more hair growth!! After going for treatments every six weeks for 2 yrs, I was asked if I was on HRT and was told that was the reason for hair growth and laser hair removal is not recommended. I didn’t get my money back either!!

I recommend the Braun Silk Epil. I dont’ have the new wet/dry model but I have the most recent one before that with the little headlight (which really helps spotting the areas in shadow) and I wore out one of the first models that I got years ago before that.

I think it works really well and gets out the tiniest hairs. I never liked waxing because you have to let a certain amount grow back before your next wax.

With the epil you can do it whenever you see new hairs growing in and if you keep up with it, it only takes a couple of minutes to do that. If the hair is long enough to see, it’s long enough to come out so you are virtually free of visible hair at all times.

The only problem, for me anyway, is that I cannot use it on the labia…but then I cannot wax there either. For some reason I’m very sensitive there and bleed with both waxing and epilating there so I must shave that area.

Horror story: Warning…this is not for the squeamish so don’t read if you can’t handle it.

I’ve learned to block the labial area with my other hand as I get close to it when epilating up the crease at the upper inside of the thigh. I got too close to the labia once and since that area is soft and “loose” (sorry…best way to explain it) the rollers in the epil actually got caught in the soft skin…somewhat akin to a “zipper accident” in a guy but this time it was my labia caught in the epil!!! I had to turn it off and “unroll” the epil head to disentangle myself!!! THEN I exhaled and screamed!!!

OMG, girl. Thank god you’re okay! Ouch, ouch, OUCH.

I’m totally there with you, Jennifer! I constantly struggle with how much time/effort I should put into that particular grooming ritual.

I started bikini waxing when I was like sixteen and went to brazilians around the time I was 24. I have really sensitive skin so my girl always uses the more gentle wax on me ( I think pink instead of blue). If I ever try to shave I get horrible razorburns. I think having a good person is really key, I know I’ve referred tons of my friends toy girl and they all like her once they got past the first time shock.

I always hated taking care of that particular area myself. I like to be bald as an eagle (from rooter to tooter)and watching me maneuver around in the shower with one foot propped up on the wall and me bent over trying to find and destroy every hidden hair I could find with the razor was quite the funny site I’m sure, and a giant pain in my ass. Hair Removal creams never worked there for me so that left one other option. On my 30th birthday I treated myself to a massage at a local spa and they also did body waxing there. I decided since I was there, why not give it a go. The lady that did my first waxing was a big burly rough handed German lady, and she didn’t go easy on me.But still…it wasn’t so bad. Some parts were more painful then others but I got through it ok and I loved the results. I’ve been waxing ever since and I love it. I actually have a close friend that does “sugaring” (body waxing with this goop made out of sugar and lemon juice or something like that) and I’ve been having her “tame the beast’ for the last year. It hurts a lot less and I get to catch up with my buddy while she tends the nether regions. I use topical numbing cream now too, it helps take the edge off.

I work as a nurse in a dermatology clinic and we do laser hair removal here (I get laser treatment for hair removal in other places and I love that too) but I’ve never considered it for my lady bits…

I must admit, I was put off the whole waxing thing by this post
http://www.heartlessbitches.com/morrigan/nb_may_12_2009.shtml

I used to leave the whole area bald, but have been shaving for the last year. At first, it was awful with red blotches and the occassional moment of inattention leading to some rather unfortunate nicks. At least I learned to pay attention pretty quickly. ~grins~ More recently, though, I’ve found I get little to no shaving rash and it’s all fairly straightforward. I do agree with the antipersperant advice, though. That made a big difference at the start.

I used to get routine Brazilian bikini waxes until eventually, I developed folliculitis (apparently, it’s quite common when you wax the bikini area repeatedly). I asked my dermatologist what she recommended because the unsightly, disgusting bumps looked like some sort of STD and she suggested laser hair removal. I always thought about laser hair removal, but wrote it off because of the expense … then I actually did the math and realized that the laser hair removal would save me money in the long run. So, I went for it – full Brazilian & underarms. I consulted 3-4 different places in my area and, at the time, Reveal MedSpa had the best deal. I would suggest going somewhere where they have medical professionals on staff, as they can write you an Rx for numbing cream, which makes the laser procedure much more bearable. I’ve just finished my final of 6 treatments and have no regrets thus far.

I have friends who’ve had their Brazilian bikini areas treated with laser hair removal and really liked the results. But beware: not everyone is a good candidate for laser hair removal. It works best on people with lighter skin and darker hair. Some of the more reputable laser clinics will advise you of this, but others will take your money, even if they know you are not a good candidate. I am a redhead with fair skin and freckles, and all of my body hair is either strawberry blonde or blonde. I failed to do my research in advance, and believed the clinic technician when she said they could treat all hair and skin types…mainly because I wanted so badly just to be rid of my unwanted hair. Well, they took my money, and I endured well over a dozen treatments (with the machine turned on “high”), and have virtually NO results to show for it. My battle with the clinic is for another day/another website, but I just wanted to warn others: BUYER BEWARE. Do your research before you lay out your cash! Laser does NOT work for everybody.