A Word or Two About Hair Removal

Here's a thing that I thought I might not talk about but many of us (if not all) have hair in unwanted places and myself, being an I-talian girl, have had more than my share.

I have tweezed, shaved, bleached, gotten electrolysis, laser treatments, waxed and cried. I will tell you the few things that work and hopefully this will help some of you who have had this same struggle.

I will start with waxing. Most of us have heard about the Brazilian wax and perhaps you remember Samantha from Sex & The City talking about it so openly. What does Brazilian wax mean? Going completely bare and hairless? No, actually it means wax from Brazil. The amount of hair you want to remove is up to you. Brazilian women are notoriously hairy and their culture is also beauty-obsessed. These two things do not coincide so they have developed a formula for wax that is...get this...virtually painless! I heart my woman at Sonia's Waxing Plus and wouldn't trade her for anything. Check out www.waxingplus.com to see the three locations. If one is not near you, look for a salon that imports wax from Brazil. You will save a lot of time as this wax works more quickly than most and more importantly, you will save a TON of tears. If you don't shave in between appointments you will have less discomfort each time you go to the point that it you will barely feel it at all. Oh, if I had only known about this years ago!

Laser hair removal also works wonders. I had 3 treatments in 2003 and those areas remain completely smooth and hairless today. The trick is not to go to a laser center but to go to a dermatologist. Individual treatments may be more expensive than ones at a laser center but you will not need as many treatments so in the long run you save precious time as well as a ton of money. (Dermatologists have much more powerful lasers than the cosmetic spas because the high-powered lasers require that a physician operate them).

Shaving. Oy, Gillette. I hesitate to say this because the blades are just so expensive but Gillette's Mach III Turbo razors seem to work the best. The head pivots and you get a really close shave. Try picking up blades at your local wholesale club or here at Amazon to save a lot of dough.













Electrolysis is incredibly painful and it doesn't work. I repeat, it does not work. Go high tech. Laser is the only way to go for permanent hair removal. Plus, if you go to a dermatologist they can give you numbing cream before your treatment so you won't feel a thing!

Do-It-Yourself Hair Removal
I have mentioned this before but I will say it again, the best tweezer on the market comes from Switzerland and is called Rubis Slant Tweezer. Mine is now 10 years old, still going strong and I have never had to sharpen it. Very well-worth the money. It gets teeny little stubble like no other tweezer can.















For areas like upper lip and eyebrows, hands, feet, places you can see and reach easily, this at-home wax works wonders. It doesn't hurt and melts quickly in the microwave. Keep this on hand for in between professional appointments or do it yourself all the time. It's easy and pretty fool-proof. The best thing is, you can melt it over and over again and save a lot of money. For the cost of one waxing you can do your upper lip for months with the 4 oz. size.














Still not ready to remove your hair? Why not lighten it a bit? This bleaching "creme" has been around forever and works great. Women, use this on your face once a month or so. The bleach actually cleans your skin so it helps with blemishes and leaves you with a nice glow. Marilyn Monroe used to bleach the hair on her face to give herself an ethereal look. It helps to lighten the skin also and decreases the look of dark spots. Be careful, though. Follow the directions carefully and if you feel any more than a tingle, wipe it off and start over because it means you didn't mix the formula properly.