Is Waxing or Epilating Better?

Last week's blog brought up some interesting questions. What method is better for hair removal? Would it be waxing or epilation?
For decades waxing was the only way of hair gets rid of any part of the body in a way that lasted. Waxing y yanked the hair out from the root and appeared to weaken it so that the hair grew back thinner. The more you waxed the softer the hair would look but it took weeks to get this going.
So is waxing or epilating better for removing hair? Waxing for hair removal has been around since the times of ancient Rome when melted beeswax was used to remove stubborn growths. Epilators are newer but do they actually do a better job.
It seems that epilators work best on flatter, smoother areas of skin such as the tummy or the shins. They do not work as well in curved areas of the body such as the armpit. This does not mean that you cannot remove the hair at all; it just means you might be going over the same spot again and again with the epilator to finally remove it.
Using an epilator is a lot less painful than using wax. First of all wax is hot and can burn the skin. If the wax strip is not ripped off quickly there can be a lot of pain associated with trying to remove hair through waxing.
However sometimes epilators, even though less painful to use than wax strips, can leave a person feeling itchy with red skin that seems rubbed raw or scraped. If you have very sensitive skin it is best not to use an electric epilator but instead opt for a different form of hair removal such as shaving.
Waxing often just breaks the hair because the hands pulling away the hair it can be difficult don't yank all of the hair out by the root. The machine is more able to pulls hair out whether you like it or not and without hesitation. There is no quivering fearful human factor involved!
One of the advantages of using an epilator is that it is not as messy as waxing. All it involves is using a machine. Waxing on the other hand can be quite sloppy and involves using cups, microwaves, strip, spatulas and other accessories. This also makes waxing a less portable method of hair removal. On the other hand you can take a litter epilator anywhere and you don't have to spend money on waxes, cloth strips or put jars in the microwave

Helping Your Hirstute Teenager

I have a daughter with a bit too much facial hair. It is hereditary on my husband's side of the family.
All I really remembered from mown experiences with this is that there was electoloysis around to help treat this problem. I remember too that it was expensive, painful and the hair could easily grow back if the procedure as not done right.
Then I discovered laser epilation. It is pain free and it gives my poor embarrassed daughter some relief from the embarrassing hair growth.
Laser epilation is performed by IPL epilators. IPL is short for 'Intense Pulsed Light.' This fast method of hair removal came into existence in the 1970s. However the actual technology for laser epilators has been around since the 1950s.
The odd thing about laser epilators is that they technically cannot even be properly defined as 'real laser.' Instead they are what are known as xenon flash lamps.
This type of laser hair removal is accomplished through photo thermolysis which selectively only heats up objects that are darker, specifically darker hairs against whiter skin. This is why dark hair on dark skin or blondish hair on darker skin does not always successfully get removed.
Coarse dark hair on light skin is easiest to fix using a laser. Finer hair and hair on darker skin is more difficult to remove and may require more sessions with the laser. The face sometimes needs several different treatments as the hair is more difficult to remove .It did take two tries before it was successful on my daughter.
Most adults need between three and eight treatments before the hair will be permanently removed which can make the treatment more expensive over time. Usually the first treatment gets rid of the majority of the hairs and subsequent treatments are 'touch ups' that perfect the job. The treatments are also usually spaced two to three weeks apart to avoid damaging the skin in any way.
Lasers with a large spotlight are used to remove as much hair as possible in one are and in just one treatment. The point is to have the radiation of the laser emit enough power to do damage to the hair follicles but not to the skin.
Compared to electrolysis, which is a slow process where individual hairs are plucked out one by one with an electrical tweezer laser hair removal is said to be sixty times faster and the results are also said to be more permanent. I highly recommend this no muss or fuss way to get rid of hair.