Beauty routines should be as restorative and fun as they are necessary — after all, there's a deep satisfaction in selecting a lipstick to pull together your look or patting in your beloved serums at the end of a long day. Even the not-so-glamorous process of using a nose strip to clear out your pores can be oddly satisfying, if just slightly off-putting.
There is one beauty routine, however, that feels more like a chore than self-care. We're talking about the least sexy element of your regimen: hair removal. Not only is it a never-ending task spanning from brow to ankle, it's also painful. Seriously, pouring hot wax over your most sensitive body parts before ripping out every hair by the root sounds like torture, not grooming. It's almost enough to make a gal toss the tweezers and waxing strips out the window — almost.
As much as we curse our razor bumps or dread the moment we yank the waxing strip off, we put up with it all in the pursuit of the feeling of confidence that comes with smooth, flawless and hair-free skin. But what if we told you that hair-free doesn't have to be synonymous with suffering? There's a new crop of hair removal products on our radar, and the most pain you'll associate with them is reading your credit card statement once you decide you need them all.
Nair is basically interchangeable with the term hair removal, and this product is the lazy girl's solution to a hairy situation. Slather it on the offending follicles (there's a formula for face, too), wait a few minutes for it to work its magic, and then wipe it away with a wet cloth to reveal hairless, smooth skin that you hardly toiled over at all.
With 100 percent natural grape seed oil to moisturize your skin, and antioxidant-rich resveratrol to protect it, this hair removal cream is a total body workhorse.
Finally, a reason to stop pilfering the men's electric shaver from the guy you share bathroom counter space with. This budget-friendly clipper and shaver is especially good for sensitive skin because the foils are made from hypoallergenic material, and it can be used in wet or dry conditions.
For a close shave, use a shaving cream and run the foils over your skin slowly; otherwise, it's ideal for trimming your bikini line if you're trying to stretch the time between waxes.
Consider this device the Cadillac of at-home hair removal. The price is steep, yes, but the results are worth a pretty penny. In clinical testing, participants had, on average, 66 percent less hair 12 months after using the device just three times (and some saw up to a 94 percent reduction). That beats the six sessions of painful laser hair removal with a stranger who doesn't even begin to promise permanent results.
Oh, and did we mention this is a pain-free treatment? The IPL device kind of feels like a cell phone vibrating against your skin. It has five settings that vary in intensity, so you can start off low if your skin is particularly sensitive. It's safe for light to tan skin and works on every hair color except for white or gray.
Quick and painless is how we would describe the process of using this petite little machine. This small but powerful hair removal device thins out hair in just a few weeks' usage, and can permanently reduce hair over several months. It uses pulsed light technology to zap away hairs in sensitive areas like your bikini line, underarms, legs, face... and, well, just about anywhere. Pain-wise, the flash feels like a gentle warming sensation. There's no danger of burning yourself if you've got somewhat darker skin, because the sensor in the product won't flash if it the pigment is too dark. That said, it only works for skin tones I through IV on the Fitzpatrick scale, and only on brown or black hair.
