No one wants to deal with prickly legs and ingrown hairs. Here’s how you can get silky smooth legs, hassle-free!
Shaving
The latest women’s razors have up to five blades, making it easier to eliminate hair on your legs, underarms and bikini line with fewer nicks and bumps. To reduce irritation, always prepare skin with shaving cream (Avon has a great one). It is more hydrating and less drying and harsh than soap.
Depilatories
The new hair removal products are practically odour-free and work faster than ever. They also come in sprays, creams, gels and lotions which do the job in less than 10 minutes. Veet in Shower Hair Removal Cream is water-resistant, so you can use it in the shower while you are shampooing; it won’t rinse off until you wipe it with a facecloth. The new depilatories also come with ingredients like shea butter or cocoa butter to hydrate skin.
Waxing
You can get the same results at home as you can at the salon or spa with very little effort. The latest at-home waxing kits contain professional-quality wax to minimise post-waxing bumps. Try the revamped new Mandy’s range of wax kits for everything from facial to bikini hair.
Ingrowns are out!
Those unsightly bumps need not flair up after hair removal. Products with pore-unclogging glycolic or salicylic acid fix ingrown hair and razor bumps. We very much like Fino Soothe After Care Balm for Waxing & Shaving (R65). Visit www.fincosmetics.co.za. Skin Doctors Cosmeceuticals Ingrow Go Easy Wipes (R325 for 60 wipes) lets you say goodbye to ugly painful ingrown bumps and razor rash with one step. It works within 24 hours.
Intense Pulse Light (IPL) hair removal
This is by far the best sure-fire method of getting rid of unwanted hair permanently. A minimum of 5 sessions, every 21 days will leave your skin guaranteed 85% hair-free with maybe a touch-up twice yearly if necessary, says Nicolette Harmse from the Sandton Aesthetic Institute. It is relatively painless, permanent and the success rate is high. Especially good for the bikini line and if you have a few stray long dark hairs on your nipples, they can zapped into oblivion in seconds. Make very sure the therapist operating the machine is fully qualified, and that it is the right type of machine for your skin colour. Do your homework, find out what IPL machine the salon of your choice uses, Google it and make sure it is suitable for you, especially if you have dark skin. There are IPL machines with settings for ethnic and dark skin tones, others can cause scarring. Grey hair cannot be treated, as it contains no pigment. More info www.sandtonbeauty.co.za
Slow down hair growth
Creams containing ingredients which block the enzyme necessary for hair growth will keep you smoother longer between hair removal, no matter which method you use. New hairs grow out slower and softer. We love Depil ve Folisan treatment and the discreet and small Depillve Intimate Folisan roll-on gel for the bikini area.
I hate shaving my legs as I always get a rash. I use a gillette vensus razor/ I shave with Shaving Cream also but this does not help. I have tried Hair removal products and this also gives me a rash. Any tips on what to do.