stupid veet "bikiniline" wax, I didn't even dare go there. It's supposed to easy, that's what all the ads say! Now what do I do? I need to be bikiniready by Sunday.

how do I get the rashes to calm down it hurrrttttssss

Aloe vera & cold compresses.

As for bikiniready by Sunday, I'd be shaving Saturday night were I in your shoes. There's no way in hell I can wax myself; you have my utmost respect for even trying.

I have never had reciprocal waxing offers from my girlfriends, but since my mother is an aesthetician and I am therefore picky about waxing techniques, I shell out the dough for a pro.

Believe me I wanted to, paycheck didn't come in on time and I got desperate. Never even done bikini before, I don't think I dare - just wanted to forget about underarms and legs for a week, ow ow ow. My hair doesn't grow fast on my head but anywhere else I shave in the morning I'm stubbly by noon. AAARGH.

Yeah I don't think girls have waxing parties. ;9

I've waxed myself numerous times, with varying results. It takes forever and is uncomfortable, but every time I wanted to get waxed, I'd forget all that and thought only about saving money. Then three hours later, I'd be wondering why I didn't just shell out the cash.

Now I just shave.

agreed! professionals every time. Went down the home waxing route once and did great in front (high pain threshold) but couldn't quite reach some areas....sign. It took forever, which was the main problem and no matter how careful you get wax everwhere and things start sticking together that were never meant to approximate each other etc.,etc.,

for a quickie, shaving will do honestly..

I tried to wax my legs at home once...

I can't even imagine trying to do it with armpits. Of course, I've pretty much given up shaving my legs more than once a month or so, so for me the difference between waxing and shaving is neglegible.

I had a co-worker who'd taken some courses in waxing, which made her a "certified waxing technician" (she also had a B.A. and would giggle every time she said the words). She waxed her sisters, and most of her own parts, but always had her underarms done professionally because it was too difficult to do herself.

I go with razoring myself. I'm not very hairy, so shaving does a pretty good job.

My friend once tried to teach me to wax my legs. She did the first two strips and I did.... half of one.
It was too much for me.
I ended up with half a waxed leg and I shaved the rest.
There are some things you should just pay a professional for!

Yeah I don't think girls have waxing parties.
I've been told that one part of a North African wedding tradition is for the ladies to head to the hammam a few days before the wedding. The bride is then sugar-waxed to within an inch of her life, meaning everything but the hair on her head, eyebrows & eyelashes. Everything.

The person who told me about this tradition also told me about a friend of hers, who was so sore post-wax that the nuptials weren't consummated until 3 days after the wedding.

I involuntarily crossed my legs and shuddered the first time I heard that story.

Just as a data point, dabitch: I would be your friend, but I would never wax you (nor expect you to wax me). So, there's that.

I got my ladybits waxed professionally once and lord, once was enough for me. "I want the hitler mustache, and nothing else
" I told her bravely, looking her right in the eye. And I tipped her well, because there's no way a friend is ever going to feel comfortable waxing around your anus, and I'm half amazed that aestheticians are.

I limped out of the salon bright pink and sore to the pizza place down the street, where I purchased a beer and sat there until I was drunk enough to walk again. "Never again," I whispered to myself.

I am one of those people who have a pet product who I recommend to everyone whenever the subject comes up. So, if you've already learned to tune out whenever someone brings up Feliway or SmartWool socks or any other product that Meta-people get rabid about, go ahead and tune out. But if you never want to deal with painful hair removal in the most sensitive of spots, read on.

The Seiko Cleancut (that link is SFW but the URL might look a little iffy to IT people) is worth the $50. It's the price of one waxing, and it's lasted me years. I'm smooth as a smooth criminal every day, not just right after my appointment. It's really difficult to hurt yourself with it; I think you'd have to plant it directing in your labia minora and even though you'd be a total moron to do so, you probably wouldn't do any major damage.

It can't handle long hair, so you shave once with a razor. And the next day, instead of scraping over the still-raw skin and giving yourself mad razor burn, you break out your Seiko and take care of the stubble. It takes maybe one minute as part of the normal morning routine. No razor burn, no shaving cream, no humiliation or pain.

I thought I was kind of doomed to spend the rest of my life with either stubble or razor burn, so I'm kind of in love with my Seiko. I've had it for 5-6 years (whoa) and any problem I'd had with it running down is immediately solved by cleaning it out or replacing the battery.

The only con is that you'll inevitably miss a hair or two and once it gets long enough that the Seiko can't cut it, you'll need to pluck/shave/whatever it. I just do a touch-up with a razor maybe once a month for the stray hair in a hidden place I keep missing. It works best after a shower, when your skin has dried but the hair is still soft from exposure to water.

The site I linked has the cheapest price and excellent customer service; I was actually shocked at how quickly it came. Also, they totally aren't paying me, though it might seem that way.

Also, it's really popular with porn stars.

Wax yourself? Oh nononono. I once witnessed a flatmate take 5 hours to do one calf. I've always gone to a pro.

Ooo thanks for the tip Juliet Banana.

I've never waxed. Just the thought makes me want to pass out.

I gave up shaving my legs several years ago. The hair is so light and fine that if you're close enough to notice you're probably married to me. I'd also give up shaving my pits but the thought of that freaks out the mister. Plus it's less stinky that way.

As for the rest - pffft!

I once helped a friend remove a temporary tattoo from the small of her back, but that's about as far as I'll go without tequila involved.

No waxing here. Bleached upper lip and an electric razor for the armpits/legs, when I'm feeling jaunty. The rest is as nature made it.

I can also chime to say that I have never held, nor been invited, to a ladies' waxing party. Although my sister did volunteer to wax my eyebrows, once.

I had laser removal on my underarms, they are probably my most attractive spot that no one will ever see :-)

Yes. We have waxing parties, then we dust each other with baby powder and sparkles before lounging on silk pillows giving each other Cosmo quizzes and naming our boobs.

Then the negligee pillowfights begin.

(I firmly believe I have had at least one boyfriend who thought this is how my bookish, geeky, sensibly-shod female friends and I behaved on our own.)

aaah the pain. Well I have earned now that to a pro I go next time, it's a must. I decided against trying to cut split ends off mylong hair and went to the hairdresser up the street, whose cuts I never liked but she's cheap, and surprise - she was in a chatty mood and threw in highlights for free just so that she could vent a little about stuff to a sympathetic ear, while serving me vanilla lattes. Which was really nice, so now I'll have to keep going there. ;) I asked for "extra tacky" highligts so I have big broad streaks like Ginger Spice in my red now and might regret this tomorrow but I do like doing crazy hairstuff every so often.

Then I returned home and tackled the other armpit and other leg. Better success rate, and baby oil really really helps the rash, but I'm clearly getting it because I don't get all the hair in one swipe like the pro's do. Must find a pro.

Thanks for the tip on that Seiko Cleancut Juliet Banana , I've never seen such a thing before and it looks like an ideal tool for me - hates razorburns and doesn't deal well with waxing. I'll see if I can't find one of those around here.

pinky.p - lazer removal works? I've wanted to do that since forever because I'm no good with hair removing at all, really, and that sounds ideal. I just heard that it doesn't work + is expensive. Technology caught up aye?

Now I'm going to snuggle up in bed with my aloe vera cold compress widgets for my underarms and hope that it's all better tomorrow. ;)

Many years ago, I got a panicked call from my sister. It was a few days before her wedding, and she'd decided to wax her bikini line. Well, she'd never ever waxed anything before, so she put the wax on everywhere she wanted to get rid of hair, and then started. She got as far as getting ready to rip the wax off, and then she stopped. She just couldn't do it. So I went over to her house to survey the damage. Poor gal. The wax had turned rock hard and she had to chip away at it to get it removed. She ended up with dark bruises along each side.

I first waxed my own armpits a few years later. My roommate at the time (a fun young woman from Barcelona) coached me. Put the wax on, let it cool down and then she ripped it off for me, encouraging me to scream LOUDLY as it happened. "¡CHILLA, STEW, CHILLA!" I waxed my own pits for years until I got well and truly sick of the wax getting everywhere. I never was able to use the cold wax; it just isn't strong enough. One time I dropped the entire hot wax container. Hoo boy was that a mess.

Shortly after I learned how to wax my own armpits, my friend asked me to wax her bikini line. I'm telling you, that is TRUST. I was very clinical about it, but she couldn't stop giggling. It was like I was in a zone where I wasn't even thinking that it might be weird for her. So I went to put the wax on, and kind of pulled her skin taut. She JUMPED a mile high. Heh.

So yeah, some girls DO wax each other!

I have graduated from waxing now to torture devices. It hurts more because you don't do it all in one swell foop, but at least I'm not sticking to the floor. Armpits, all the time. Legs in the summer. Winter legs are shaven, but as rarely as I feel like I can get away with.

dabitch, get yourself some benzocaine!

She got as far as getting ready to rip the wax off, and then she stopped. She just couldn't do it.

This deer-in-the-headlights reaction is what discouraged me from learning to wax my legs, oh so many years ago.

I remember thinking "Ffffft, how much could it hurt?"

I watched a friend wax her own legs; she was so fast and efficient, and she would wax two strips of skin, apply the fabric strip, rip one off clean, rip the other off clean, then start over.

Thus encouraged, I set myself up with wax and fabric and started to dehair my legs. I waxed a stretch of calf, waxed another, applied the strips, and ripped off the first one.

And HOWLED in pain.

I couldn't bring myself to rip off the second strip. I tried, I kept grabbing it, but my hand just wouldn't do it.

I finally had to get someone else (Mom? A sister? I've blocked it out), and threw away the rest of the waxing kit, knowing I would never ever never never never never never niver nahver never ever ever try it again. Perhaps I have a waxing-specific low pain threshold.

When I waxed my legs, it was more of a gradual thing. Sure, the first strip hurt, but not any more than plucking my eyebrows. I thought I could totally do it...

...except that every strip after seemed to hurt slightly more, until I was at the point that Elsa describes - I had done the front half of both legs, and I couldn't work up the courage to pull the next one off.

I've never been professionally waxed, but I think the mental part would be much easier - it would be over much quicker, at least.

I used to wax my arms, but never my legs. Not a pain thing, though... I just CANT STAND how long you have to let hair grow in before you can wax again. I shave my legs every other day, sometimes daily in the summer, so I have low tolerance for stubble.
I've always been tempted by the idea of a pro waxing but, for what it costs, I can't see bothering. I get along well enough with a razor. (I've found I LOVE the Soliel disposables, much better than my venus refillable razor, and they're a lot cheaper).

I find cocoa butter lotion right after the bath keeps razor burn to a minimum. However, I'm also a bath person, so the hair gets a bit of a soak before I start shaving, more than I think you really could manage in a shower. So that may be it, too.

Oh, and I've always done the upper lip waxing, and for the first time did my own brows successfully. I'm lucky in that my basic brow is OK, I just need a bit of grooming to keep them in check, so it's not drastic.

oh! and something else I just remembered. You NEVER get enough strips for all the wax in those grocery/drugstore kits. If you run out you can use cotton cloth. I just use whatever 100% cotton scraps I have around the house, but if you do home wax it may be worth the couple of dollars to go get a yard of any random cotton you can find just to cut your own strips. I've even used printed stuff without a problem, so it doesn't need to be white. (so you can get a remnant or something off the clearance rack.)

I shave pits and legs when the occasion calls for it, otherwise I leave everything alone....as far as I'm concerned hairy pits aren't as sticky/clammy as shaved when it's humid.

The only thing I've ever waxed are my eyebrows, and I go to a pro for that. I shave everything else.

I have waxed a friend, though. A male friend, a very hairy one, and gay, who aspired to the smooth-as-porcelain GQ look. He really, really wanted to try waxing his back, so we bought a kit and I went to work. We got about 3 strips done before he bailed. I don't blame him a bit, either. Ridiculous! Of course my technique probably sucked - but still. I'm fine with the razor.