Pain and epilation go hand in hand. The main question people have when it comes to epilators is “do epilators hurt?” But it doesn’t necessarily have to. The reason why you have pain when you use an epilator is because of the actual pulling of the hairs. Just something you must deal with. But I have some solutions for you whether epilation is either your favorite, most comfortable or most convenient hair removal method.
Do epilators hurt? Are epilators painful?
Uhm. Yes.
For some reason, I find that there are a lot of people that think epilators remove the hair the same way a razor or shaver would. WHAT? Epilators don’t shave off the hair. Shaving off hair involves removing the top layer of the hair on top of the skin. So that’s not painful. Epilators PULL hair from the root. That’s pain. At the root, there are plenty of nerve endings that would give off a signal of pain. So yeah, it hurts.
How to numb skin before epilation?
You can easily buy any over the counter numbing creams. Most of these creams will contain the main ingredient of lidocaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, or prilocaine. These ingredients will work by blocking any pain feeling on your skin.
Some numbing creams are stronger than others because some work immediately or won’t work for a while. Some are very strong when it feels like your body part is falling off because you can’t feel anything. Other times you’ll still feel pain.
I’ve had the pleasure of trying some. Especially for epilating. So here they are.
QUICK NOTE: these numbing creams I’m about to mention are ones you can either buy over the counter or online from a vendor.
Numb 520
It has about 5% of lidocaine as its active aesthetic ingredient. It took up to 20 minutes till it started to work. This will help to remove any discomforting sensation. I felt it didn’t eliminate the pain from my epilator completely, but it made it more manageable. I wasn’t scared to use an epilator after having this.
Numb 100
It penetrates deep into the skin which allowed it to work a lot faster than other creams. It worked a bit faster than Numb 520. It lasted up to an hour (I actually timed it). It worked well for epilating. Better than Numb 520.
UberNumb
This like the other three creams I’ve mentioned has about 5% lidocaine. It works faster and longer since it penetrates deep into the skin also. I found it began to work within 30 minutes. About the same amount of time with Numb 520 and less than Numb 100. But the thing with this cream is that it lasted for up to 2 hours. Pretty good cream. Not only did it do its job of numbing the area, but also help to soothe any swelling since it also has an added ingredient of Vitamin E.
QUICK NOTE: you can use these numbing creams for waxing also. But leave it on for about an hour before the waxing.
Applying the numbing cream the wrong way?
- Listen I don’t like looking at directions, but for those of you who like too, then pay no mind to this part. I’m going to go over the proper way to apply the numbing cream. Why? Because people don’t apply it properly. I can’t begin to tell you the number of people that have messaged me about the pain for the waxing or epilating, I mention getting a numbing cream, they get it, say it doesn’t work. Then I go over the steps and guess WHAT, they missed a step
- You can clean the skin first if you like. I always do. But not use any moisturizers before applying the cream. When you clean your skin, use some soap and some water. That is all
- Squeeze a thin amount on your finger. Put it on your skin, rub that thing in. Rub it in the direction against the grain of your hair growth. Wait a few minutes, rub some more on the exact area. I do this at least 3-5 times. Then you are going to start to feel quite numb
- Now take a good amount of the cream and spread it over the area. It’s should feel like lotion on your skin
- Cover that bad boy up. I cover it properly because I found out that it does oxidize when there is air and I should be covering them up to make sure that they are effective. At first, I was using a dental denim wrap on it. Then I was recommended by a friend who swears by epilating to use Tegaderm wraps and to secure the wrap with a micropore tape. She also said if I started epilating the bikini area, I can use the wrap, but instead of tape, I would use pantyhose or spandex shorts to secure everything
- Patience is a virtue. Wait for the cream to really take effect. I like to wait up to 30 minutes, depending on the brand of cream you are using, you can expect to wait up to an hour
- Wipe the cream off. Start removing your hair.
Epilator pain vs Waxing pain, Which hurts more?
I would say they both are the same level of pain depending on the amount of hair that is on the skin. With wax, you can remove a larger amount of hair at one time. With an epilator is goes across your skin slowly pulling your hairs. But I would say I’ve felt a lot less pain with the epilator. It’s like I have the device in my hand and control the momentum.
But epilators are slow, regardless of me controlling the momentum. But the only difference I’ve really noticed with the pain factor. Is when you wax the pain lasts for a few seconds. The epilator lasts a lot longer because it might not catch all the hairs, then you have to go it again.
So, it’s up to you. But waxing is the way to go for me if I’m comparing it to an epilator.
Does epilating hurt less the second time?
Yes and no. I mean I believe there is this myth that it won’t hurt the second time. But I think its false and nothing but a myth. Some people will say that the hair will grow back a lot finer, your skin will get used to it by the second time of using the epilator, and you have less amount of hair to remove also. But when I try it the first, second, third, fourth time, it always hurt.
How do you use an epilator properly?
Another way to relieve the pain is knowing how to epilate the right way.
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- I like to exfoliate the skin before epilating. I do this because it loosens the hairs (I guess) and makes it easier to remove the hairs. You can buy an exfoliating glove or an exfoliating scrub and get to work. You should make sure to exfoliate the day before you start to epilate. When you’re exfoliating make sure to rub in a circular motion
- I like to shave from anywhere within 1 – 3 days before I epilate. Epilating shorter goes a lot smoother. And wouldn’t be much of a problem like long hairs.
- Choose between wet and dry epilator. I choose wet because I like to do it in the shower. It’s easier because there is hot water right there. If the pain gets to be a little too much, I run some hot or cold water on it immediately. I think it helps with the pain somewhat
- Choose a low setting. You got to test in order to figure out what you are comfortable with. So, choose the lowest setting
- Take one hand and pull your skin back. You can hold the epilator at a 90-degree angle on the skin. Just put it there. Now glide the epilator toward the direction opposite your hair growth.
- Don’t press down on your skin, use the weight of the epilator and let it do the work
- You can also move in a circular motion to remove hairs that are in different directions
- Don’t go fast. It is not a race. When you go fast, it’s almost like you create a shaving motion. The hair is ripped at the surface of your skin and not at the root. Then you’ll find yourself going back over your skin multiple times to remove leftover hairs
- Go slow and in small sections
- Put on some moisturizer to help with healing the skin.
Further Reading:
So if you still brave enough to handle an epilator, then you can check out these other articles on what to do if it breaks down and more info on what they are and how they work.
Conclusion:
No matter how you approach it, epilators are painful. That sequence of pulling the hair from the root of the skin is going to be painful regardless. So, if youre trying to escape the pain. I have something to tell you. You can’t. Or maybe there are ways around it. My preferred way around it is use numbing cream. It always helps because I hate all the pain I get from epilating. I hope you’ve found this article useful.