Silky Legs

Are your inner thighs touching each other? If Yes then maybe some bikershorts will help.

No, it's not that, it's only after shaving x

Steph x

Hey Steph

That was a problem for me too until three tips solved the problem. Two of these are things I've picked up since joining Crossdresser Heaven less than three weeks ago; the girls on here really are a fabulous resource!

Tip 1: always use exfoliating soap before shaving. I've bought Revitale Salicylic Acid Scrub Soap, which has been fantastic. I now turn the shower to wet my legs, then give them a good scrub with exfoliating soap and one of the exfoliating pads/flannels that are readily available online. Concentrate on 'problem' areas. Then I shower the soap off before climbing into a warm bath to shave my legs (yes, it sounds laborious but it's effective).

Tip 2: use gel to shave your legs in the bath, AND A GOOD QUALITY RAZOR designed for shaving legs. Don't just use any old disposable razor because they are a nightmare for shaving rashes and minor nicks and cuts. Following advice I received in the chatroom I now use a Gillette Venus 'Embrace' which has been an absolute game changer.

Tip 3: when you're drying off, and before applying any moisturiser or body butter, put some after shave balm on any areas showing signs of shaving rash. I use Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm* (*other brands are available).

I've found that after incorporating all of these in my routine, shaving rashes are a thing of the past. Hopefully you'll find the same!

Hugs

Ellie x

Amazing, thank you so much Ellie x I will be trying this

Steph x

I’ve been using an IPL for a while now and it works very well on dark hair. Not so much on blond or gray.

Hi Roberta

I'm thinking of investing in an IPL device - any thoughts or feedback? There are a million models out there. An online survey recommended Deluxe Skin, but there are lots of options for a third of the price and I'm wondering if they all work just as well?

Ellie x

If you can afford it, laser.  Far less expensive is a home IPL device.  It'll take longer and may not work as well as laser.  But the good ones do work for most people with dark hair and light skin.

/EA

I never heard of Deluxe Skin.

I bought a Philips Lumea Prestige IPL when the pandemic forced my laser clinic to close.  I'd gotten 4 laser sessions at that point and was about 50% hair free.  I did the program recommended by Philips, which took several months.  When I finished I was 90-95 hair free.  Those results have lasted well over 3 years.  If I was starting from scratch, I think I'd have to do 2 full programs to get the same result.  6-8 months total.  That's reasonable for my formerly hairy self.

The Philips unit is one of the most expensive IPL's you can buy.  Last I checked it was around $500.  The high cost gets you a fast and powerful unit with multiple power settings, multiple attachments for different parts of your body, a bunch of safety tech, a good warranty, and the Philips name.  Considering an IPL can cause significant injuries, I think it was worth the extra cost for the safety tech and Philips name.  It was still less than the cost of 1 laser session, and I got a really good IPL that I'm totally happy with.

I've also heard good things about Braun's IPL.  It's a little cheaper.  One caution, I'd avoid any unit that's cordless only.  They don't have much power, pulse recharge times are longer, and the rechargeable battery depletes too fast.  My Philips unit can work corded or cordless.  But I always used it plugged in.

/EA

I think Emily laid this out pretty well.

I would emphasize looking hard at the Pulse recharge rate. While a few seconds may not seem like much, but a slow unit can really add to the time it takes to treat an area. The lens is smaller than you might think. So many many pulses are needed to treat an area. Unless you have hours of idle time to spend. This isn't what I would call fun by any means. It just takes time, so buy a good fast unit if you can. Pay attention to the lense size and shape. For me a rectangle shape seamed easier to map out contiguous patches on my parts as opposed to round or oval shape lens's.  Remember you have to be consistent with following a treatment regimen. For me I didn't have the time to do a whole body 3 times a week. So I just started with certain parts, like arms, then chests, front of legs than the back side of legs. A small lense and a lot of real estate to cover. Ultimately its cheap and effective to use for something that you can do at home.

Should be getting everything you suggested tomorrow Ellie, I'll let you know how I get on with it x

Steph x

I'm nervous now.

I hope it works...

Ellie x

Hehe I won't hold it against you x I'm way off being able to afford lasering so your advice is appreciated and will be tested 😅

Steph x

I recently started epilating with the Braun Silk-épil 9 and ended up with my arms completely covered in red bumps! I realized soon after that I did not exfoliate well enough, so I ended up buying some exfoliating mitts. Now I'm about 3 weeks in using the epilator, I've only had to use it about once a week, and the pain level has dropped considerably from the first time using it. I've found this to be my favorite alternative to shaving so far, and now that I exfoliate properly before using it (and after) my skin has been so incredibly smooth all the time, no more red bumps! I take minoxidil orally in hopes of stopping hereditary hair loss lol but it's caused the rest of my body hair to grow way too fast so shaving became an absolute labor and I was doing it just about every other day. I've also tried an IPL but because I have light skin and blonde hair I didn't find it to be very effective... It worked on my armpit area pretty well and the hair growth there seems to have nearly stopped, but even places where I have darker hair it didn't even slow the growth down after 8 weeks, and I got a couple burns from that thing which isn't fun lol.