I No Longer Shave My Armpits (TMI? Nah. Here’s Why.)

I received complimentary product for purposes of this review but that in no way affected my opinion. I love this product and am happy to promote it. The photos tell the story, wouldn’t you agree?

I received free product in exchange for a review but this is no way affects my honest opinion which is stated below. You wouldn’t expect anything less from me and I would never want to shake your trust in me. You, my reader, are the most important person in my EverBeautiful world.

I haven’t shaved under my arms in almost a month. As for my legs, it’s been two and a half weeks since I’ve run a razor over them. No, I’m not starting a new fad, changing my habits or covering up from head to toe. I simply don’t need to shave.

Hair removal is part of the American culture. According to the book, Plucked: A History of Hair Removal, more than 99% of American women voluntarily remove body hair. More than 85% do so on the daily, particularly on their legs, but underarms, bikini lines and areas of the face are also targets for hair removal. According to a 2008 survey, shaving is the least expensive way to remove hair and women who do so will spend, on average, more than $10,000 in the pursuit of a hairless body. Those who wax once or twice a month will spend more than $23,000 over the course of their lives. And let’s get this completely straight: hair removal is not relegated to the female sex. Plenty of men are manscaping these days and spending money getting waxed, tweezed, depilatoried and electrolysysed. (I made up a few words in that sentence but you’ll forgive me in my eagerness to make a point.)

And here’s another fun fact about hair removal: A survey by American Laser Centers indicates that women remove unwanted body hair for an average of 53.6 years or for 58.4 days during their lifetime. Don’t we have better ways to spend our time and money?

I think so but that’s only because I found elos me™. (Please note that there’s a line over the o in elos and over the e in me, but my computer refused to comply with the company’s branding.)

One more statistic before I tell you about my me. Laser Hair Removal is the most permanent form of hair removal there is. According to WebMD, most patients have permanent hair loss after an average of three to seven sessions. They state that an average session costs $235. This varies depending on the area being treated, the number of treatments required, the location in which you live and whether the treatment is being performed by a doctor.

Let’s do the math, shall we? I want to remove the hair on my legs. It will take 7 treatments for $235 each. Calculator, please. 245 x 7 = $1645 – and that doesn’t even include my bikini area! So yeah, no.

And then there’s me (with the line over the e, remember.)

elos me is a professional at-home laser hair removal product that couldn’t be easier to use. Plug it in, choose one of three settings (use the higher one for more stubborn hair such as that on the bikini area), apply it to your skin making sure the contacts are firm against the area being treated and, zap, a little light flashes indicating that it’s time to move the elos me a little bit until the entire area is covered.

I received a free elos me for review and I love it. I was so excited to use it, I started the day I got it. I began with my underarms. Now, the instruction booklet says to use the elos me once a week for 7 weeks. But after just one treatment, my underarm hair was gone! I couldn’t believe it. I used it once! Granted, I’m not the  most hirsute of people and have about 3 underarm hairs. But I still shave once a day, every day, in the shower. I shave everything. Soup to nuts, well, I’m a female so maybe not nuts, but you hear me. I love the feeling of smooth skin when I apply my daily moisturizer. I love the look of smooth legs and, while my aforementioned underarms are hair challenged, I shave them too. I’m going to make an admission here: I used elos me on my forearms, which sport a very fine layer of blonde hair, noticeable to no one but me. Zapped ‘em  one time and my arms are as smooth as silk. Lovely.

I’ve tried all sorts of hair removal on my legs and bikini area. I shave religiously now but have waxed, used depilatories and painful home hair removers that pull the hairs out by the roots (yowch!) And, full disclosure, I’m not hairy. For purposes of tactilty only, I need to shave my legs probably once a week. And my bikini area can go unshaved for months, were that my choice. I don’t sport a lot of hair there and, in my itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikini wearing days, I shaved only the top part because my bikinis were itsy bitsy to be sure. But, hey, I’ve got an elos me so went to town on my legs and bikini area. (A few words on removing your pubes later in this article.)  I’ve used elos me on my legs and bikini area three times thus far and I haven’t had to shave my legs for two weeks.

A few words about elos me:

The device is FDA cleared and CE registered.

Clinical studies have shown that there is less hair growth using elos me but, because hair reduction is a gradual process, results for how long it takes to see results will vary from person to person. (That’s why I mention my lack of hirsuteness.)

Periodic treatments are recommended to maintain these results. If and when hair does grow back, there will be less of it.

The elos me uses Electro-Optical-Synergy (elos, get it?), a patented technology that combines Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radio Frequency (RF) to remove hair by selectively targeting the hair follicle.

Elos technology was originally exclusively available to doctors but is now available for at home use through the me device.

Let me copy from the company’s website to explain how the elos me removes hair: “Every hair in our body goes through a complete growth cycle, from an active to resting phase. Light-based treatments work best on hairs in their active phase. You will need to treat the areas of unwanted hair multiple times in order to target hair in the active cycle. After a hair follicle is treated, it can take one to two weeks for the hair to fall out. During this time, it may look like hair is still growing, but really the hair is being “pushed out”. You may or may not see these hair stubs pushed out from the skin.”

The elos me can be used on all skin colors and is cleared by the FDA to be safe and effective for all skin tones.

I spoke with someone who says she is “obsessed” with her elos me. I can see why. The product is easy and painless to use (you may feel a slight “snap” on the area being treated and perhaps a slight warmth.)

Please note that elos me is not for use on the head, ears, nipples and intimate areas.

I love my elos me. I admit that it feels weird, after a lifetime of shaving, not to shave everyday and I find myself with extra time in the shower. (I use it to treat my hair with all sorts of products I had in my closet but had no time for in the shower.)

Elos makes several hair removal products. Mine is the elos me chic and it retails for $199.00.

There’s also the elos me smooth, a larger version that retails for $299.00.

Check out the elos me website.

And now, as promised, a word about pubic hair …

Women are taking it off, taking it all off but is that the best thing to do? I’d never dictate to you about your hair removal decisions. Why would I? But I want you to have the facts as we now know them.

A few weeks ago I was watching Vinyl, the HBO hit and one of my favorite shows, about the music industry in the 1970s. It stars the magnificent Olivia Wilde who, in one scene in which she appeared nude, sported full 70s bush. (She said on the talk show circuit, it was a merkin, or faux pubes.) We, or at least I, am so used to seeing a uh, neatly trimmed area, it was jarring and it reminded me of a conversation I had with a  gynecologst friend of mine a few years ago. She said we should definitely not shave it all off. Pubic hair serves several purposes. It protects from friction during sex. It holds and wafts pheromones to potential mates. The removal of it is thought to be connected to an increase in STDs and most genital injuries that send people to the ER are related to pubic hair removal. Plus, keeping it on, or some of it at any rate, reduces the incidence of ingrown hairs. Those hurt and can grow into nasty, infected things that need to be popped. Yuck. So before you remove it all, think about perhaps leaving a landing strip. Your choice, of course.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: 

This Device Might Replace My Husband

Illumask Anti Aging Red Light Therapy. Does It Work? 

What You Need to Know About Waxing