All right, here’s my question. Do any of those hair removal products they’re constantly pushing in infomercials actually work? Has anyone found anything better (cheaper, faster, longer-lasting, less stinky) that does? If I could eradicate my body hair for the duration of my life, I would be a happy Elusive. Just don’t want to spend a million dollars making a guinea pig of myself.
Three words: Laser Hair Removal.
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Not particularly painful. They use a numbing agent prior to treatment anyway and you don’t feel much of anything.
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Doesn’t have a lengthy “recovery period.” A little redness afterward, but can be immediately covered up with makeup if necessary and only lasts an hour or so. (ymmv…some people have more sensitive skin, but I had no reaction whatsoever to this treatment.)
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FAIRLY inexpensive. Treatments around here (Boston area) are about $275/hr. Eyebrows can be done in about 10 minutes. Large areas can be done fairly quickly. You do the math. Two treatments might be necessary. In any case, it’s permanent and as far as I’m concerned, worth every penny.
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Unfortunately, it works best on darker hair and may not be so successful for blondes.
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Permanent, I like the sound of that. Do you have any business names? I’m in the Boston area too.
Can I ask what the track record is (ie how long ago you had it)?
A friend of mine tried electrolysis on her legs-- after a dozen hour-long treatments on her legs there was still significant hair growth.
Laser hair removal is a great thing, but it is not perfect nor is it for everyone.
First- It usually takes at least 3 sessions for complete removal. This is because the laser only kills the follicles in the active growth stage. Expect 3 sessions about 8 weeks apart.
Second- This does not prevent new hair from growing. If you have an underlying medical problem causing new hair growth you will eventually return to your old hairy self. If you do have a condition causing unatural hair growth I would suggest getting it under control before begining laser treatments.
Third- Hair and skin color make a difference in effectiveness of the treatment. Fair skin and dark hair are the best combination. The further you get from this the less effective the treatment is. Basically the laser superheats the hair killing the folicles. Darker shades absorb more heat. For lighter skin a higher power setting can be used without burning the patient. For darker hair the pulse can be much shorter. So for someone with the right complexion/hair color combo they can send a lot more energy into the folicle allowing fewer folicles to survive. As a note some newer treatment machines can treat much darker skins and lighter hairs than earlier models so YMMV.
For more info I would recomend http://www.consumerbeware.com . The site is entirely devoted to various hair removal methods. They have a discussion board devoted entirely to laser hair treatment.
In regards to the OP…
The “enleve” or however you spell it and other “hair inhibitor gels” etc. are nothing more than glorified, overpriced depilatory cremes/gels… they smell just as bad as a bottle of Nair and a couple of the brands are chock full of irritating things for your skin…like…citrus oil, which amoung other things, can create photosensitivity.
Nads…well, it yanks the hair out from the root, just like any other product in the competition. It may do it better than the others, it may not, but that’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself, if you feel you want to yank hair out of your body, then I guess it’s worth it not to have to deal with hot wax and the possibility of a burn (I do believe you have to heat Nads, however). 
At any rate, the infomercials are basically bogus. Just in case the laser stuff doesn’t work out for you, IMO, you’re better off just using the standard drug store products.
Too bad Paula Begoun didn’t do a section on hair removal vs. haircare products. 
Meg
Here’s another online resource that goes into great detail about Hair Removal from the consumer’s perspective.
Around last year this was the best online resource covering the various different ‘laser’ methods. [sub]I was researching for my wife[/sub].
I know two men that had laser surgery done and they said it REALLY HURTS.
Especially on the face.
They said you could minimize it by slowering the rate of laser and topical anesthetics. One of them told me the doctor would not do it unless they could pay for at least THREE sessions as one isn’t enuff.
Also make sure you get a doctor as some states allow nurse practicioners etc to do it and you can develope complications.
They are never the less very happy with the results.
Nads doesn’t have to be heated, in fact hot water dissolves it. It is nothing more than sugaring.
It does work well but you hair MUST be long. It is useless on fine and short hair. And since not all your hair grows at the same rate you will never get ALL of it off like with wax. But since it doesn’t stick to the skin like wax it is less painful.
I think that even 3 laser treatments may not be enough, although with a good operator it would certainly help a lot, you will probably have to have occasional touch ups.
I am a licensed electrologist, I gave up my business a few years ago when it became clear that laser and pulsed light would work faster and more cheaply, and eventually put me out of business anyway. As Barbarian said, electrolysis on legs, arms, or torso can be extremely impractical. A full leg of an average caucasian (straight blonde to brown hair) would take at least a year of weekly treatments and cost several thousand dollars. A person with thicker, darker, and/or curlier hair could expect to spend half again as much time and money.
I have had epilight done on my face in the same areas where I had electrolysis done years before, and can tell you that comparatively, the laser/light treatments hurt more, but it is over much more quickly. It takes about 15 minutes of epilight to do what I could do with an electrolysis needle in 6 hours over the course of 6 weeks.
When I go in to have work done I do not use a topical anesthetic. They cover the skin to be treated with a refrigerated gel, it’s pretty much KY in the economy size. The layer is usually about a half an inch thick, very slimy and cold, but it insulates your skin from the heat. She uses a plastic paddle that she holds against the layer of gel on my skin, the paddle is about 3x3 inches, but the light source covers about a square inch. I wear dark goggles, like a welder, and she blasts it every few seconds. Each blast feels like a hot rubber band flicked at your skin. You can smell the singed hair. It ain’t pleasant, but it works.
Afterwards I’m a little swollen and pink for a day or two, like a medium sunburn, and ibuprofen keeps it under control.
One thing to keep in mind when considering “permanent” hair removal is that while it may be permanent for the hairs you have now, it does nothing for the new hair you are destined to grow over the years. Hormonal shifts that are a perfectly normal part of the aging process can cause you to grow more hair as you age, requiring future treatments. Women usually see this on the face and chin, abdomen, and upper thighs. Men who are prone will see an increase of the spread of back hair into their 40s, generally spreading from the shoulder blades down towards the sides of the torso, and up towards the neck.
IMH, and professional, O, if you have the right skin/hair coloring and the cash, laser or pulsed full spectrum light are the way to go, but please go in with the awareness that you will probably grow some more hair later.
This is a no-commercial and totally independent site it provides information about hair removal products/methods.
Hairfacts