Fragile skin? Can't wax? This is it!

I was used to the clean feeling of Brazilian waxes, but had to forgo them when I started Roaccutane (or Accutane as the drug is known in the US). Roaccutane makes your skin very dry and thin, and therefore fragile in a short period of time. I had only been on it for a week when I went to get an eyebrow wax and came back with brown burn marks on my eyelids! Luckily they didn't scar. I didn't even want to think about what waxing would do to more tender regions! Waxing takes off a layer of skin, which is OK, if your skin is "normal", but it can cause scarring and blisters when you are on a medicine like Roaccutane.

I certainly did not want to shave, so the next best option for hair removal that removed the hairs but not any layers of skin was an epilator.

After a lot of research, I chose the Emjoi AP98R, marketed here in Australia as the Emjoi Body Bare Ultimate. This was because of reputation, the gold heads that made it more resistant to rust and bacteria, the dual heads that were more efficient at hair removal, the fact that it was cordless and rechargeable, and the option of two speeds - fast for thicker hairs and slow for thinner hairs.

Under-arms: The AP98R is fairly good on under-arms, only missing about 4 to 6 hairs that can be tweezed out easily.

Upper lip: this model is actually not recommended for the upper lip because of the dual-heads, but I have had some success, and it definitely gets rid of the shadow (that only I can see because of my vain paranoia!) You have to try different angles but it does work to an extent.

Bikini and Brazilian: the trick here is that the skin needs to be stretched so that the epilator can get all the hairs, you will need to go over the same area two or three times from different angles to get as many hairs as you can. The result is not perfect, but if you are addicted to your Brazilian waxes and want the next best thing, this is it girls!

Legs: Currently I shave my legs. Sorry!

Before using: powder the region to be waxed so that there is no moisture and the heads move smoothly. The instructions recommend having a hot shower first but I have used it many times just dry with powder, and then had a luke-warm shower afterwards.

Follow-up: with a tidy using good flat-head tweezers.

Aftercare: I like to use a tea tree lotion like Thursday Plantation's tea tree antiseptic cream (5%) to prevent infection from ingrowns and to soothe. Also do not wear underwear made from synthetic fabric or do sweaty exercise for 24 hours.

Frequency: I do my underarms and bikini about once a week, upper lip every two weeks or so.

Time: It does take a bit of time to do a good job, I'd say at least 20 minutes.

Clean-up: Very little. I find doing it in the shower saves on clean-up.

CAUTION: hair should not be too short or too long. Too short and the epilator will not be able to extract the hairs, too long and lots of pain with very little success will be the result. I'd say about 4cm, which is also the "optimum" length for waxing.

MORE CAUTION: This is not for those new to waxing or epilation. Trust me. It is going to be painful and you will not spend the time needed to get a clean result and it will end in tears...