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How do you make epilation less painful? (gregtech.eu)
submitted 2 weeks ago by lena@gregtech.eu to c/mtf
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I'm doing this for the first time, took a hot shower before.

And it hurts LIKE HELL.

I have a Braun Silk epil 7. So yeah if you have any tips on how to make this hurt less do tell.

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[-] Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I have a theory that a lot of the pain comes from when the epilator slips off the hair ^[3]^, or breaks the hair ^[4]^ instead of pulling it out completely at the root ^[5]^. My thinking is that if the epilator successfully pulls out the hair ^[2.1][5]^, it won't keep keep tugging on the follicle ^[5]^, so minimal pain ^[6]^, but if it keeps tugging on the follicle from mowing down the hair (ie breaking it) ^[4]^, or just slipping off ^[3]^ before completely pulling it out ^[2.1][5]^, it'll keep stimulating the follicle resulting in more pain ^[6]^. I find that when a patch is able to be fully and cleanly epilated with no cut hairs left behind it's pretty painless, but when it starts leaving stubbly cut hairs behind, that's when it starts hurting a lot. All that being said, I'm not sure how to stop it from breaking hairs ^[7]^. As for slippage ^[3]^, maybe it'd help to make sure that you ^[8]^ and the epilator are completely dry before epilating ^[9]^, if you haven't already done so. You could also try reducing the speed ^[10]^ of the epilator.

References

  1. Type: Webpage. Publisher: "Braun". Accessed: 2025-12-02T02:02Z. URI: https://ca.braun.com/en-ca/female-hair-removal/epilators/silk-epil-7.
  2. Type: Article. Title: "Epilator". Publisher: "Wikipedia". Published: 2025-03-09T22:15Z. Accessed: 2025-12-02T02:29Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilator.
    1. Type: Text. Location: ¶1.

      An epilator is an electrical device used to remove hair by mechanically grasping multiple hairs simultaneously and pulling them out. […]

  3. Type: Meta. Published: 2025-12-02T02:31Z.
    • The theory being that the epilator isn't able to sufficiently grasp the hair to pull it out before losing contact with the hair ^[2.1]^.
  4. Type: Meta.
    • The theory being that the tensile strength of the hair isn't sufficent to withstand the tensile force between the follicle and the epilator ^[2.1][5]^, so the hair ends up snapping ^[11]^.
  5. Type: Article. Title: "What is epilation and how does it work?". Publisher: "Philips". Accessed: 2025-12-02T03:55Z. URI: https://www.philips.co.in/c-e/beauty-tips-for-women/hair-removal-tips/hair-removal-methods/ask-experts-how-epilator-works.html.
    • Type: Text. Location: §"So, how does epilation work, exactly?">.

      An electric epilator works by pulling out hair using small discs to grip the follicle at its root. […]

  6. Type: Article. Title: "Hair plexus". Publisher: "Wikipedia". Published: 2024-10-17T19:04Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_plexus.
    • Type: Text. Location: ¶1.

      […] there are neurons innervating the hair that detect […] pulling of the hair (i.e. noxious stimuli). […]

  7. Type: Anecdote. Published: 2025-12-01T07:04Z. Author: "Kalcifer" ("@Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works").
    • I observed that my hairs were cut down to stubble after epilating some areas.
  8. Type: Post. Title: "How do you make epilation less painful?". Author: "Lena" ("@lena@gregtech.eu"). Publisher: ["Lemmy">"sh.itjust.works">"Transfem" ("!mtf@lemmy.blahaj.zone")]. Published: 2025-11-30T09:59:34Z. URI: https://sh.itjust.works/post/50731950/22408424.
    • Type: Text. Location: ¶1.

      […] took a hot shower before [epilating].

  9. Type: Meta. Published: 2025-12-02T08:47Z.
    • The theory is that the water reduces the friction of the epilator with the hair, so it slips.
  10. Type: meta. Published: 2025-12-02T08:49Z.
    • The Braun Silk épil 7 has 2 speed settings ^[1]^.
  11. Type: Article. Title: "Ultimate tensile strength". Publisher: "Wikipedia". Published: 2025-11-21T13:16Z. Accessed: 2025-12-02T08:55Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_tensile_strength.
[-] nettie@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I've had similar thoughts!

this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2025
38 points (100.0% liked)

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