This is something I struggled with for a long time, I wanted the smooth, velvety feeling on my legs that you get after a close shave, but I didn’t want to have to deal with the burns I got every time. The solution (for me) is hair removal cream (and a razor for a bit afterwards). I know that hair removal cream sounds scary, and after reading some of the reviews I was a bit scared myself, but I decided to give it a go and it worked a treat. I chose one that was made for very sensitive skin (the brand is nair) and I haven’t had any burns at all, even though I leave it on for the maximum time! Here are some tips I picked up to make sure that you can avoid them whenever possible:

When you first get it, try it out on a small part of your arm so you can see if you have a bad reaction to it and so you have a rough estimate of how long you should leave it on for (don’t go over the maximum time, even if it isn’t working. For me, it didn’t really work at first but later on I noticed that where I’d put the cream was completely smooth)

When putting it on, make sure to use the spatula and not your hands because if you rub the cream in, it will hurt. However, when taking it off, make sure NOT to use the spatula because if you scrape your skin and the cream gets in there, it leaves a painful mark for a long time (trust me). Instead, get in the shower and wash it off with water pressure. Try not to rub it too much, instead let the water do the work.

Also, make sure to start your timer from when you start putting on the cream, otherwise where you first put it will get burned. I usually do it one leg at a time to make sure that everywhere is as equally creamed as possible.

After washing off the cream, I still find that there are some stubborn spots of hair that haven’t yet been removed. That’s why I go over those areas with a cheap Venus razor that I permanently borrowed from my mum 😉. Even if the cream didn’t get rid of the hairs, it softened and loosened them so the razor will have a much easier time getting them. This means that even though I would get burns from using a razor before, after using the cream I don’t get burns even when I’m being careless. The only thing I’d say is that the cream leaves my skin very dry so I use a generous amount of shaving gel to make it easier. Every time I use the cream I need the razor less and less so I think that eventually I won’t need it at all 😊.

This is all from just my personal experience so take everything I say with a grain of salt but regardless, I hope it helped!