The Best At-Home Hair Removal Kits

Beauty/Skincare, Featured Article
on October 30, 2013
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Gone are the days of Nair and a regular old razor. Today, there are a wealth of hair removal options that go above and beyond old-fashioned shaving—waxing kits, sugaring solutions, handheld laser beams, heating devices and not-your-mama’s shaving products, to name a few. To bring you the latest and greatest in the quest for silky smooth skin, we’ve tested out and reviewed several hair removal kits; here are our fave finds.

Product: Parissa Wax Strips Express -Sensitive Formula, $13, parissa.com

Why we love it: This eco-friendly, animal-friendly wax-strip kit is a snap to use when you need to get rid of unwanted hair fast. All you have to do is warm a double strip between your hands, separate it into two, press one down smoothly onto your skin in the direction of your hair growth and, holding skin taut with one hand (to minimize discomfort), use the other hand to quickly zip it off in the opposite direction of your hair growth. Voila! No more hair. The kit comes with 24 strips in three sizes for your face, bikini and underarm that are made with natural, food-grade ingredients, as well as a carry-on-friendly tube of skin-soothing Azulene Oil to apply post-wax.

What the tester says: “I am a real scaredy cat when it comes to waxing. I haven’t had good experiences with it and generally don’t like it. So, I have to say—and maybe it’s the ‘sensitive formula’—but this just didn’t hurt! I like it in particular for my underarms.”

RELATED: Hair Removal Options

Product: Bliss Trim and Bare It, $64, sephora.com

Why we love it: This spa-inspired personal grooming kit is the bomb-dot-com product for ladies who are constantly fighting the fuzz. The rechargeable, cord-free trimmer (which you can use in the shower… unplugged, of course) comes with four attachments, including a bikini-line tidier, a microshaver for really up-close-and-personal jobs, a precision trimmer for eyebrows and little hairs, and a facial trimmer for rogue whiskers. The kit also contains Ingrown Eliminating Pads to keep pesky ingrown hairs and bumps away, and blade-lubricating oil and a brush to prevent rust.

What the tester says: “They’ve thought of everything! This tool is especially helpful for areas my razor can’t reach or is inappropriate for, like rogue chin hairs.”

Product: Shobha Sugaring Kit for Body & Bikini, $30, myshobha.com

Why we love it: We’re fans of any beauty product that is 100 percent natural, and this one is paraben-, dye-, fragrance-, petrol-, resin- and wax-free! The sugaring gel is made of—you guessed it—sugar, along with some water, glycerin and citric acid, which gets heated up in the microwave. The kit also comes with denim strips (yes, that denim) for a less-painful hair removal, plastic spatulas for application and a talc-free powder for pre-sugaring skin prep.

What the tester says: “The instruction booklet’s six illustrated steps were really easy to follow. It did its job well, and I didn’t have any post-sugar bumps, but I’m not sure that the denim strips made much of a difference in the pain department!”

Product: no!no! Hair Pro 5, $310, nonopro.com

Why we love it: This tiny, handheld, chargeable device uses a patented pulsed-heat technology to say buh-bye to unwanted hairs. All you do is gently glide it over your skin—unlike lasers, it works on all skin and hair colors—at a 90-degree angle and a blue light comes on to let you know that it’s zeroing in on your hairs. While it comes with both a wide and narrow tip to treat various areas, it seems to work best for large surface areas, like legs or arms. The finishing touch is a skin buffer to rub over the treated area and shed any loose fuzz.

What the tester says: “The device itself is easy to use and painless—all you feel is a little warmth, and oh, you’ll smell burnt hair. You have to have patience as this is not an instant gratification thing—it takes about two or three times per week for six to 12 weeks to see results…I have my fingers crossed!”

Product: Bliss Poetic Waxing At-Home Hair Removal Kit, $48, sephora.com

Why we love it: This waxing kit comes straight from the professionals at Bliss Spas and is curated for at-home use with small and large spatulas, a pre-skin cleanser and pre- and post-waxing oil. You’ll use a handy-dandy microwaveable cup to heat the wax to a manageable temperature and a colorful, strip-less, aromatherapy-based wax to help you see where you are applying it. In a nutshell, the wax shrink-wraps the hairs (even for short, stubborn stubble), allowng you to painlessly yank them out straight from the root.

What the tester says: “This kit intimidated me at first because it looks very professional and has very specific instructions that you have to pay close attention to, like heating time and wax consistency. But once you get it right, it works like a charm, especially on large areas like the legs!”

Product: Tria Hair Removal Laser 4X, $449, triabeauty.com

Why we love it: For one thing, the Tria Hair Removal Laser is the only FDA-cleared hair-removal laser available for home use—automatic brownie points right there. This handheld device, which is comparable in size to a travel hairdryer, means business. Using a diode laser beam, the device promises to permanently disable the hair follicle from regrowth on your face and body. One small caveat: Tria is only suitable for those with lighter skin and darker hair (don’t worry, a built-in sensor automatically detects whether the skin tone is safe to treat). And be patient with it…in order to see results, you’re going to have to treat your parts every two weeks for at least three months.

What the tester says: “It is very easy to use and though it’s time consuming, I just do it while watching a TV show or something. If this truly is permanent, it’s going to save me from going to the laser hair removal center and shelling out big bucks!”