A Product Review of the CONAIR Hair Removal System - Does it Work?

I have never attended an event that when I wanted my legs to look good - whether a wedding or a summer picnic or pool party - that I have not spent a very long time trying to neatly shave my legs and fail miserably with cuts, scrapes, razor burns and missing entire sections leaving long hair in random places (we have dubbed them "fuzzy puppies"). Instead of a "Oh, you look nice" or "nice to see you", I get unsolicited "what happened to your legs?" "Did you get into an accident on the way here?", and "Do you know your bleeding?" from strangers, who then get to hear I cut myself shaving. There seems to be endless things that go wrong when I shave my legs - but the fact is I am a very pale person with very dark hair that grows super fast and thick, and I always need my glasses to see detail (like leg hair), and that combo just does not seem destined for smooth silky legs. First my path that led me to this point and then the tips I use to make the Conair hair removal system work for my fury legged self so you can use it too.

I have read all the shaving tips and tricks, even those intended for men with tough beards but using them on my legs, but shaving in the shower often goes badly; I just can't see that well without my glasses and that one leg up flamingo pose I hold to reach my legs does not work. Wax strips and those goopy gooey honey concoctions applied with tongue depressors do remove the hair, but in patches and unevenly (more fuzzy puppies). I realized shaving or waxing was just not for me.

But gentle reader, think of my leg hair as the hairiest, burliest lumberjack you can envision, and put that on the extra pale legs of a petite chick and you will understand my dilemma - so you understand why I must do something. So whenever I do shave, it seems I open up the scrapes and cuts from the last time I shaved and this made scars, especially in a line all the way up the bone in the front of the leg. So this winter, I got radical: I let my leg hair grow out for months: it was so long that if I walked quickly enough, I could feel the wind in my leg hair when I walked around the house bare legged. I let my legs heal until I could figure out what to do to stop the madness. Applying Vitamin K gel daily to lighten the scars left from shaving, my scars and scrapes have gone away, and they are protected by a heavy layer of fur that makes anyone who sees them laugh, so I became ready to attempt have un-fury girl legs again.

I read endless reviews on Amazon and beauty websites about hair removal products and came upon the Conair Hair Remover System. The box boasts of it being totally painless, and clinically proven. I like no pain. I found a good price using pricegrabber.com. Mine came with an instructional video, but some models do not. If yours does not, check out the video on their website. The concept is a very soft sandpaper type surface on a rotating disc. You use this to sand off the hair for up to two weeks and it exfoliates your skin at the same time. It is electric, which removes some of the work, but not all of it, you must keep moving the buffer and the buffer is a bit heavy to do your legs all at once. It is also loud and needs to plug in. You cannot use this in the shower or tub.

When you read reviews on Amazon for this product, they are mixed reviews, some people loved it and some hated it. But I decided to get one since I had done generally okay with the similar concept of the buffer handheld mitts in the past. The handheld mitts are small fine grade sandpaper for use on legs and face, it sands down your hair; you can see it in use in Tom Hanks/Kevin Bacon Movie "Apollo 13" when these hair removal mitts are used to sand down the hair on the astronauts' chests so they can hook up the wires when they are suiting up before lift-off. The problem is I had to use them every few days and it just made my arm tired to do my legs that often. Also, I couldn't find them at my drugstore anymore (although these Mitts are available at Amazon if you liked this form of hair removal and cannot find it at your local drugstore or Wal-mart anymore either).

The key to using the Conair Hair Removal System is to not rub it into your skin or press it too heavily, don't use it like you would use sandpaper, take your time using it, and remember to rotate in circles, not holding the buffer too close to your skin too long, it must be moving. Your skin must be dry. While your leg hair need not be as long as my winter leg hair experiment got, allow a bit of extra growth for the first time. I should mention that the shaver had no problem removing the long hairs. Do not be scared by the loud sandpaper drill like noise it makes, if you are reluctant, hold it up to your heel and feel how hard it buffs. It can by the way, also be used to buff your heels and elbows. This did not hurt at all, it is actually very soft on your skin, but you can buff off too much skin very quickly if you are not careful. Under no circumstances, no matter what a wooly mammoth you might think you are, do not rub the disc into your skin! Even thick hair will remove with a light touch, it just requires a few more times of lightly grazing the area. The instructional video is important to watch, it shows the model practicing making the buffer sort of glide OVER the skin, not directly on it. This technique is important to practice. It would seem if you glide over the skin instead of trying to buff it, that just enough of the buffer touches the skin to buff off the hair without irritating your skin. The best way I can describe this is think of Yoda from Star Wars sort of gliding or hovering over a surface without touching it. It is sort of that "I'm not touching you" thing your little brother did to you in the car to bother you: just close enough to be in your space, but not actually making contact. His bothersome technique will finally benefit you when figuring out how close to get to use this hair remover. The next thing to remember is to take breaks and assess if the area is buffed enough without continuing to cover an area or if your skin is irritated. Also, keep moving the buffer in circles so as not to focus on one spot, remember if you stay in one spot, you will hurt your skin. Your first contact will not remove the hair, but the next few will. It might help to stretch the skin taut over your thighs for even results. Finally, wait at least few hours to use a leg moisturizer, it will just plain sting afterwards if you do. Since it does exfoliate you don't really need to use a cream. You can use the shaver at least once a week but you likely will not need to use it that often.

The Conair instructions claim when your hair re-grows it feels smoother and I find that it does. The reason for this is when you shave you cut hair on a sharp angle, like a sharpened pencil coming to a point. When you sand it down, it grows in straight and blunt, which is softer. It feels more like how your leg hair felt as a pre-teen before you started to shave your legs.

I could never get a good shave much less not have stubble the next day or even that same day. But the Conair buffer really kept me stubble free for several days and I did not need to re-shave for two weeks. Most of the inside of my calves has not grown back in yet and is completely smooth - a first for me. I do not know what long term use is like yet, and in my complete fury legged state, it did require allocating a good half hour to doing my legs all the way up, but my legs are smooth and free of cuts and scrapes. Upon the second use, it took only about ten minutes. So you if you are seeking a hair removal method when shaving just does not do it, I would recommend the Conair hair remover. This comes from me, a person who appears to be unable to figure out how to use a razor for years.

My legs can't wait to wear shorts to a picnic this summer.