Arms Up!
8 years ago by
I had the hair on my arms removed!!!
PHEW! THERE, I SAID IT.
It’s weird, I’d never really thought about doing it before. My peach fuzz never bothered me, and no one had ever commented on it, not my friends, not even my boyfriends. Besides, I thought it was cool to be cool enough not to worry about one more little thing. As women, we have enough maintenance to do as it is, don’t you think?
So it was status quo all my life until a friend of mine had it done and told me it made her feel amazing. Then I happened to acquire a gorgeous new pink gold watch (I’ll tell you more about that later) and when I tried to take a close-up photo of it, ALL I could see was my arm hair. So the idea started to grow on me, very slowly. Then one day I went to one of my favorite salons, Hortus, in New York and they started talking to me about sugaring.
I know I know, everyone already knows about it. But I’d never had it done before.
It was a few days before I was leaving for Mexico, so I decided to go for it:
1/ I LOVED sugaring. There’s no risk of getting burned, it leaves your skin divinely soft and there’s no irritation whatsoever. Since I used to get burned by hot wax all the time, from now on, I’ll only do sugaring.
2/ As for getting the hair on my arms removed, my first impression was: weird. A naked arm! My freckles (I’m covered in them) were even more visible, and I’m not against my freckles, but I definitely wasn’t used to it. My skin seemed thinner than before, more delicate without any protection. It took me a few weeks (yes, weeks) to get used to it. Which is why I waited to write this post.
And now it’s starting to grow back and it doesn’t look bad at all. I’d even say the hair looks finer. I’m finally used to it and I do like it. I like it a lot. I’d do it again, even.
The verdict: a big YES!!!
What about you? Have you ever thought about having the hair on your arms removed?
Translated by Andrea Perdue
You may also like
Features
From the Archives: Tonal Dressing
Features
Studio Visit / Petites Luxures
Style
Sophie Endrey
Lifestyle
Things I Do In Venice
Beauty
Flaws and All
Style
Style Story / Sofia Wood
Lifestyle
Eclectic Alix Thomsen
Style
À la Française
Lifestyle
The Beauty of Nudity / Sonia Sieff
Comme toi, je pense qu’il me faudrait des semaines pour m’habituer à un bras nu. En y pensant un peu néanmoins, et sachant que mes bras seront un jour recouverts de tatouages, peut être qu’une épilation des bras serait plutôt pas mal, bon moyen de mettre cet art sur ma peau en avant, sans duvet par dessus. x
http://jessicawoods.fr
J’avais tellement peur de faire mes bras au sucre mais finalement, je ne peux plus m’en passer !!!
I have been doing it for years but mainly in the summer or if I spend time in a warmer climate. The hair does get sparser as times goes on. I think I’ll try sugaring next time.
I’ve never thought about removing the hair on my arms! It’s pretty light and sparse. But all the power to you!
http://www.dressupchowdown.com
Honnêtement il faut que tu tentes l’épilation au sucre intégrale (jambes dos, bras et même visage parfois si on a du duvet) tu te sentiras vraiment légère et toute douce. En Tunisie c’est une tradition de le faire juste avant le mariage ce qui franchement donne un éclat particulier à la mariée et cette sensation de renaissance ( on a là peau douce comme un bébé) .
J’ai pris l’habitude de m’epiler les bras avec une epileuse electrique et a force de le faire, les poils repoussent fins et clairsemes.
Par contre, j’ai de bons souvenirs de l’epilation au sucre que me faisait une amie libanaise. Que de fous-rires ! :-)))
Oui j’y ai déjà pensé. Je suis châtain clair donc c’est pas dramatique non plus, mais ils sont quand même là … et pareil, quand je dois prendre une photo de mon bras, ben ça se voit. Mais bon, je n’ai jamais vraiment cherché à m’en débarrasser. Enfin si c’était possible d’un coup de baguette magique, ça serait ok sans hésiter. Mais j’avais peur que la cire n’empêche pas la repousse et que ça soit encore pire après. Et donc non, l’épilation au sucre, je ne connaissais pas ! J’essaierai de me renseigner près de chez moi ;)
http://whiteandpinkpeony.com/
What’s sugaring?! You say everyone knows about it and I don’t!!!!!?? Waaahhhh I’m being left behind in the world!!! Ha!
Never heard of sugaring, guess I’ve been living under the rock! :-) my arms are pretty hair but, like you said, it never really bothered me. My skiing is very sensitive so I don’t do waxing. Gonna go read about sugaring now!
I’m Italian with abundant arm hair. Got it done prior to my wedding and loved it! I can’t afford to do it all the time but may do it again for a beach vacation or something. I remember the waxer saying “it’s a nice treat!”
Wow, that’s good to know.
I’ve already considered waxing my arms and thighs, but I was afraid that some pores could be clogged by thin hair, that is not “strong” and thick enough to grow normally. It happens on my legs sometimes, even though I esfoliate every 15 days. What do you guys think?
Ha! I go to Anastasia to have my brows and face waxed (all those fine white hairs make me CRAZY) and I agree that having all that stuff removed is sooooo terrific! The pity is that it grow back – so before you know it you have a very expensive addiction…
That said, it must be a very common addiction because at Anastasia there are women who are there for something every week….Too many regimes for me…
Insane! Like women need one more thing to obsess about their bodies.
Aargh, no more epilation, where does it stop?! Seriously. NO.
I haven’t got that much hair on my arms, I think. :)
But I’ve also heard that sugaring is a good way to remove hair.
https://sofaundermapletree.wordpress.com
Obsession typiquement américaine, à mon avis, avec probablement un petit relent de puritanisme. Qui hélas à toutes les chances d’arriver bientôt en Europe, j’imagine. Personnellement j’aime bien le duvet sur les bras, je trouve que cela ajoute de la douceur.
when i look at my wedding pictures, i wonder why it had not occurred to me to do it…
anyway, i am now very happy with my bare arms :) i laser them, though. well-manicured hands and well-moisturized hairless arms make me calm and content now :)
before lasering, i got them waxed, but the hair started growing back in 2 weeks… so it was annoying.
my favorite moisturizer after evening shower is yves rocher’s vanilla body milk.
i’m curious about your new watch, Garance! :) :*
Nonnnnn !! Quand j’étais au collège (= complexée de mes racines espagnoles) je ne voyais que ça, et une copine arabe le faisait et sur elle c’était super beau. Et puis les complexes se sont essoufflés et la je n’ai pas envie de me créer une nouvelle contrainte, même si je sais que mes avant bras sont assez poilus. Je les décolore quand je les trouve trop foncés et ça me suffit ????????? et puis je suis douillette et l’esthéticienne c’est un vrai budget alors si j’étais riche … Haha !!
Idem.. Au final, tout comme toi.. pas envie de me prendre plus la tête que ça mais en même temps pti blocage un jour dessus et puis… Et puis… J’ai craqué tout comme toi… Merci pour ce petit post qui me fait dire que je ne suis pas totalement folle et surtout pas totalement seule avec mes idées et scrupules… ;)
I’ve got obsessed with waxing more than a decade ago. It started when I was going to attend a good friend’s wedding. The bride and I decided to have our first Full Brazilian wax (here in Germany, they call it ‘Hollywood’) together. The ouch-factor was massive but I kinda liked the feeling after. This led me to start waxing pretty much my whole body except my hair and eyebrows, of course, on a monthly basis. Then about four or five years, while on holidays in the Philippines, I discovered sugaring – darn, where has it been all my life?!? It was 80% less pain than waxing! Plus, sugaring uses natural ingredients (lemon, sugar) as vs waxing (some salons use chemical wax)! So yeah, since then, I’ve said goodbye to waxing…and have become a sugaring convert! Having done sugaring here in Germany for years, I’ve grown to love it though it’s not as good (read: painless) as the one I had in the Philippines. The after-feel is just divine – clear, clean, baby-smooth skin!
Trop Marrant parce que moi aussi apres des années d’epilations je l’ai fait pour la toute premiere fois il y a une semaine! Franchement j’adore, je me touche les bras parce qu’ils sont tout doux!! Et pendant quelque jour j’avais une drole de sensation comme si j’etais nue..Maintenant je veux voir comment sa repousse.
Tu es la seule blogueuse/illustratrice/photographe que je sui depuis bientot 10 ans.
Un gros bisous de Dubai, ou je vais essayer de trouver ton livre pour me remonter le moral suite a la perte (hier) d’un precieux bracelet Dodo offert par mes parents il y a des annees..et passer le temps car je suis a la recherche de boulot.
http://www.mavesta.com
Ugh. My arms are pretty hairy, so while I don’t like it, removing it would make my arms look completely different. I’m afraid that it might draw even more attention to the fact that I used to have all this hair. People might even ask me why I don’t have it anymore. Difficult stuff. :D
Arm hair never really bothered me- but I bought an Illuminate touch (home IPL) and after only a few uses it doesn’t really grow anymore.. wish i could say the same for my legs.
Oui, mais non. Comme tu l’as bien dit toi-même : y a déjà assez à faire question maintenance … il suffit de ne pas prendre son bras en photo ;-)
Oui mais non! franchement non! comme beaucoup de langues dit ici c’est trop de maintenance. Et puis je croyais qu’on devait s’aimer comme on était ….in the end Garance after 40 they start thinning out anyway and almost disappear totally.
Tache de rousseur. Pas tâche de rousseur. Tâche c’est le travail. ;-)
I think two things:
1. This is an extension of the hyperidealization of a woman’s appearance. It’s like the ideal woman is ever more removed from the human body in its natural state. Our desirability is based on our willingness to endure painful, time-consuming and expensive procedures. They say that porn is detrimental to our relationships, that men develop unrealistic expectations for sex with regular women. (Idealized romance novels and movies do the same for women.) This feels like something on that continuum.
2. To each her own. Is getting arm hair removed periodically very different than getting a mani-pedi? I don’t know.
Totally agree with you, Maria
HUGE fan of sugaring and have been for years. In fact, it was something a lot of my friends also did. Being Russian, we learnt to DIY the solution at home (and I still do it myself) and the results were always great. Not sure about the arms yet – I guess, it never really bothered me that much. But as far as the process goes – it’s a yes from me, too. :)
I tried it once as I have pretty hairy arms, but it felt too weird for me, like a snake haha…so I stick with occasional bleaching now, or just don’t care anymore and my boyfriend doesn’t either:)
Ouiiii!
J’ai un devis bien foncé sur les bras et quand je ne le fais pas, dès que je suis bras nus, je ne vois plus que ça. Je ne mettais même pas de bracelet parce que – Ô désespoir – le duvet, fin mais long, se prenait dans les attaches/élastiques/bracelets de montre… Et comme la nature est bien faite, j’ai de jolies mains mais de jolis poils sur les doigts. La première fois que je l’ai fait : Aaaaaïïïeeeelelujaaaaah! Ce fût pénible, mais quel bonheur de voir mes bras/mains aussi nets (cleans, parce que oui, tu as raison, on a la sensation d’être clean!). ET puis – chose étrange – je suis un peu accro à cette sensation de fraîcheur sous les étoffes comme une brise qui viendrait de… bah je ne sais pas en fait!
Ça alors c’est une drôle d’idée… Moi je trouve ça joli un duvet qui blondit sur une peau bronzée en été…
I just shave my arms occasionally…more often in the summer. I do it in the shower….no pain and cheap. :)
En réponse à certains commentaires:
we are not babies.
WE ARE NOT BABIES. We are grown up women.
Parfois quand je mettais des manches 3/4, je faisais une fixette dessus et un jour j’ai testé chez moi à la cire chaude et pareil j’aime bien! Donc de temps en temps, je le fais, sans que cela me demande une “maintenance”.
I’ve been doing it myself since my early 20s. It’s gotten to the point where I hardly have any due to waxing/sugaring. we call it waxing where I’m from but it’s really sugaring. I come from a country of hairy women ????and waxing is something everyone does from their late teens.
We do our legs…and our bikini lines…our upper lips, our fingers, our toes, our armpits…why not our arms too? Bracelets looks so elegant against smooth skin. Don’t apologize for something so simple if it makes you feel good. Life is too short.
I agree with the sentiments that we’re women and mammals have hair. That being said, I do take care of my arm hair (I had pediatric cancer and my hair texture changed). It bugged me in my teen years, but I never did anything about it. Then this kid at the camp I was working at started saying something every day about my arms (kids are uncensored, I know). It definitely shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did, but I noticed myself not gesturing as much or keeping my arms on the table/desk. Once I took care of it, I felt far more comfortable wearing short sleeves and gesticulating to my heart’s content. I truly don’t think it should become a measure of beauty/femininity, but in cases where it’s really messing with your day to day interactions, go for it. :)
Hey Garance,
I love your blog and am a huge fan and it is my Go To page for all things beauty related. I wanted to ask you if you would consider doing a post on laser home removal vs Professional, please, please, please!! I am going nuts trying to do the research and I am surprised that all the big mags haven’t published anything substantial as yet.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Manisha
P.S: I am asian and it would be awesome if you could take that dark/brown skin also in to account if and when you do the article.
I have a friend that does it and to be honest when it grows back it looks awful. Her hair looks darker and longer.. Exactly like it would look on your legs. Dearest Garance don’t ever forget what our French grandmothers say: chasse le naturel il revient au galop. bisous
I’m waxing my arms for already 14 years during all seasons. The hair got sparser and thiner. I like it!
I wax my own arms. I was teased at high school for hairy arms and used to wear long sleeves to hide them so for people who think it’s “insane” to de-hair your arms, well, you obviously don’t know what it’s like to be hairy. We can’t all be fair. Some of us are hairy and dark haired and if we want, we can wax our arms.