Dare to bare

Is staying smooth a sticky situation for your budget?

One of the best memories I have from last summer’s vacation on Martha’s Vineyard wasn’t the backyard barbeque my friends and I threw at our rental house, nor was it the leisurely bike ride I took through historic Edgartown on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.  Instead, it was the glorious feeling that filled my ego each morning as I pulled on my swimsuit en route to the beach, bypassing the line for the bathroom (we fit six girls into a two-person cottage – you do the math) and enjoying the extra half hour or so I had each day as everyone else scrambled for a fuzz free existence.  I had bit the bullet the week before, exchanging $100 and a few awkward moments with my aesthetician for a perfectly waxed bikini line and underarms.

In my efforts to stay smooth, I’ve also forked over $80 for the occasional Brazilian wax if I’m dating a guy I really like, only to curse the $80 less I have for retail therapy when we break up the next week.  I’ve spent an unfortunate $6.99 on a bottle of Nair that left my apartment smelling like a rodent pancake from Hell’s Kitchen and left my legs raspberry tinged and tingly; and have gone so far as to consult with a laser hair removal specialist at a medispa, only to scurry back to disposable razorland in fear of a four-figure price tag for hairless gams.

The equation of staying hair free is this:  Time – hair – money = your happiness threshold.  A razor might be the cheapest method to remove hair initially, but cartridges, shaving creams and treatment lotions add up – nevermind the need to repeat the process every day.  Waxing at the salon is great, but regrowth is inevitable after several weeks.  Laser hair removal can be a sure-fire way to defeat your stubble for good – if you’re willing factor in the length of time you’ll stay that way and not focus on its initial costly investment.

With a bevy of summer weddings to attend and a trip to San Francisco in my future, it makes sense to visit the salon for a date with a treatment room and a tub of hard wax.  But, with my wallet wearing thin after abiding by Crate & Barrel bridal registries and a roundtrip ticket to the Left Coast, I’m sticking with the men’s Gillette Fusion razor ($13 for a package of 4 replacement cartridges at Duane Reade), Suave apple conditioner ($1.69 at Target – and yes, hair conditioner does a better job than conventional shaving cream) and Juice Beauty’s Soothing Serum ($36 at Whole Foods) for the inevitable razor burn that flashes through my sensitive skin.

Daring to bare:  a challenge for the mind – or for the wallet?

Posted by Staff Writer at 09:41 AM
bargain news , BEAUTY , STYLE/BEAUTY |