Friday, June 15, 2007

Unlikely Frugality



Have you ever sat down and figured out how much money you spend on razors in a given year?

It seems that people who really watch the sales can get razors pretty cheap. Especially when the sales are combined with coupons. But with summer upon us, a house with many females can go through the razors, cheap or not.

I'm not usually one to advocate spending money on a gadget to save money. Especially when the investment is as steep as this one. But this has really worked for me and I'll tell you why.

For some reason it seems the more I shave my legs, the more I have to shave my legs. It was getting to the point a few years back that I had to shave every day or I would have stubble. It also seemed that the cheap razors just weren't doing the job anymore. And those expensive razors are, well, expensive. Plus it was tiring and time consuming to have to shave every single day.

(As an aside, I can't believe that we can now pay up to $3 for a single disposable razor?!)

Anyway, I had read about epilators. I had also read the horror stories about epilators. But I decided to take the plunge and try it.


This is the one I ended up getting.

Like I said, the initial investment was steep. Approximately $100. But if I was conservatively just going through $5 in razors a month (and there was a time that I was spending more than that, for sure), it would take less than 2 years for this to pay for itself.

The fact is, I've used this same one for over 3 years now and it's still going strong.

But maybe more importantly, it's not only a money saver, it's a time saver.

I now epilate approximately once every 2 weeks. It takes about 10-15 minutes. To be totally fair, I have to say that I still shave about once a month as well. I do it for the exfoliation. I've heard that just using some type of loofah to exfoliate works just as well, though I've not tried that.

But isn't it painful? At this point, not at all.

The trick to using an epilator (for the first time) is this:

Do NOT wait and grow the hair out a little before the first use. Shave first. The next day, use the epilator. The next day, use it again. Etc.

The thing is, there is not a lot of hair growth in just a day, so it's not too painful at all. And within a couple of weeks of using it every day, you're pretty much hair free.

What does it feel like?

To be honest, it felt like little, teeny needle pricks at first to me. But like plucking eyebrows, it gets to the point that you hardly notice it.

And that's my off the wall frugal tip for today.

For more frugal ideas, be sure to check out Crystals Blog

14 comments:

"My Little Wonders" said...

the link to the epilator isn't working....


I think I am going to try this out. I have the daily shaving job and dread it, and the cost too. Thanks for the tip....
Blessings Lori

My name is Michelle. said...

Thanks Lori! I think I have it fixed now.

If you decide to try it, you'll have to let me know what you think!

Sherry said...

I'm one of those who had bad experiences way back with Epilady, as did my sister and cousin. It was painful, but for beauty we tolerated it. lol Unforturately, everyone of us developed a strange mottling on our skin that really unnerved us, so we quit. We all put our Epiladies in a garage sale, and two women came in and went gaga over their find. We just figured ppl are different in how they react to it. Of course, it could have just been that brand.

Your "secret" to beginning to use the epilator is interesting, but I'll have to think about this one.

My name is Michelle. said...

Sherry, I do think some people just have a type of sensitive skin that can't tolerate it. Especially if they (as some suggest) let the hair grow out first and then do it. I had a friend that pulled up a pretty nasty rash doing it that way.

The way I mentioned above is honestly not much worse that tweezing.

But I don't blame you a bit if you decide against it after your experience. ;)

"My Little Wonders" said...

(PSST.......I just ordered mine...should be here in a week...I will let you know how it works.)
Thanks Lori

AmyG said...

I have found the same principle to be true with my Sinicare toothbrush...horrendous initial expense, but the quality of the item and the savings in dental costs makes it worth every dime!
Thanks for a great post.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh I hate the expense of razors..ya almost gotta take out a loan to get a good quality one! lol

I bought from Lehmans a razor sharpener thing..I can sharpen the same razor for a very long time..and I do mean a long time. Granted I do hate shaving everyday but my hunk cringes when I have stubble legs and slide them on his,hehe.

I'm going to wait for Lori to get her epilator and see how she likes it (your the guinea pig on this one Lori,lol)

My name is Michelle. said...

Lori, I'm proud of you! I *really* hope you like it. Well, not *like* it, but you. ;D

amyg, than you for your kind comment. I couldn't agree with you more. Some things are worth the trouble/effort. And if you stick with them, they pay off in the end. A good life lesson.

Beth, so you have a razor sharpening thing and you've not done a Frugal Friday? Come on! That's pretty neat. I'm going to have to look it up. And btw, you guys (you and Lori) are absolutely cracking me up between the no-poo and the epilator.

"My Little Wonders" said...

Ok! I'm game......Beth at least your No Poo doesn't hurt (or does it??).......I think mine is gonna hurt though....lol :p
psst....I'm actually a little scared :(
I will do a post on it......
Ok Michelle......you need to guinea pig something for us too....LOL (although you did, and still do the epilator....:)
Lori

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

I'm definitely intrigued. I'm dark-haired and fair-skinned, so I do a lot of shaving in the summer! I've always wanted one of these things, but I remember the Epilady horror stories. Have you had any trouble with ingrown hairs?

My name is Michelle. said...

Lori, just do it like I posted. Shave *FIRST*. It doesn't hurt at all on hairless legs. Then, depending on how fast your hair grows, use it the next day or so (maybe after 12 hours or so if it's really growing fast). It will only get a few hairs and it feels very much like when you first started plucking your eyebrows. I'm proud of you! And Beth and her no-poo too! AND I was actually thinking the same thing, that I need to guinea pig something! LOL I did the yogurt (and no one got sick! yay!). Does that count at all?

ewokgirl, you have a lovely blog. I can't wait to check it out a bit! To answer your question, no I don't get ingrown hairs *IF* I shave at least once a month or so. That's why I mentioned it above. It keeps my legs all nice and smooth. I even do under my arms with no problems. :) (But that took some getting used to.)

Elena LaVictoire said...

I might give this a try. I used an epilator years ago after my first child was born and I just decided that I'd rather do labor again than to use that thing!! But I with your tips I might be willing to give it another go! Thanks for the tip!

My name is Michelle. said...

elena, I hope it works out for you this time. If you decide to use it, be sure to let me know!

Anonymous said...

I NEVER would have thought of this if you hadn't posted about it! I can't do the waxing thing...tried it and was not successful at all. I finally found the Schick Intuition razor which works fairly well, but wow - the refills are not cheap! $10 for three of the cartridges, and I very rarely find coupons on them. *sigh*
This may be worth a shot, but it just LOOKS like a painful contraption. No worse than getting razor burn or nicks though, I suppose? Definitely worth considering. Thanks for taking the time to pass on this idea!