Author: Heather McClure

All the fancy epilator ads make wet epilation seem like the ideal method. However, after years of epilating, I’m not as sold on epilating wet. But that doesn’t mean epilating dry is the ideal method for you.

So should you epilate wet or dry? I usually recommend epilating dry. It’s the most efficient method, for sure. However, there are benefits to epilating wet as well. To help you decide what’s best for you, I dive into the full benefits of each method below.

Benefits of Wet Epilation

Pain Relief

Pain relief is one of the main benefits of wet epilation. Warm water relaxes the body and calms the skin, which makes any pain you experience seem not quite as bad. 

In addition, according to the gate control theory of pain, your nervous system can’t process multiple sensations at once. So if your skin is processing the sensation of water flowing on your skin, it will be less likely to process the signals of pain when you are pulling hairs out by the root. 

So if you want to manage epilation pain easily, wet epilation is one of the best ways to do that.

Easy Clean Up

When you epilate, you are going to have hairs flying everywhere and a mess to clean up afterward. However, if you are epilating in the shower or bath, clean up is simple. You just have to rinse everything down the drain.

In addition, if you have a wet epilator, you can clean the epilator with water. In contrast, dry epilators are a bit more challenging to clean. You have to use a dry brush to remove clumps of hairs and then use alcohol to sanitize everything. 

Benefits of Dry Epilation

Efficiency

The best reason for choosing dry epilation is efficiency. In the shower or bath, water weighs down hairs, making them harder to grap. Water also makes hair slippery. 

So by simply epilating with dry skin and hair, you will experience better grip. This means that your epilator will grab more hairs in one go, which will mean less frustration and less time spent using your epilator.

Longer-Lasting Results

Wet hair is weaker and breaks more easily. When epilating, your goal is to pull hairs out by the root so that the results last longer. However, if you are breaking the hairs off at the surface because they are weak, then it’s essentially the same as shaving. You will have stubble the next day. 

With dry epilation, you have a much better chance of not breaking hair, so you will avoid stubble and have longer-lasting results.

Easy to See

Have you ever gotten out of a dimly lit shower after shaving your legs to find that you missed a huge patch of hair? If so, you know that lighting makes a huge difference when removing body hair. 

Since you can dry epilate pretty much anywhere, you can choose the best lit area in your home. Then you can make sure you don’t miss a single hair. 

No Charging

Life happens and we sometimes forget to charge our epilators. If you have a corded epilator or an epilator that can be used while it’s plugged into the wall, this isn’t a problem. You can just dry epilate while the epilator is plugged in.

This is never an option with wet epilation, however, because you’ll risk electrocution if mix water and a power source like that. 

More Entertainment

Of course, you can listen to music in the shower, but with dry epilation, your entertainment options are wider. You can even get a big bath towel and camp out in the living room and watch Netflix.

Entertainment like this can help distract you from the monotony and pain that is epilation. Which ultimately means you’ll be more likely to stick with it for the long haul and get the results you want. 

Advantages of Wet Dry Epilators 

I’ve been 100% sold on dry epilation for years now. But even so, when I bought my newest epilator, I ended up opting for a Wet Dry epilator that can be used in the bath or shower. Even if you don’t think you’ll end up epilating in the bath or shower, there are still many reasons to consider a wet dry epilator. 

Cordless

Back in the 90s, before cell phones were mainstream, cordless phones were all the rage. That’s because we all knew the annoyances of being constricted by a cord attached to the wall.

And this applies to tons of appliances besides phones. It’s just more convenient to be able to take your epilator anywhere without having to worry about whether there is a place to plug it into. 

And every wet dry epilator on the market is going to be cordless so that’s one reason to consider buying one.

Exfoliation

Even if you don’t epilate in the shower, you should be taking a shower before epilation and exfoliating your skin so you can prevent ingrown hairs.

Many of the more high end wet dry epilators on the market today come with exfoliation brushes or attachments that you can use before epilation to get rid of dead skin cells with ease.

Of course, you can always just buy exfoliating gloves or use another exfoliation method, but exfoilation brushes definitely create a more luxurous experience. 

Easier to Clean

Wet dry epilators are designed to be submerged in water, so this makes them easier to clean. Instead of having to blow or brush hairs out of the head before having to carefully sanitize everything with alcohol, you can simply wash it with some soap under warm water. 

Pain Management

Even if you want to epilate dry for better efficiency, sometimes it’s best to ease into epilation by using your epilator in water for the first sessions. If you have a dry epilator, this isn’t even an option. So keep this in mind when deciding on which epilator to buy.

Lighting

Although you can choose the best lit area in your house for epilating when you epilate dry, sometimes the best lighting just isn’t good enough. Many wet dry epilators these days have LED lights that light up the skin you are epilating. This can be really useful if you have fine or light colored hairs that are hard to see. 

Epilating Wet Tips

Safety First

The most important part of epilating wet is not dying! Seriously, water and electricity don’t mix well. So make sure your epilator is designed to be used in water before trying this out. Read the manual and follow all the safety precautions so you don’t end up with an electric shock. 

Charge Your Epilator

Remember to charge your epilator before you plan to epilate. This varies by epilator, but you will probably need to charge it for at least an hour for a 30-minute session. 

Cleanse Skin

When you pull hairs out by the root, your skin becomes more prone to infection until it heals. So you need to get rid of bacteria and other germs before you epilate by cleansing your skin well with a mild soap before you start epilating.

If you are taking a bath, it’s probably best to rinse with a shower head as well before you get out.

Exfoliate

After you get in the shower or bath, but before you begin epilating, you need to exfoliate. Use a body scrub with exfoliating gloves or your favorite exfoliation method. The goal is to remove dead skin cells and open up pores. 

Keep Skin Wet

Damp skin is essentially kind of sticky and hard to glide over. You want the epilator to glide over skin with ease, so make sure skin is very moist while you are epilating. If you are keeping skin wet, but still having issues with glide, you can use soap or a shaving gel or foam.

Experiment

You can use most wet dry epilators submerged in bath water or under running water. Experiment with how much water you use and how you epilate until you figure out what works best to grab hairs while also keeping pain down.

Clean Your Epilator

It’s usually easiest to just clean your epilator head while you’re still in the bath or shower. Clean according to your manual’s instructions, then set the epilator out to dry.

Dry and Soothe Skin

When you get out of the bath or shower, use a clean towel to gently pat your skin dry. Rubbing your skin vigorously with a towel will irritate skin so avoid it. After your skin is dry, apply Aloe Vera gel to soothe skin and moisturize.

Epilating Dry Tips

Shower First

Like when epilating wet, it’s important to have clean, exfoliated skin to avoid infection and prevent ingrown hairs. A warm shower beforehand will also open up pores, making it easier to pull out hairs. So take a shower before you epilate, cleanse skin well, and exfoliate to remove dead skin cells. 

Dry Skin and Hair

When you get out of the shower, use a clean towel to gently pat dry your skin and hairs. Damp skin is harder to epilate because it creates friction, so wait until it dries well or use baby powder to reduce moisture.

In addition, wet hairs are harder to epilate, so you may have to wait 10 minutes or so for your hairs to fully dry before you start using your epilator.

Manage Pain

Since you don’t have the pain management benefits of epilating wet, you may need to put extra effort into pain management. Ice your skin, take an over the counter pain reliever, or spray your skin with a lidocaine spray such as Bactine. 

Soothe Skin and Moisturize

After epilating, your skin will be irritated and inflamed. Use an ice pack to reduce inflammation. Aloe vera gel is also a good way to soothe skin and moisturize.

If using lotion or another type of moisturizer, you may need to wait until inflammation goes down a bit. Applying moisturizer too soon can sometimes cause breakouts. 

Clean Your Epilator

A clean epilator prevents pimples and infections so make sure you clean your epilator after each use. Follow your manual’s instructions for cleaning. 

Final Takeaways

Epilating dry is the overall most efficient method of epilation. You’ll grab more hairs, get less breakage, spend less time, and have longer lasting results. But you’ll also experience more pain. 

So overall, I recommend dry epilation unless epilator pain is just too much for you without water. In that case, epilating wet may be a better choice for you than not epilating at all. You’ll still get better results than shaving and save more money than with waxing. 

Related Questions

What is the best wet dry epilator?

The epilator I use and love is the Braun Silk-épil 9 9-521. This is a high end wet and dry epilator with two speeds and an LED light. However, if you want a more luxurious wet epilating experience, I recommend the Braun Silk-épil 9 9-961V Skin Spa (click to check it out on Amazon). This is the same epilator I have, but it comes with a few extra attachments, including exfoliation brushes and a massaging head.

Have more questions about epilation? Check out the Epilator FAQ and Beginner’s Guide!

Want to remember this? Pin this to your favorite Pinterest board so you can find it later!

Best practices for epilation can be hard to figure out. And showering seems to be one of the most confusing topics when it comes to epilation. Because of this, I get tons of questions about when to shower.

So should you epilate before or after a shower? Whether you have a wet or dry epilator, it’s almost always best to epilate after you shower. There are several reasons why this is important, which I cover below. However, if you can’t shower before you epilate, you’ll be fine if you take a few precautions.

Why You Should Epilate After a Shower

Avoid Infection

This is one of the most important reasons to shower before epilation. After you use an epilator, your hair follicles are damaged and this makes skin more prone to infection.

So getting rid of dirt, sweat, bacteria and other microorganisms by cleansing skin in the shower before epilation will make infection less likely.

Prevent Ingrown Hair

Epilating makes you prone to ingrown hairs so you need to exfoliate when you epilate. Because your hair follicles will be irritated after epilation, it’s always best to exfoliate before epilation. Since most exfoilation requires water, it’s easiest to exfoilate in the shower.

The exception would be if you are using a chemical exfoliation treatment such as Tendskin. But even if you do end up using a chemical exfoliation treatment, you can’t cleanse the skin afterwards. So you may as well just shower beforehand.

Epilate with Ease

Warm water and steam from a shower open closed hair follicles. This allows hair to slip out of the pore with more ease. So you’ll miss fewer hairs and breakage will be less likely.

Calm Your Nerves and Skin

Warm water from a shower relaxes the body and calms the skin. The less stress you feel translates to less pain, which is so important when using an epilator. Warm water also calms the skin, which will limit the irritation it experiences.

Tips for Showering Before Epilation

Here’s a few tips and steps so you don’t miss anything important when you shower before you use your epilator:

Use Warm Water

Warm water is best. If water is too cool, it won’t open up pores. If it’s too hot, it may make skin prone to irritation when epilating. You want it warm to hotish, but not too hot. 

Exfoliate

Use a loofah or exfoliating gloves with an exfoliating scrub such as Soap And Glory Flake Away Body Scrub to cleanse skin and remove dead skin cells. Rinse thoroughly.

Pat Dry

Don’t rub skin dry. Instead, pat your skin dry with a towel to avoid irritating the skin. Make sure the towel is clean so you don’t expose clean skin to germs.

Avoid Skin Care Products

After you shower, don’t apply lotion, oil, deodorant, or other products to your skin. These will make it harder for the epilator to grab hairs. Once you epilate, you can apply a gentle moisturizer, but you should avoid most products for about 12 to 24 hours after epilating. 

Use Baby Powder

If after drying with a towel, your skin still seems too damp and you experience friction when epilating, use baby powder or talc powder on skin. This will absorb moisture and reduce friction.

Wait 30 Minutes

If you have thin hair or you have problems with hair breaking when using an epilator, wait 10-30 minutes for your hairs to thoroughly dry before you start using your epilator.

The Cons Epilating After Shower

Although it’s a best practice to shower before you epilate, there are a few reasons it’s not always ideal.

Friction from Damp Skin

I don’t hear about this problem often, so it seems to be rare. But my biggest gripe with taking a shower before epilation is the damp skin.

Damp, moist skin creates friction, making it hard to glide the epilator gracefully across skin. If you’re not careful, the epilator can catch your skin or cause a rug burn. 

However, you can solve this issue by either using a talc/baby powder on the skin to dry up excess moisture or simply waiting until your skin is thoroughly dry before using your epilator.

Hair Breakage

Another problem with epilating after a shower is wet hair. If your hair absorbs a lot of water, it will be weighed down, making it harder for an epilator to grab hairs.

Wet hairs are also weaker and break more easily. So an epilator may break hair off at the surface instead of pulling them out by the root.

To avoid this problem, you may need to give your 10-30 minutes to fully dry before you start epilating.

Inconvenience

Sometimes it’s just not feasible to shower before epilating. For example, if you’re sharing a shower with lots of people and can’t coordinate your showering schedule to work this way.

Or, for example, if you need to save your hairdo from shower humidity but just realized your pits desperately need some weed wacking if you are going to wear that sleeveless blouse that matches your pants.

In these rare occurrences, you probably want to know if you can skip the shower before epilating without dire effects happening. 

Can you shower after epilating?

It’s not ideal, but you can shower after epilating instead of before, if you take a few precautions. 

Cleanliness

You need to have the most sanitary conditions as possible for epilating. So if you use a topical antiseptic like Bactine spray (which also helps with epilation pain) and wash your hands, the end result is the same as showering before epilating — you have a clean body before epilating.

Then showering is optional – both before or after epilating. 

However, if you don’t use an antiseptic, try to wash the area you are epilating before you epilate. If that doesn’t happen, then shower after epilating. This is not the best way to epilate, but it will still help prevent infection better than doing nothing at all. 

Exfoliation

If you don’t shower before you epilate, you need to plan ahead and exfoliate the day before you epilate. Once you epilate, you need to wait at least two days to exfoliate because your skin will be too irritated for exfoliation. 

However, if you are not prone to ingrown hairs, you may be able to get away with skipping exfoliating before epilating every once in a while. Just make sure you exfoliate 2-3 days after you use your epilator. 

Other Reasons to Shower After Epilation

Sometimes, you just may want to shower after epilation for other reasons. It feels good and can be calming to your irritated skin.

It also allows you to rinse stray hairs off your body and down the drain. So if you just feel like taking a shower after epilating, there is no reason to skip it.

Should You Epilate in the Shower?

If you’ve heard of wet epilation, you may be wondering if you should epilate in the shower. First of all, you should know that not all epilators will work in the shower and it’s dangerous to use dry epilators in the shower.

So before you even entertain the thought of epilating in the shower, make sure your epilator model is designed to work in water.

However, even if you have a wet epilator, I don’t usually recommend epilating in the shower. Water weighs hair down and makes it more slippery, resulting in less efficient epilation.

Wet hair also breaks easily, which means hair is not getting pulled out by the root and you’ll end up with stubble the next day.

In addition, the lighting in showers tends to suck, so you’ll end up missing hairs. Overall, it’s just not the best epilation experience in my opinion.

However, there is one major reason to epilate in the shower – pain. Warm water calms skin, relaxes the body, and the sensory experience confuses your nervous system, which makes you feel less pain.

So if pain is a huge concern for you, the reduced efficiency may not matter that much. In that case, epilate in the shower until epilating becomes less painful for you. 

Final Takeaways

Whether you are epilating your legs, bikini, underarms, or anywhere else, it’s almost always better to use an epilator after you shower. If you can’t do that, make sure you use a topical antiseptic spray like Bactine to prevent infection. And schedule time to exfoliate a day before you use your epilator so you’ll avoid ingrown hairs. 

If you have a wet epilator, you can epilate during a shower. But I only recommend this if you are using the shower to manage epilator pain.

Related Questions

When to moisturize after epilating? 

After epilating, you may need to wait 30 to 60 minutes to allow inflammation to go down before you apply moisturizer. Aloe vera gel is usually an exception to this rule. You can usually apply it immediately after epilating. It will help with irritation, soothe skin, and moisturize. 

When to exfoliate after epilating? 

Exfoliation irritates the skin and pores. And after you epilate, your skin will be irritated, so you need to wait 2-3 days to exfoliate. Then you should continue to exfoliate regularly every 2-3 days. 

What epilator do you recommend?

The epilator I currently use and get great results with is the Braun Silk-épil 9. If you just want to test out epilation or want an epilator for the face, underarms, or bikini area, I recommend the budget-friendly Emjoi Epi Slim (click to check it out on Amazon).

Have more questions about epilation? Check out the Epilator FAQ and Beginner’s Guide!

Want to remember this? Pin this to your favorite Pinterest board so you can find it later!

After you’ve suffered through an epilation session, the last thing you probably want to do is focus on skin care. Unfortunately, not taking a few minutes on post-epilation skin care can result in unwanted side effects, including infection and ingrown hairs. This last step is always an important part of epilating, but most important when you are first starting out and not sure exactly how your body reacts to epilation. 

After epilating, you need to prevent infection, soothe inflammation, and prevent ingrown hairs. There are many ways to go about this, so read on to get an overview so you can decide what’s best for you and your skin.

Prevent Infection After Using an Epilator

When you epilate, you are pulling hairs out by the root. This causes a minor injury in the hair follicle which makes the area at risk for infections for about 24-48 hours. 

Since newly epilated skin is prone to infection, the first thing you need to do after epilation is minimize the chances of exposing your skin to bacteria or other germs that can cause infection. 

Clean the Skin

Ideally, you should have cleaned your skin before you epilated. You should have also cleaned your epilator head well before you started epilating. This is probably the best way to prevent infection.

So if you skin is already clean after epilating, simply wipe any excess hairs from your skin with a clean towel and you’re good to go.

However, if you did not clean your skin before you started epilating, now is the time to do it. Gently cleanse the skin with a mild soap. Then pat dry the area with a clean towel.

If you don’t have access to a shower or sink to cleanse the area well (when traveling, for example), use a topical over the counter antiseptic spray or cleansers. 

I love Bactine for this purpose. In fact, you may want to use Bactine before you epilate because it also contains lidocaine which help reduce the pain of epilating.  If you decide to use a different antiseptic, I would avoid any with alcohol as this irritates and dries the skin. And your skin is already irritated at this point. 

Keep the Skin Clean

Once you have clean skin, you need to keep it clean until the risk of infection has gone down. It’s super tempting to obsessively touch your smooth skin after epilating, but make sure you don’t touch your skin with dirty hands.

Since sweat can transport bacteria, try to avoid activities that cause excess sweating like working out for about 24 hours. 

You should also make sure that you are only wearing fresh, clean clothing. 

If by chance you do touch your skin or expose the epilated area to germs or bacteria, just cleanse the skin again and pay dry with a clean towel. Or use a topical antiseptic product.

Soothe Skin After Epilation

After using an epilator, you are likely to have some skin redness as well as some minor pain, swelling, or other signs of inflammation.

If you just have some mild redness, you don’t really need to do anything. This is perfectly normal and will go away on its own. However, if you are experiencing pain, swelling, a rash from histamine or another inflammatory response from the body, you can tap into many different hacks and resources to calm your skin and facilitate recovery. 

Ice

A cold compress, bag of frozen vegetables, or a cold wet washcloth applied to the skin for up to 20 minutes will work well to reduce swelling, pain, and irritation.

Lidocaine

If you have lingering pain, Bactine or another topical product with lidocaine will help numb it. Bactine has the added benefit of being an antiseptic so helps prevent infection.

Loose Clothing

Tight clothing rubs against the skin and causes irritation. Wear loose clothing for 1-2 days after your epilate your hair.

Cortisone Cream

If you break out in histamine bumps, a rash, or have inflammation, an over-the-counter cortisone cream may help. 

Avoid Harsh Products

For the first 24 hours after epilating, it’s best to avoid any harsh or drying products including perfumes, tanning products, deodorants, or alcohol containing products.

Aloe Vera Gel

Applying some aloe vera gel, either from a bottle like this product or straight from an aloe vera leaf, will soothe skin without causing breakouts. It also helps moisturize.

Sudocrem

Using some Sudocrem after epilating on your skin will reduce irritation. It also has the added benefit of antiseptic ingredients so will help prevent infection. 

Your Pharmacist

An often untapped resource is your pharmacist. She can give you a custom recommendation for either topical or oral medications based upon your symptoms. 

Prevent Ingrown Hairs After Epilation

A common side effect of epilation is ingrown hair. When hairs are pulled from the root, new hairs have to grow back in and find their way to the surface of the skin. If skin is dry or dead skin cells are clogging the hair follicle, hair can get stuck under the surface, resulting in ingrown hair.

Because of this, it’s important to take steps to minimize dry skin and the accumulation of dead skin cells after epilation.

Moisture After Epilating

To prevent dry skin, start moisturizing your skin within 24 hours of epilating. Some people break out if they moisturize too soon due to irritated pores and skin, so you may need to wait an hour or more before applying a moisturizer. 

To prevent further irritation, it’s best to use a gentle moisturizer that is alcohol and fragrance free. If you are using it on acne-prone areas like the face, then it should be non comedogenic as well. An aloe vera gel works well for this purpose. Aloe vera not only helps reduce inflammation, but also moisturizes and exfoliates. And as always, make sure your hands are clean before applying the moisturizer to recently epilated skin.

Continue to moisturize your skin daily or as necessary to keep skin from drying out. 

Exfoliate After Epilating

To eliminate dead skin cells, you should exfoliate your skin after about 2-3 days after using an epilator. This allows time for irritation to completely subside and gives pores time to heal and close up. You should continue to exfoliate every 2-3 days to prevent ingrown hairs. 

There are two main ways to exfoliate your skin: using friction or a chemical product.

With friction, you simply need to slough dead skin cells off by rubbing skin with an exfoliation cloth, glove, loofa, or pumice stone. For better results, use an exfoliating scrub.

I like to mix brown sugar into coconut oil and add a few drops of lavender essential oil to create a low cost moisturizing exfoliation scrub, but there are endless make-for-you products available. One that many people swear by is Soap And Glory Flake Away Body Scrub.

Another option is to use a chemical exfoliation product such as Tendskin. These products contain acetylsalicylic acid or similar ingredients that help remove dead skin cells and free ingrown hairs without relying on friction.

After Epilating Cream

If you have been reading about epilation online, you may have encountered people talking about after epilation cream and are wondering what it does. So what is after epilation cream? After epilation cream is a cream, lotion, or other topical product that is made specifically to use after hair removal methods that remove hair by the roots, such as waxing or using an epilator. 

These creams usually have ingredients that reduce waxing residue and calm skin. Some also have antiseptic properties to help prevent infection. And some have ingredients intended to slow hair growth. 

Two of the most popular after epilation creams are GiGi Post Epilation Lotion and Parissa Azulene After Waxing Oil.

Is After Epilation Cream Worth the Money?

Unless you are interested in a growth inhibitor to slow hair growth after epilation, I don’t think that after epilation creams are usually necessary. For one, you are usually paying a premium to have a product that does multiple things at once, but you probably don’t need all these ingredients. Since you aren’t waxing, you definitely don’t need to remove wax residue.

I think you may have better luck using lower cost products that address specific issues you have after epilation. For example, if you have histamine bumps, a cheap tub of cortisone cream works great. 

Final Takeaways

This post has listed the best practices for after epilation care so that you end up with the best results with the fewest side effects possible. After epilation, you need to take steps to prevent infection, soothe skin, and then prevent ingrown hairs.

All of the after-care steps listed above may seem overwhelming, but here’s a little secret: I do almost none of these on a regular basis and still have few epilator side effects.

For example, I often epilate my underarms before taking a shower, with a dirty epilator head, and then only use a loofa and regular soap to cleanse/exfoliate afterward. Then I put on deodorant immediately and sweat like a pig. Yep. I suck at after epilation care.

Yet I only get mild redness on my underarms. No major inflammation, no pimples, no infections, no ingrown hairs. However, I couldn’t do the same on my legs all the time and get the same results. Your mileage may very and every area of your body will be different.

It’s definitely best to start with all the steps I’ve listed in this post until you get used to epilating and know how your body reacts. Then adjust your practices as time goes on. And keep in mind that if you don’t do everything perfectly, it’s probably not going to be the end of the world. 

Related Questions

Should I use coconut oil after epilating?

Coconut oil is considered comedogenic so it can cause pimples. If you’re not prone to acne or have dry skin, then it’s usually fine to use coconut oil as a moisturizer after epilation. However, if you want a natural alternative, I recommend jojoba oil because it’s non comedogenic and it doesn’t go rancid like coconut oil does. 

Can I use deodorant after epilating? 

After epilating, it’s best to wait until irritation subsides or about 12 -24 hours before using deodorant. This will prevent irritated skin and avoid introducing bacteria from your deodorant stick. It’s usually easiest to just epilate your armpits at night so you don’t need deodorant right away. 

What’s the best lotion for after epilation? 

Immediately after epilation, I recommend aloe vera gel to soothe and moisturize the skin. Two other good options include jojoba oil and Sudocrem.

Have more questions about epilation? Check out the Epilator FAQ and Beginner’s Guide!

Want to remember this? Pin this to your favorite Pinterest board so you can find it later!

References:

Indian Journal of Dermatology: Aloe Vera: A Short Review

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Safety and Effectiveness of Health Care Antiseptics

Before I used an epilator for the first time, I researched epilation like a maniac. Because of this, I had a good idea of all the possible epilator side effects and how to prevent them. So many of the epilator horror stories I’ve read on the internet could be prevented by knowing this information before you buy and use an epilator.

So what are the side effects of using an epilator? Common epilator side effects include pain, redness, swelling, and ingrown hairs. Less common side effects include bleeding, swelling, red bumps, pimples, rashes, whiteheads, bacterial infections, pinched skin, bruising, itchy regrowth, and scars.

Sounds scary! BUT! Most of these side effects are not inevitable. And many go away as you get used to epilating. Thankfully, there are tons of things you can do to prevent them from happening. Read on to find out the risks of epilation, how to prevent side effects, and how to treat unwanted side effects and epilation accidents. 

Pain

One of the most common side effects of using an epilator is pain. Since you are pulling hairs from the root, you will experience some pain. However, the level of pain experienced varies widely from one person to another.

The good news is that the pain usually subsides after the first few epilation sessions. Many long term users, including myself, can epilate without feeling pain. So if you can get through the first few times, you’ll probably be fine with epilating long term. Until then, try ice before and after epilation to prevent pain or check out my post on how to make epilating less painful for more ideas.

Skin Redness

One of the other most common side effects of epilating is redness. The hair follicle becomes slightly inflamed after you pull out a hair by the root. This activates the body’s defensive responses which results in skin redness.

You should expect some redness after every session, but this usually goes away within a few hours.

The easiest way to deal with this is to epilate at night before bed. Then your skin has time to recover before you will be in public. However, if you want to speed up the skin’s recovery process, use ice or a anti-inflammatory cream to soothe your skin after epilation.

Bleeding and Red Dots

I’ve never experienced bleeding with epilation, but it is a well-known side effect of pulling hairs out by the root. The idea of bleeding may make epilation sound terrifying, but it’s perfectly normal and not anything to be worried about.

Each hair follicle is connected to a blood vessel, so if you pull it out when it’s in the growth stage, a little bleeding is perfectly normal. Your body will respond quickly by swelling at the pore to cut off blood flow, so bleeding doesn’t last long. Then your body will reabsorb any blood left in the pore. 

If epilation causes bleeding or red dots from blood for you, you’re most likely to see it after your first time epilating in tight-pore areas or areas with thick, coarse hair such as the underarms or pubic area.

As your hair roots become weaker, bleeding tends to stop happening. So the best way to deal with this side effect is to keep the area clean to avoid infection and expect it to go away within a few sessions. 

If you see bleeding happening beyond the first few epilation sessions, you may need to use an epilator with a lower speed.

Other causes of bleeding include medications or health issues. Some medications, including NSAIDs (non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Tylenol, thin the blood, which makes bleeding more likely. Health issues that affect blood clotting often cause bleeding so talk to your doctor if you seem to be bleeding more than normal.

Swelling

As mentioned, after hairs are pulled from the root, each pore swells a little to prevent bleeding. And if your body is feeling a little too hypervigilant in that moment, your pores may swell enough to be noticeable, making your skin look swollen.

You’re most likely to see swelling on sensitive areas of the body including the underarms, bikini areas, or your upper lip. Thankfully, swelling is normal and temporary and should go away within minutes or hours. To speed up the process, apply ice to the area for about 10 minutes at a time.

Red Bumps, Pimples, Rashes, and Spots

Now we are venturing into the more significant and not always harmless side effects of epilation: bumps, pimples, rashes, and various spots. Some of these are pretty easy to deal with and others can cause serious health issues, but they all look pretty similar. So to pinpoint what exactly you’re dealing with, you need to know if it’s caused by bacteria or an inflammatory response by the body. 

Bacterial Infection: Whiteheads, Pimples, and Folliculitis 

Bumps and rashes caused by a bacterial infections will typically look like small whiteheads or red pimples. There may just be one bump or a cluster of many together. They usually appear 24-72 hours after you use an epilator and most commonly appear on the chest, back, or upper lip.

Bacterial infections after an epilation are caused by bacteria getting into the pores. This happens when you don’t clean your epilator after each use or share an epilator with other people. It can also happen if you touch freshly epilated skin with dirty hands or if bacteria-carrying sweat gets into your pores. 

The best way to prevent a bacterial infection is by only touching your skin with clean hands and avoiding working out or other activities that cause you to sweat a lot for about 24 hours after epilating. You should also make sure that any clothing you wear after epilation is clean.

Once you have a bacterial infection, it’s best to consult your primary care doctor or dermatologist for medical advice. 

Histamine Bumps After Epilating

If you experience bumps almost immediately after epilation or you experience red itchy bumps, hives, or welts, you are most likely experiencing an inflammatory or allergic reaction. This is often known as histamine bumps. These bumps can appear anywhere, but are most common on the chest, lips, cheeks, or around the eyes. 

Does this mean you’re allergic to epilation? Not exactly.

When tissue is injured, your body’s defense system reacts so to protect and heal. And this reaction can involve a release of histamine from mast cells, which are also released when your body reacts to allergens.

Basically, your body is just over-reaching to the situation. This could end up being a one off fluke, which means you can continue to epilate without problems. Or in some cases, it becomes your body’s bad habit, and you will have this reaction every time you epilate. 

The good news is that skin should calm down in a few minutes to a few hours. The best way to deal is to take steps to reduce your discomfort such as using a cool compress or applying a calming lotion like calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream. Another option is to consult your pharmacist for medication recommendations. 

If you continue to have these reactions after epilating, it’s best to consult your doctor to ask about treatment recommendations or see if you should avoid certain hair removal procedures.

Ingrown Hairs

Ingrown hairs are a common side effect of most hair removal methods, including epilation. Few people can epilate without experienceing at least a few ingrown hairs now and then.

After being pulled out by the root, new hairs have to break through the surface of the skin. Sometimes these new hairs have difficulty breaking through, either because they aren’t growing straight up or because dead skin cells are blocking them.

The best way to prevent this from happening is to exfoliate well before and after epilating and then continue to exfoliate skin 2-3 times a week. Once you get an ingrown hair, it’s likely to go away on it’s own. If it doesn’t go away or you end of seeing signs of a bacterial infection, it’s best to seek medical advice. 

Pinched Skin

One of the worst things that can happen from using an epilator is pinched skin or skin getting caught in the epilator head. This happens when the skin is too loose or you push down on the epilator.

It’s most common on the underarms and public area (labia), but may happen almost anywhere on the body. This causes anything from mild pain and bruising to severe pain, cuts and bleeding. 

I’ve been an unfortunate victim of one of these tragedies. It happened after I bought a more powerful epilator.

I had been used to the limited power and slower speed of the older epilator and didn’t adjust my epilator technique to match the speed of the newer epilator.

The result was my armpit getting stuck in the epilator for a split second. It hurt like a mofo but only left a tiny bruise that went away after a few days. Since then, I’ve more careful and have avoided anymore of these accidents. 

The best way to avoid the same fate is to always pull your skin taut and try to create a flat surface to move the epilator over. Always be mindful of nearby skin when working around joints and the pubic area.

Some people have suggested baby powder to avoid pinching skin with an epilator. Here’s a suggestion from a reddit user by the name of caarbonn:

Baby powder is key for epilating lady bits and underarms, it helps prevent the skin from getting caught, and for me it prevents a lot of weird pulling and tugging that results in slight bleeding post epilation. Just make sure you don’t get the baby powder too close to your vajayjay or wash it off immediately to prevent a yeast infection! 

-Reddit User

If you do get pinched, it’s likely to only happen for a tiny moment and the skin will come out of the epilator quickly on it’s own. If not, turn the epilator off and ease the skin out as gently as possible. Then treat the injury with basic first aid.

Bruising

Bruising is not a normal side effect of epilation. If you find bruises on your skin after using your epilator, you are likely pushing too hard on the skin, pulling on the skin too taut, or using a speed that is too high for you.

It’s also possible that you have an underlying health condition that thins the blood or reduces blood clotting or you are taking medications that cause that effect. If bruising continues, it’s best to seek medical advice.

Itchy Regrowth

Although less common than with shaving, epilator regrowth can be itchy. The main reasons for itchy regrowth are ingrown hairs, bacterial infection, histamine reactions, dry skin, or you may simply just have thick, coarse hairs that irritate your skin while growing back. 

If your problem is ingrown hair, bacterial infection, or histamine reaction, refer to the sections above and resolve the underlying cause.

If the problem is your hair type or dry skin, the best solution is to exfoliate 2-3 times a week, drink plenty of water, and thoroughly moisturize your skin daily with a soothing fragrance-free, alcohol-free cream designed for sensitive skin.

I’ve had chronic itchy skin for most of my life and found Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion (click to check out the reviews on Amazon) to work really well to relieve and prevent itchiness from dry, sensitive skin.

Scars

Scars from epilation are rare. I’m accident and scar prone (I get a new scar from cooking on a monthly basis!), but I’ve yet to get a single epilator scar after years of epilating. However, there is a small chance you can get scars from epilating.

If you end up with scars, it will be due to damage caused by other side effects such as ingrown hairs or bacterial infections. The best way to prevent scars from using an epilator is to treat side effects promptly and appropriately.

For example, don’t dig out ingrown hairs yourself, don’t pick at damaged skin or bumps, and don’t ignore bacterial infections. And always seek medical advice before things get out of hand.

Once you have scars, you can do what I do with my scars and simply embrace them. Or if you’re not into that, there are many options available to treat them.

The easiest step is to try an over the counter scar cream like Mederma (click to read reviews on Amazon). Your primary care physician or dermatologist can also prescribe stronger creams and medications that may work better. For deeper or stubborn scars, steroid injections or surgical interventions may be necessary to completely remove them.

Final Takeaways

The only side-effect free way of dealing with unwanted hair is to embrace it and go natural. Every hair removal method is going to have some risks and potential side effects.

If you use an epilator, the most likely side effects are pain, skin redness, swelling, and ingrown hairs. There are also more rare but serious side effects including bacterial infections and pinched skin.

One way to deal with pain and inflammation side effects is to use ice before and after epilating. And epilating at night will give your skin time to recover before it needs to look good.

Take steps to prevent bacterial infections by cleaning your epilator regularly, using clean hands, and keeping dirty hands and sweat away from freshly epilated skin.

And finally, always move your epilator slowly and keep your skin taut when epilating to avoid pinching the skin, bruising, or other epilator accidents.

Related Questions

What is the best epilator for beginners?

My pick for the best epilator overall is the Braun Silk-épil 9. However, for beginners, I typically recommend the Emjoi Epi Slim (click to check it out on Amazon). This is a small affordable epilator that works best for the face, underarms, or bikini area. The low price lets you test out epilation for yourself without spending a lot. Then if epilation works out well for you, you can eventually upgrade to a better epilator and use this as a back up or travel epilator.

Have more questions about epilation? Check out the Epilator FAQ and Beginner’s Guide!

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