Hair Removal - My Story, Products to Remove Hair & Loving Yourself

Hair removal?! Not the usual thing I see coming up on my feed, but something we all do. I'm currently battling myself, I've hated how I look for pretty much my whole life and now I'm doing something about it. Exercising to feel good and to tone myself up a bit, healthy eating to make me feel good inside and hopefully make me look better on the outside and hair removal.. because well as a dark-featured girl I am plagued and it embarrasses me totally to the point where I now wear long-sleeves every single day. Enough.

When I was younger, I was always tanned. As someone with olive skin, I pick up the sun in no time, going on holiday twice a year seriously helped keep me dark, disguising/bleaching the hairs on my arms and body. Now, I can't afford to go on holiday (venturing away from England for the first time in 5 years in August however), and I am paler than ever have been, and I'm noticing my dark hairs more than ever and I hate it.

I know I'm not alone, but I rarely see any women with hair on their arms, lower back, or anywhere really. I know body hair is normal and something I (and you reading this if this is something you experience) shouldn't be embarrassed of, but yet I do feel embarrassed and like it's not normal. Body standards of women have certainly changed, nothing is real and there seems to be so much pressure on us ladies to be completely hair-free and "perfect". I disagree with this, as having hair is completely natural and I don't think you should have to change yourself so others think you are pretty or to live up to standards set by the media. All that matters is that you love yourself for who you are.

And although I'm not planning on changing myself for anyone, as I am purely exercising and eating right to feel better inside, the one thing I cannot shake is my dark hair. So I am doing something about it. I've never wanted to shave my arms as I don't fancy stubble or the constant commitment, so however I have bought wax strips, hair removal cream and bleach.

WAX STRIPS

I bought Veet Ready to Use Easy Grip wax strips for the worst of the hair on my arms. They come in packs of 40, so will last a while! Waxing lasts longer than shaving and will help to discourage growth/make hair seem finer after frequent use which is a result I'm hoping for more than anything! Although it can be uncomfortable, it's something you get used to - kind of like doing your eyebrows!
My experience - it was really easy and simple, and really didn't hurt half as much as I thought it would! It has given me such smooth soft skin, I love the result!

HAIR REMOVAL CREAM
Something I'm sure we've all dabbled in at some point in our lives, hair removal cream is fairly quick and easy and something I picked up for the finer hairs (but not as fine as facial hair). I picked up Veet 3 Minute Cream mainly because it was on offer and because Veet seems to be a more trusted brand in the hair removal world.
My experience - I really like this hair removal cream, it of course doesn't smell great but smells a lot better than some hair removal creams I've used. I left it on for the maximum amount of time (6 minutes) rather than 3 minutes so not to be disappointed and it has worked a treat. Great product!

BLEACH
Something I always saw in the bathroom cupboard growing up but wasn't sure what it was... Jolen Cream Bleach is for my really fine hairs and for facial hair, my mum literally swears by it. I don't want to remove any hair on my face (unless this doesn't work) in fear of them coming back worse or stubbly, so turning them blonde will hopefully disguise them!
My experience - this was the most time-consuming out of the three, but well worth it. Every hair I bleached has pretty much turned invisible, I love it! 

Loving yourself, being happy and confident in who you are is so important and nothing should get in the way of accepting who you are. All your friends, family and loved ones don't care for you imperfections, they are what makes you, you. Everyone has flaws! But if something is stopping you from loving yourself, being happy and confident then you can always change it, just make sure you do it in a healthy and safe way.

I would love to know if anyone else struggles with dark body hair, and what you thought of my post!

Ellie x