Beauty Extremist: Smooth Arms

In our Beauty Extremist series, we interview people with a bona fide beauty addiction to find out what makes them tick and how they got hooked. For this installment, we explore the talented, hilarious and genuinely kind beauty writer and blogger Amber Katz, who has an affinity for fuzz-free amrs.

You can (and should) follow Amber at her cyber destinations: her blog, Beauty Blogging Junkie; her Twitter feed, @glambr; and her Pinterest boards. Prepare yourself for clever movie references and witty neologisms (see Fictionary). You are cordially invited to join her fan club.

 

“I started getting laser hair removal on my underarms and bikini at Pulse Laser Skin Care Center with Jennifer (she's IT and then some, if you're in the market for hairless anything) and started to become as maniacal about hair removal everywhere below my bottom lashes as I am about making the most of my hair on my head (and eyelashes).

 

I saw my friend Katie Welch waxing her arms with Bliss' Poetic Waxing Strips on QVC and decided hair on my arms had to be a thing of the past. I was waxing with the Bliss strips for a while, which are great, but they do take a bit longer to use. In the interest of getting more surface area more quickly, I decided it would be great to depilate, which would allow me to multitask. I decided to try using Veet Fast Acting Hair Removal Gel Cream Hair Remover for Legs and Body (not even the sensitive version--I'm not driving) on my arms from wrist to shoulder, 360-degree circumference. I'm officially converted to Team #Fuzzfreearms. To me, my limbs look leaner and somehow more toned without a smattering of hair. Mine's dirty blonde, so it's not so noticeable, but it's as much about the way it feels than the way it looks. Also, in the winter, I'm copy-paper white, so even dark blonde can show up kill my smooth arm game a bit.  

“I started to get crazypants paranoid about somehow getting one modicum of Veet on my mane.”

I used to load up my arms with Veet and let it sit for 10 minutes before doing a 'soup-to-nuts' shower in which I exfoliate, wash and condition my hair and shave everything that needs to be shaved, but then I started to get crazypants paranoid about somehow getting one modicum of Veet on my mane while washing it and causing it to disintegrate. So now, I Veet it up biweekly on days when I'm not washing my hair so there's no risk of mistaking Veet for conditioner or something TRAGIC like that. I live in irrational fear of things like this, in case you're not picking up what I'm putting down. To make my time more efficient while I'm standing around naked pre-shower, I started dry-exfoliating the rest of my body in the tub before turning on the water and washing everything off. No tips to making it smell better, unfortunately. I find Veet's formula doesn't smell good, but once every two weeks, it's bearable. 

 

I always make sure to do a Veet sesh the day before I leave for vacation for extra-smooth arms. It lasts two weeks, so unless I'm embarking on a long sojourn, I'm good to go. With Veet, the hair doesn't grow back darker or thicker, but sometimes it feels a bit stubbly. Oddly, it never looks as if it would feel stubbly. Not quite shaven stubbly, but when it's time to remove the hair again the ends can feel weirdly a bit sharp. 

 

I've worn long sleeves to work out when my hair schedule and Veet schedule don't match up well or I just don't have time to do the whole ten-minute pre-shower thing. I've even worn a top with sleeves to Jesse Alexander's Flywheel class, which he loathes. He insists on a no-sleeve class to encourage sweating!”