In You’ll love this easy DIY shave lotion, I spoke about wanting to investigate zero-waste hair removal options so that I could get rid of my plastic razor cartridges. A couple of readers gave me suggestions on more sustainable hair removal options to try if I didn’t want to use a safety razor.

Today, I’ll provide an update and share my experience with the two options I tried—sugaring and an epilator.

This post was originally published in August 2020 and updated in June 2023.

How these options compare to shaving

Shaving removes only the portion of the hair follicle that is above the skin. Both sugaring and epilation remove hair from the root, meaning you need to do it less often than shaving.

For sugaring and epilation to work, you need to let hair grow to about 1/8 or 1/4 inch. If the hair is shorter, the sugar solution or epilator won’t be able to grab and remove the hair.

Let’s have a closer look.

Sugaring

Fans of sugaring say it’s less painful than waxing because the sugar solution adheres only to the hair and not the surrounding skin. Unlike wax, the sugar solution is natural, biodegradable, and hypoallergenic. It’s made of sugar, lemon juice and water. You could even eat it.

Sugaring lasts about 3 weeks and you need hair to grow to about 1/8 or 1/4 inch so the sugar paste has something to adhere to. So, you would usually need to sugar about every 4 weeks.

I bought a home sugaring kit last year. I tried it once but found it messy and not all that effective. But, at my reader’s suggestion, I decided to give it another shot.

I followed the instructions carefully. First, I warmed the sugar solution. Then I used the wooden applicator stick to apply it to my legs. The kit came with a reusable cloth strip to remove the hair similar to a waxing strip.

The result…a sticky mess on my legs that was really hard to remove, and there was still some hair left behind. I was still not convinced sugaring was right for me.

If you want to give sugaring a try, I think a salon would be the way to go. But, I am a little leery of salons and their use of plastic, not to mention their cleaning and sanitation practices. Salons are also a more costly option considering you’ll need to plan an appointment about once a month.

So, I decided to try an epilator.

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Epilator

Epilation is another hair removal option that removes hair by the root, meaning you need to defuzz less often than with a razor.

I didn’t know a lot about epilators, so I decided to do some research online to see which one to buy. What I read scared and confused me. Some reviewers referred to epilators as torture devices, and spoke of excruciating, unbearable pain like they had never experienced before. On the other hand, some reviews said it wasn’t painful at all. It was hard to know what to believe.

Feeling like I have a reasonable tolerance for pain, I decided to give it a go and bought an epilator.

Wet or dry epilators

Like most personal care appliances, there is a range of options and prices to choose from. Epilators come in two basic options: wet and dry. They both work the same way with small tweezers that pluck the hair out by the root.

The more expensive wet epilators are cordless and can be used in the shower, but they need to be charged between uses. Dry epilators are corded so, like other electrical appliances, shouldn’t be used in the shower or bath. The advantage is you don’t have to worry about charging them.

After reading several reviews, I decided to go with a Braun less expensive, dry epilator. I have since upgraded to a wet epilator.

After my sugaring mess, I had to wait until the hair grew to about 1/8” so the tweezers in the epilator could grab onto the hair. This gave me enough time to work up the courage to actually use the “torture device”.

I started with my legs. I have to say I am not sure what all the fuss was about. It does pinch a bit, but I wouldn’t call it painful. Some of the reviews warned that using the epilator on underarms hurts a lot more than legs, so I was a little nervous about trying that. A couple of days later, I gave it a try on my underarms. It was fine.

The epilator does take a little longer than shaving. It probably takes about 15 minutes per leg the first time around. After the initial use, I found I needed to touch up stray hairs about once a week. That took only a few minutes.

Epilation is similar to sugaring in terms of how long it lasts. Since it also removes hair by the root, it lasts about 3 weeks.

The verdict

For me, the epilator is the better of the two options. It costs less, isn’t as messy. and lasts as long as sugaring.

Do you have other suggestions for zero-waste hair removal? Tell us about them below.