Hi all,
TLDR: I was hairy now I’m not. Learnt a lot of lessons along the way. I urge everyone to meditate more often, and be happy with yourselves and to not go down the rabbit hole. If something is affecting you really badly, find a solution. There is ALWAYS a solution.
Just thought I’d lay out my experiences with how being hairy affected me growing up and how I’ve been able to combat it as times go on. I am 24 years old, of Hispanic background and am relatively hairy. I remember throughout high school being teased by some guys (and some girls) about how much hair I had. The worst scenario was when I lifted my arms to catch a ball and these guys said “OMG she has so much hair on her armpits”, quite audibly so that everyone could hear. A lot of people laughed, some people came up to me giggling and saying “It’s okay”. Surprisingly, that didn’t affect me too much at the time as I laughed it off, but it really affected my self-esteem as my life went on. That same scene replayed in my head quite often.
As people grow older and generally become more mature, things like that become more meaningless to them as they realize that’s just a normal function of the human body. For me though, I didn’t accept it. At the time, I didn’t have a job, and my parents were relatively strict and “traditional” so asking for money for laser hair removal at the time just wouldn’t happen. In fact, I wouldn’t even bother asking, as I’d just get “disciplined” for even doing those sorts of devilish things. I decided to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts while I was at school, even on super-hot days. I had a few friends and they were great, but I never got the chance to really have anything romantic with any guy and even while my friends had boyfriends, I never did. I blamed this all on my hairiness but I know it was also because I was timid and didn’t look for opportunities, but how can you when you have something that makes you feel so shit about yourself?
I got a job when I was 18, saved up around about $1000 and decided to pay for an upfront cost for laser hair removal on my arms, legs, and armpits for 6 sessions. I was initially quoted a much higher amount, something I can’t remember anymore and I literally burst out crying right there in front of the manager because I thought I’d never been able to fix this issue without spending a ridiculous amount of money. I think she felt really sorry for me so she cut it down to $1000, something I still wasn’t happy with, but I think with her staring and bringing the price down so far as well as my own insecurities that were haunting me, I decided to just go through with it. I remember going to these sessions and pretending I was going to work and being so paranoid that my parents would see my hairless body and realized that I had spent money on laser hair removal.
Slowly but surely, going to these sessions really improved how I felt, how I looked, etc. I would love to show you photos of my legs before these sessions but unfortunately, don’t have any. As time went on though, the hair started growing back and I realized you had to go back and get these treatments once every year to make sure the hair didn’t grow back again (stupid, I know, but I was only 18) and those with insecurities will know, even seeing a glimmer of your insecurity makes you go insane, and this is exactly how I felt and still do.
I did this once every year and I was spending a lot of money. I remember questioning whether I even needed it. Although I had hair on my legs, it wasn’t really that bad. I look at the picture now compared to how my hair was when I was in high school and it was nowhere near the same. I wouldn’t have even cared in high school if I had the hair I did now but now I do. Strange how that works.
Recently I found an at-home hair removal product called IPL hair removal. This has worked the same as laser hair removal for me at a cheaper price and I could do at the comfort of my own home. It’s an awesome product and I should have found this earlier, would have saved me the visits to the laser hair removal clinics. What I really wanted to say though was that this could have all been solved if I was just a little bit more understanding of what I was actually going through and realizing that my insecurities weren’t as bad as I think. I think about it now, and even if I stop this IPL treatment, I don’t know if I would care as much. I now have a loving boyfriend, have a great social life, but I still am a little timid in some respects. I don’t know if that’s because of the experiences I went through school or whether it’s because I am who I am. Regardless, I’ve learnt so much about myself along the way.
Thanks for reading.