How to Epilate Underarms Painlessly? – Step-By-Step Guide

Armpit hair is natural. It becomes more common once you reach adolescence after that it is an inseparable part of your life. 

Women get armpit hair at the age of around 10-12 and 11-14 for men.

Not everyone likes armpit hair, A survey in 2016 on 2000 found that 77% of women shave their armpit at the age of 16 to 24.

Everyone’s hair removal method could be different, some like waxing, and some like shaving and hair removal creams.

Waxing is expensive and at home, it needs lots of preparation to do, shaving and other hair removal creams don’t give results that last long.

Epilator could be the best mean path of these hair removal methods, it is not messy as waxing and its results stay for weeks not days.

Is it safe to epilate underarms? – Yes, it is safe and effective to epilate underarms. Although epilating the underarms is painful, you epilate with minimum pain if you follow the right process.

Is it painful to epilate the underarms (armpits)?

Yes, you can epilate your underarms. Epilating underarms is less messy than waxing and results last longer than shaving.

An epilator is just a bunch of tweezers rotating at a very high speed. Epilator itself is not painful, pain comes when hair comes out from the root. You can minimize the pain by epilating with the right process.

You can use an epilator to remove hair from the armpit regardless of your gender. 

One major benefit of epilating armpit hair is that you get hairless smooth armpits for weeks and hair grows back slower, finer, and thinner.

Now, you know that you can epilate the underarms but the next question arises – Is epilating the armpit painful?

Is epilating the underarms painful? – Yes, epilating your underarms is painful at first but you get used to the pain. The armpits are a very sensitive area, so plucking hair from the root will definitely cause some pain. But, the pain will also depend on hair growth and thickness. Thick and coarse hair causes more pain than finer and thin hair.

If you have fine and thin hair then don’t worry about the pain just start epilating, and the pain will be under control.

But, if you have thick and coarse hair then follow the right step and choose the best epilator to epilate the underarms as described below.

How to epilate the armpits with as minimum pain as possible?

To epilate underarms without pain as much as possible follow these steps properly. 

1. Trim or shave before epilating

Longer hair is more painful because now the epilator has to take a little extra turn. Short hair gets pulled in just one snap.

For epilation, hair length should be between 3- 5 mm. But, now you can easily get an epilator that can grab even 0.5mm of hair such as Braun Silk-épil 9 9-030 or Philips Beauty Series 8000.

To get the right hair length, you can trim or shave. When hair starts to appear, now is the best time to epilate.

2. Choose the right epilator

This is a very important step to make epilating as painless as possible.

The Epilator head should be flexible so that it can grab hair in all directions while following the contour of the armpit.

Blades should be very precise and tight so they can grab the finest and smallest hair firmly and pull it out from the root.

Some people like to epilate in the shower when their skin is calm, to do so you need a wet & dry epilator.

I know not everyone can find the best epilator for this, so we have chosen the 3 best epilators for you below.

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3. Exfoliation is the key to painless hair removal

Any hair removal method can cause ingrown hair. But it is a little bit more common with an epilator because it will not clean your skin naturally as waxing does.

To exfoliate your skin you can use exfoliator pads or exfoliants such as Paula’s Perfecting Salicylic Acid Exfoliant and Exfoliating gloves. Exfoliator removes dead skin cells which prevents clogging of hair follicles that could have turned into an ingrown hair. Exfoliators also promote hair growth in the right direction

4. Angle epilator at 90 degrees

Now, it is time for actual epilation. 

Angle epilator at right angles to the skin. Some epilators may have curves, adjust them so that their blades are exactly perpendicular to the skin.

5. Keep skin tout go steadily without pushing too hard against the skin

Go slowly and steadily without pushing too hard against the skin. Keep skin tout, to do so you can use your other hand and stretch it. Otherwise, It can cause bleeding if the skin gets caught in the epilator blades. Armpit bleeding is also very common during epilating. Our armpits have loose skin and if we push the epilator hard against the skin, skin gets caught in the epilator blades and we all know what happened after that.

Be careful, to avoid armpit bleeding when epilating, keep skin taut, and don’t push the epilator hard against your skin.

6. Move the epilator opposite to the direction of the hair growth

However, hair grows in different directions in our armpits. But, move the epilator in the direction that it can grab the maximum hair possible. If some hair strands are still left behind, then move the epilator in all directions, don’t just marry to only one direction.

How do I reduce pain in my armpits after epilating?

After epilation skin may get irritated and even worse after-epilation if you sweat it may sting so badly. So, always soothe your skin after epilation.

To soothe your skin you can use ice or a cold compress if it feels too cold you can also use a wet pat. after that when your skin dries use aftercare.

You can soothe your skin at home, for this you can use apple cider vinegar, cucumber, aloe vera, or witch hazel.

If you don’t have time for this you can use aftercare such as Tend skin. Gently rub it and leave it alone. You can also use aloe vera cream or lotion instead of Tend Skin.

What is the Best epilator for underarms?

These are my top picks for underarms. If You have dark coarse hair, you need more power to pull hair from the root without breaking the hair at the surface of the skin. choose any of these

1. Philips Beauty Epilator Series 8000

This Philips Beauty Epilator is the best epilator for the underarms of women.

Although men can also use it, the accessories make it special for women.

If you have long underarm hair then its shaver head can be very useful for you. However shaver head is not of the best quality but you can shave your underarms with it.

It can grab 0.5mm long hair, its rotating discs are made of unique ceramic material with a micro ridge surface that can grab that small hair easily. 

It is very powerful, it can pull dark and thick hair in just one snap which makes it even better for underarms.

Well if you don’t like to shave your armpit with its shaver head, you can also use its precise trimmer head that trims armpit hair precisely to the minimum length possible. It also comes with a trimmer comb but they are not useful for underarm hair, I have used them.

If you are new to epilation then don’t worry it comes with a skin contact cap that helps with optimal contact of the epilator to the skin.

It is the overall best epilator for women. You can use it on your face and bikini line. In fact, it comes with a facial cap that can be used to epilate the upper lip.

Key feature

• Wet & dry 
• Good battery
• Extra accessories – shaver head, trimmer head, facial cap, skin contact cap, pedicure foot file, exfoliator, bikini comb, trimmer comb.
• Ergonomic design

Pros and cons

2. Braun Epilator Silk-épil 9 9-030

Braun epilator is best for women and men. Although it is a little bit expensive.

If you don’t have an epilator and want to buy one for the overall body then go with this one. But, if you want to buy a special epilator for underarms then you can go with other options this will cost you more.

This epilator does wonders. It has a fully flexible head that can move and tilt in any direction, which is very convenient when you are epilating Your underarms.

It also comes with a trimmer head and shaver head, if you have long hair you can use this one.

The best and most unique thing about this epilator is that it comes with SensoSmart technology that applies the right amount of pressure for more comfort.

It has two-speed settings, one is for dark coarse hair and the other is for fine and thin hair. A lower speed setting is very useful when you use an epilator on regrown hair.

It is waterproof and you can use it underwater, dry, or wet.

Overall the best epilator for underarms but is a little bit expensive, so buy it if you need A new epilator for the whole body.

Key features

• Full flexible head 
• Smart light
• SensoSmart technology
• Two-speed settings
• Waterproof
• Anti Slip grip

Pros and cons

3. Braun Epilator Silk-epil 3 3-270

This epilator is specially designed to epilate underarm hairs.

It is small and compact. Its head is small and exactly the size of its underarms.

If you already have an epilator and you want to get another epilator especially to epilate small and sensitive areas such as underarms then this is the epilator that you can get.

It has two-speed settings: sensitive mode and normal mode.

It also helps to reduce the pain, it has two massage rollers along with tweezers that stimulate and massage skin.

Smart light that reveals even the finest hair is very useful.

It is a corded epilator, so you cannot use it wet. But, for underarms, corded epilators are also good. There is no worry about power, it is always charged.

This epilator is also good for the overall body but it is time-consuming.

Key feature

• Small and compact
• Massage roller
• Smart light
• 20 tweezers
• 2-speed settings

Pros and cons

How often should I epilate my underarms?

First, when you have just started epilating, for the first month you can epilate your underarm once a week. For the first few times, once a week is the best time to epilate in a week your hair grows enough to grab by the epilator. 

After some time hair growth slows down and then you can epilate once a month or according to your need.

But, remember the sooner you epilate less pain you will experience.

At the very beginning, you can epilate every day for one week because at first, you might break the hair from just above the skin, the next day it can grow to a length enough to grab by the epilator.

The Sooner you epilate, the each time pain decreases and comfort increases, eventually you will become an expert in epilating your underarms.

Is it safe to epilate underarms?

Yes, it is safe to epilate underarms. Lots of women are doing it for a long time.

The only thing that makes epilating underarms unsafe is ingrown hair and skin irritation.

To prevent ingrown skin make sure you are exfoliating underarms properly and to avoid irritation soothe skin properly after epilation. Click here to read our epilation guide

Does the epilator darken underarms?

No, the epilator doesn’t darken the skin. Repeated friction and trauma to the skin darken the skin.

Epilators cause ingrown hair and lots of trauma to the skin that might darken the skin in the long run. But, if you use an epilator the right way and soothe the skin after epilation you can avoid darkening of the skin.

You can avoid the darkening of the skin by using lots of moisturizers after epilation.

Conclusion 

You can epilate your underarms safely. Although it is a little bit painful, over time you get used to this pain. To minimize pain during epilation, epilate hair as short as possible.

Choosing the right epilator is also very important for painless underarm epilation. In this guide, you can get all this information in detail.