Hair Removal: Velvet Touch Mitten vs Veet Wax Strips

Well girls! It's that time of year again. Time to start showing your legs again, and therefore needing to shave more often! I have to say, being in a long-term relationship I certainly let the leg hair grow a little longer than normal during the winter and when summer time comes I always think to myself, "damn... now I need to shave more often." Without fail, with each spring season I try out different types of hair removal, but more often than not resort to shaving all summer anyways. So, I thought I would let my leg hair grow a little before it's REALLY short season and give some new products a try. That and it's better to have a rash when you can still cover it up! I've given up on Nair and other depilatories because no matter how closely I follow directions I either end up with a chemical burn or a rash and patchy, hairy legs. The two products I will review today are:


Beauty Maid's Velvet Touch Hair Remover Mitten


Veet's Salon Line Easy to Use Wax Strips

Velvet Touch Mitten This mitten promises to be "the fast and gentle way to soft, hair-free skin. I purchased a pack of three mittens at Wal Mart for $3.95 (much cheaper than comparable products that retail for around $15).



The Velvet Touch Mitten is what feels very much like ultra-fine sandpaper, printed pink and floral, in a circular shape about the size of your palm. This should have been my first tip off as to how this experiment would go. You are supposed to slip the ring over your hand until it fits snugly and then rub it in circles on sections about the size of your palm.

It took me approximately twice the time it takes me to shave my legs to get two palm-sized patches (mostly) hair free. While I will say that my skin was velvety smooth, it also burned. A lot. Although, what else can you really expect when you rub your skin repeatedly with sand paper? I would say that I will let everyone know how long it takes the hair to grow back... but realistically there's not point as no one should try this product.

I would absolutely not recommend this to anyone who cares about their skin. Don't get me wrong, I am all about the exfoliation, but this takes exfoliating to a whole new place. One that I am not a big fan of. There is one instance I thought of where this product might actually be useful. You know when you shave your legs and then you go out and while you're out you realize you left a tiny strip of hair on your leg unshaven? I think it might be good for this. I will probably keep one of these in my make up bag for those emergencies. Hopefully it wouldn't take quite so long to rub off a few stray hairs. Otherwise, this is NOT a product that would be useful in keeping you hair-free.

Veet Wax Strips I picked these up at Wal Mart (the cashier must have thought I am an exceptionally hairy lady) for about $14. Included are 20 strips and 4 Perfect Finish Wipes (which are basically an oily substance used to get the wax off). Veet promises that this product will be "effective even on short hair" and "long-lasting, salon quality results - enjoy smooth skin for up to four weeks."



I have to say I've never ventured in to the wax strip world. I've purchased several of the heat up pots of wax, only to throw them out in the end. I've been known to sit down on the floor, wax in hand, and to prepare a generous strip for hair removal, only to slink into the bathroom to soak it off in a hot shower. Perhaps years of brazillians (no, I will never attempt doing this at home) have made me braver or at least more accustomed to the pain or perhaps at home waxing kits have improved, but I didn't find these all that painful. No, it didn't tickle, but it was certainly tolerable.

My first strip only successfully removed about half the hair, but after modifying my technique slightly the second strip removed 95%. These strips are pretty fool proof as there is no guessing how much wax to put on or how big of a patch you should do. It did take me longer than shaving would have (although that probably had to do with me sitting on the floor hyperventilating before tearing the first strip off). But, if it only need to be done once every four weeks I am more than willing to put the extra twenty or so minutes in on a Friday night.

My only complaint is that Veet promises each strip can be used multiple times until the sticky runs out. I found it ran out with the first go. Perhaps this was because I apparently really need to exfoliate my legs, or it could be the formulation.

I give these strips a huge TRY ME! I think they were fabulous and I will be repurchasing for sure. I might try some other kinds/brands to see how they compare, but these ones in particular were great. I especially loved that they were so easy to use (no microwaving and heat testing and guessing).