You know those famous last words, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I picked up Nair Shower Power on my last trip to CVS because I’m going on vacation next week and worry-free hairless legs is such a tempting concept right before vacation, isn’t it? The packaging looks like this:
Shower Power? What sorcery is this? This particular product is designed to be used in the shower (derr). The instructions tell you to apply it to dry legs and wait 1 minute before entering the shower. Then go about your normal shower routine, leaving the cream to work on your leg hair for a few more minutes as you do your thing. The claim is that the thick formula will stay on your legs in the shower (avoiding putting your legs in the “direct stream” as if to rinse them, yes) while you go about your business washing your hair, blah blah blah. It sounds cool, doesn’t it? I got the sensitive formula, as I have very sensitive skin, especially on my legs.
Nair Shower Power comes with a little application sponge. You’re supposed to apply the cream with the blue side of the sponge, rinse it out, and then remove the cream with the white side (what the difference is, I really have no idea…?) once you’re ready.
Alright, so that’s how it’s supposed to work. How did it really work? Oh let me tell you.
I applied the cream to both legs. The instructions are very clear that you have to cover all of your hair completely. It took a lot of cream to actually cover, and now my tube has quite a dent in it. The sponge seems to absorb a lot of product too, so it might actually be better to don some gloves (or plastic sandwich baggies on the hands) and apply it that way. I allowed it to sit on my legs for a minute or two before I entered the shower. One thing I noticed right away is it does not smell nearly as bad as other Nair products I’ve experienced in the past, which basically smell like you lit a dumpster full of hair on fire except that the dumpster is attached to your body and there’s no escaping it. Even raspberry-scented Nair smells like a dumpster of hair on fire with raspberries on top. There’s just no masking that smell. But somehow, maybe it’s the thicker version of the cream, this doesn’t smell as bad.
In the shower it didn’t immediately rinse all off (which is kind of what I expected despite the product’s claims). The instructions warn that a little rinse-off is normal, so I wasn’t too concerned when I saw that. So it does actually stay on for shampooing etc, which is kind of cool! Unfortunately Nair Shower Power’s charm wore off quickly.
After about 6 minutes total after application my legs started feeling irritated, so I decided it was time to remove the cream. The little white sponge is totally rubbish for removing this stuff. I had to scrub it off. The sponge is so freaking useless. I could wipe once, and then so much cream built up on the sponge that I had to rinse or I ended up just smearing it around instead of removing it. So I wipe, rinse, wipe, rinse. The process was really tedious and the scrubbing irritated the hell out of my legs. Not to mention the fact that there was still a considerable amount of hair on my legs afterward.
Nair Shower Power is supposed to be on your legs up to 10 minutes, and I took it off after 6. So it could be argued that if I left it on a few more minutes it might have done a better job at removing hair. Except my answer to you is okay, you leave this stuff on your legs for 10 minutes. I had it on for 6 minutes and that combined with removing it had my legs feeling like I’d sandblasted them. Ouch!
After my shower I had to blot my legs dry because rubbing them with a towel was uncomfortable due to the irritation. Once the burny ouchy feeling went away, I did find that rubbing them vigorously with a towel did dislodge some of the remaining hair. The problem is, there is still a lot left. And now my legs are way too sensitive to shave them any time soon. Awesome.
So my results: sensitive (the burning went away but they’re still sensitive to touch, shaving is completely out of the question), red (there goes that summer skirt, or god forbid a bathing suit!), semi-smooth legs.
Next time I’ll just suck it up and shave. This is what I get for straying from my winning combination of Venus Embrace razor + Kiss My Face Moisture Shave (LIFE-changing). I haven’t had irritation on my legs this bad since the last time I skipped the KMF moisture shave. Shame on me.
Thank god I wasn’t planning on swimming any time soon. Our pool/jacuzzi is salt water. *shudder*
I’m still debating on what to do with the remaining product. Ritual burning is tempting but it would smell bad I’m sure. There’s returning it, because I think “burned the hell outta my skin and didn’t do what it was supposed to” is a perfectly valid reason for returning, but because of the nature of the product there’s a ton missing from the tube and I think returning very used products is tacky. :\ Ugh. What would you guys do?
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