I have seen a few Nair ads lately since its springtime and
it brought back an experience I never want to relive, ever again. This is a
WARNING on the use of Nair the hair remover. About ten years ago I decided I
wanted to try Nair just for fun. Since this was my first time adventure with
hair removal (I prefer being a hairy beast). I picked up a bottle for sensitive
skin. Thinking, hey it’s for sensitive skin. What could possibly go wrong? I
thought why not? It is just going to be like a haircut, it is not a long term
commitment, and the hair will grow back in a month or so, like nothing
happened. No, problem. All I can say is OMG! It was nothing like a haircut and
it was the most painful experience of my life.
I followed all the instruction that was on the bottle of
Nair and I also tested on an area of my leg, which only felt cold then a little
warm (and it states it can cause some stinging, burning, and skin irritation
when it is working normally). So I thought this was not bad and normal for the
product. And then I put it on my poor unsuspecting legs, which had never done
anything to anyone (poor legs). Well, at first it had a cold sensation; I
thought this is a piece of cake. Then it got a little warmer, I thought this is
still a piece of cake. But then the stinging started, it was somewhat bearable
and I read the bottle again and it said some irritation was normal (you are
melting hair off your body with an abrasive chemical, so what do you expect).
So I waited gritting may teeth. Then the stinging started to burn and then it
started to sizzle.
I hurried and wiped off all I could with a damp cloth with
no soap (NEVER USE SOAP with any type of hair-removal products because of a
chemical reaction, which can damage your skin even farther). Thankfully, a
friend of mine had told me about that before or I would have had worse chemical
burns. After I got most of the Nair off my legs, I poured cold water over my
legs. I felt like someone had literally set my legs on fire from just above the
knee down. But the worst was the back of the knee and the back of the calves.
The really horrible thing about Nair is that removing it is not stopping its
affects; it gets into the hair follicles and into the skin and keeps burning
hair and skin. So wiping it off does not stop the burning and neither does
flushing plain water over it. It just pushes more of it into the swollen and
irritated hair follicles and skin. In about an hour my legs had red patches
that looked like I had poured acid on them and in a way I had.
For the rest of that day it burned but I got relief from
cleaning with cold water (remember DO NOT use soap) after the Nair was gone and
skin creams I had with aloe vera, which both cooled it (but just touching the
skin was almost too much). The backs of my calves and knees were the worst;
they had inflamed bright red skin and nasty blisters. The next few days were
the worst because I could not set down in chairs that touched any part of the
backs of my legs and lying down was about as difficult. I was grateful that it
was summertime and that I could wear shorts; pants would have been too painful.
My legs appearance kind of disturbed people, it looked like I had been in a
chemical accident of some kind. As the blisters and swelling went down, it
started to peel and scab over, it was nasty. My legs were hairless but looked
horrendous. It took over a month to heal and for several months sunlight would
make the irritation come back behind my knees and the back of my calves,
especially. The amazing thing I did not scar, thank goodness for a good healthy
body with healing skills. Now thinking back it might have been good idea to go
to a doctor but I was embarrassed and felt like a dumbass for even trying it in
the first place.
I cannot believe there are people that use this stuff on a
monthly basis, even if it messes up their skin. My legs were not completely
healed up when I had my hair trying to grow back through the scabs, which was a
fun, painful, and itchy experience. To have used it again would have been
insane and self-torture. People, body hair is natural but looking like a
chemical burn patient that scares small children, literally, is not. I
literally scared children and had people ask me what had happen to my poor legs
(remember I could not wear long pants for weeks). I am just very lucky and glad
my hair came back without an infection and my skin returned to normal.
If you go on a search on the internet, you will find people
using this product on their legs, chests, faces, in their armpits, and even in
their genital area to remove hair and many with horrible painful results and some
keep using it then complain again. Be careful using this product or others like
it because it can get nasty and painful fast. My burns took less than five
minutes from the application to trying to clean and rinse the stuff off but it
took over a year to completely get healed from the burns and skin sensitivity
it caused. Forum of other people’s painful and weird experiences with Nair: http://www.whattoexpect.com/forums/may-2011-babies/topic/nair-chemical-burns.html
Human skin should not be treated like this.
Health Risks of Nair Hair Remover By Richard Rowe
“Of all the ways to eliminate unwanted hair, the oldest of
standbys, behind shaving, is the chemical depilatory. Based on a chemical compound
once used for tanning leather, it may come as small wonder that Nair comes with
its fair share of caveats.
Keratin
Nair’s active ingredient (calcium hydroxide) is designed to
break down the keratin in hair to liquefy it. Human skin also contains a fair
amount of keratin, which is where the danger arises.
Epidermal Shedding
Since keratin helps to bind the top layer of skin together,
destroying it can lead to sunburn-like shedding.
Chemical Burning
The chemical burns caused by improper usage of Nair can be
an incredibly painful endorsement for shaving. Chemical burns can be treated
with over-the-counter ointments and creams, but may require medical attention
if the area affected is burned past the outer layer of skin.
Infection
Localized and sometimes systemic infection often follows
burns of any sort and are certainly possible where caustic chemical burns are
concerned.
Soap Burns
Many have made the mistake of washing Nair away with soap
and water, and have lived to regret it. The chemicals in Nair become
supercharged by some of the ingredients in soap, causing near-instant chemical
burns.
Safety
To avoid chemical-burn risks, do not exceed 10 minutes total
application time, and do not re-apply or shave for at least 24 hours after
application.“
Video
Link Of Another Victim of Nair:
My legs looked much like this poor Nair victim’s face except
more in larger scabbing blisters.
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