Hi Everyone,

I'm not sure if anyone else has had this experience.

When I was a teenager I used a pumice stone on a very small part of my lower leg whilst in the bath. Hair was removed and has never grown back (why didn't I pumice more!).

Anyway, I recently tried it again and I now have patches of no hair at all (it has just never grown back). It's not always successful in that not all areas I've pumiced have remained hair free, but my beautician recently commented that I have very "patchy" growth.

Has anyone else had this experience?

It only seems to work on my lower legs. Thighs do not work.

Actually, my grandmother had always advised me to use a pumice stone. She grew up with VERY few modern "conveniences," INCLUDING razors or wax, and always told me about how, in the "Old Country," she and her sisters would use the pumice stone daily to keep away hair from their arms and legs...and now, she is virtually hairless!

Anyway, I suppose you might get "patchy" growth in some areas. I'm not sure, from your post, if this is something concerning you in some way, or...?

Leg hair thins and just goes away with age due to poor circulation. The only places where light scar tissue developed from friction or tweezing could lead to permanent hair removal are eyebrows and legs. For everything else, electrolysis is the only sure fire way to destroy unwanted hair. The bigger concern with friction methods is the invitation to infection.

Hi,
I'm a man in his mid-30s living in London, UK. I'm happy with my hairy chest, legs and forearms, but my hairy shoulders and upper arms have always bothered me - I've got quite pale skin but darkish brown hair. I tried waxing but it always caused terrible spots - particularly at the top of my chest, around the collar bone region. Creams worked for a while, but they too have recently caused spots when the hair began to grow back. I've not tried them, but laser and IPL treatments seem too expensive and unreliable. I stumbled across this excellent site and read about the friction method of hair removal for the first time.
I experimented with a pumice stone. Well, it looks like a pumice stone, but I think it's an man-made imitation of pumice and think it's meant for removing hard skin from your feet! Anyway, the first time I tried, I rubbed away a bit too vigorously, and although it removed the hair from my shoulders, my skin was far too red and irritated afterwards - it felt like bad sunburn. Not good!

I tried again a week or so later (when my skin had returned to normal!). I did it in the bath, and this time I made sure to use some moisturizer. Here in the UK, Johnson & Johnson produce a Baby Oil Gel, which was just perfect. I guess regular baby oil would also be good. I applied the gel to my shoulders and then very carefully rubbed with the pumice in circular motions. Do not rub too hard, and if it hurts at all, or your skin gets too hot (or if you can smell burning hair), slow down or stop! Just gently rub for a minute or so - prolonged, gentle pressure seems much more effective than hard scrubbing. I was very pleasantly surprised by the results. Nicely smooth shoulders without the hassle of creams or waxing. The hair grows back quite quick, but the hair-growth did seem a little lighter.

I'm now just trying to use the pumice method for a couple of minutes most mornings when I have my bath/shower - I alternate from one shoulder to the next as I figure it's probably not good to rub away every day. It's not permanent and it's not perfect, but it's relatively hassle-free and I just wore a sleeveless top this summer for the first time and didn't feel self-conscious about my shoulders. Maybe if I keep it up, it will permanently reduce the hair growth - who knows?

Thanks to everyone for sharing advice.

Hey Westbury,

Can you elaborate a little? I tried a pumice stone and it didn't work. Is there a specific produce you use? Also, how coarse is your hair? It didn't seem to work for me on either fine or coarse hair.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Noone314

I am having the same problem too, I tried my pumice stone and nothing happened, an advice would be greatly appreciated

I tried the purnice stone today in my shoulders, but like westbury did his first time I too burned my skin a bit..
As for the method it depends on what you want I guess.
Put a bit of shower gel or similar on your stone and rub gently in a circular motion to remove the hair, this will cause the hairs to entangle and eventually break. Up and down motion just seems to make them finer but perhaps works best for coarse hair, but the change won't happen overnight, you need to do it for a few weeks and keep doing it after that I guess.