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For
more
information about Nad's, access www.nads.com.
Nad's
is named after Sue Ismiel's daughter Nadine.
Nad's
has been popular in Australia for a
few years; it made its U.S. debut
in Beverly Hills last January.
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Everyone knows that infomercials are for suckers. Campaign
speeches notwithstanding, they're the hokiest programming
on TV. With their silly products, washed-up celebrities,
free Ginsu knives and easy installments of just $9.99, the
only thing these bullshit segments are good for is a late-night
laugh. But I have to admit, one recent post-bar evening
I found myself riveted to an infomercial for a product that
I actually believed might work.
The ad is for Nad's No-Heat Hair Removal Gel, a gooey green
product formulated by Aussie mother Sue Ismiel. Apparently,
Ismiel's young daughter had a distressing Teen Wolf complex
about the hair on her arms. Ismiel, unhappy with the ineffective
hair removal products available, concocted this all-natural
potion to make her daughter's hair problems disappear.
On camera, the middle-aged Ismiel herself demonstrates
how to use the strangely named product by applying the gooped-up
gel to arms, legs and eyebrows of elated fans, then ripping
their hair off with fabric strips pressed against their
troubled areas. She holds up the nasty hair-coated strips
for the camera as the subjects insist it didn't hurt and
the camera zooms in on the now-hairless body parts in question.
How smooth! How simple! How repulsive!
But who believes anything they see on TV? Certainly not
a cynical Gen X bastard. And in addition to doubts about
truth in advertising, any woman (or man) who has had painful
and disappointing run-ins with noxious bleaches and depilatories,
tweezers and scalding hot waxes can't help but be a bit
skeptical of yet another product that claims to easily solve
the nagging problem of "unwanted" hair.
Sure, ripping out complacent, virgin arm hair is easy.
But angry, stubborn hair that has been repeatedly uprooted
by a variety of methods is not so docile. And the vulnerable
skin along the bikini line is far more tender than that
on one's shin or forearm. I'm relatively low-maintenance,
and a wimp when it comes to pain, but I--like many women--desire
smoothness. I just had to find out if Nad's was, indeed,
a minor miracle or just another bottle of empty promises.
Deadlines didn't allow for the couple weeks' shipping time,
so I headed to Walgreens and bought the mysterious gel instead.
Nad's comes in a six-ounce jar, packaged with a bar of kiwi-chamomile
prep soap, smoothing (post-trauma) lotion, reusable cloth
strips, a spatula, an orange stick and an instruction booklet
for only one easy installment of $29.95. At the checkout
counter, the cashier began raving, unprovoked, about the
effectiveness of Nad's, adding that it had been flying off
the shelves. That's when my doubts began to fade--a little.
After watching an eight-minute video (loaned by a fellow
WW-er who had received it with her Nad's mail-order)
detailing how to apply and remove the gel in various regions,
I got down to business. With the spatula, I applied a thin
layer in the pesky bikini line region, then applied the
cloth strip, smoothing it three times with my hand as instructed.
While visualizing myself in my bikini on a tropical island
as a distraction, I tore the strip off. It did sting a little,
but it also worked. The skin was smooth and hair-free, and
the hint of redness faded a few minutes after I applied
the aloe and kiwi lotion.
I'll spare you any more details, but here's the final analysis:
Nad's isn't a miracle--tearing hair out hurts no matter
how you go about it--but it's about as supernatural as one
can get. Nad's is sufficiently warmed by body heat, so you
don't run the risk of burning yourself or starting a fire
that you do with stove-heated wax. It contains mild ingredients--honey,
vinegar, molasses, lemon juice--as opposed to harsh chemicals,
so it's nicer to your skin and less likely to cause an allergic
reaction or rash. It doesn't reek. Nad's is water-soluble;
any residual gel is rinsed away with soap and water instead
of clumping into a gloppy mess. You only need a tiny amount
compared to other products, so it's cost-effective. It doesn't
hurt as much as other methods (but if you start to sweat,
you're done for). And no cute little bunnies had to suffer
for your vanity. Best of all: no Suzanne Sommers!
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