I have some really exciting news. Ever since I wrote about the no!no! I have been pretty much obsessed with wanting to try it. While they carry the item at Sephora, it is only at select locations, so when I was in Miami this past year I checked them out. All of the boxes were sealed wrapped so you can’t see the razor and the salespeople hadn’t tried it nor heard about it’s results. Despite my desire, this was not enough info to make me comfortable to spend the $250 on it. Well, this week I was in contact with No!No! and they sent me a sample to try out so I can document my results. I am NOT being paid by No!No! and they did not solicit me nor request that write anything in particular. This is just my opinion of the results.

This is where I got all of the info about the No!No! Available exclusively at Sephora, the company says they use “Thermicon technology, a gentle heat wave that destroys hair without pain or irritation, to safely reduce hair re-growth up to 64%. Over time, you’ll notice decreased hair density, a lot less stubble and a lot more time spent not shaving. Like any professional hair treatment, it takes time and dedication to achieve your desired results. The same holds true for the revolutionary no!no! hair removal system; with all the right moves, stubble-free, smoother skin will be yours. Be sure to follow the directions closely for the safest, most effective results.”

Why I wanted the No!No!
I am a girl from Italian and Puerto Rican descent, which means my hair is dark but my skin is fair, a troublesome combination for shaving. I have such hairy legs that I need to shave all areas at least every other day but if I had more time I would probably shave everyday. I shave in the morning and by evening I have stubble! My arms are also very hairy but luckily the hair is a little lighter there. Although it would be awesome to get laser hair removal I just can’t afford it.

Week One, Treatment 1
This is what was contained in the box of the No!No!

The No!No!, an instruction booklet with DVD, and ac adapter, a small cleaning brush, three blades (one for long hair and two for stubble) , the buffing pad and a carrying case.

It was about the size I expected; smaller than my cell phone but a little fatter.

You can find the no!no! instructions for use here. They are very clear that you have to use slow strokes with the no!no! over an area at a 90 degree angle to the surface of your skin. An indicator light on the top of the device lights green when applied to the skin. When the light is a steady green you are using the correct pressure, speed and angle. If it flickers you need to adjust one of these three actions.

I wanted to watch the DVD instructions but unfortunately the DVD would not play in my player (not compatible with my player or something). After using it I would strongly recommend that anyone who tries the no!no! should watch these instructional videos or the DVD before trying it. They make it very easy for you to understand how to use their product and how to do it best. I would have done a better job if I had heeded some of their advice.

After going over an area as instructed with blade for long hair attached you buff the area lightly with the buffing pad. Then move to the next area and repeat. Next you would switch to the stubble blade and repeat the process again.

As the video says there is no one that is going to master the slow strokes that work best with the no!no! on the first treatment. I definitely was getting a lot of flickering light at first. Also, my legs are definitely pretty scrawny so a place like my shin was hard to hold the device at a 90 degree angle to. It takes time to get a hang of and you definitely could not rush the process.

I had shaved my legs yesterday morning so the first treatment I skipped the long hair blade and went straight to the stubble blade. When you are done with an area you will feel a rough stubble until you use the buffing pad. Then I swear my legs felt smoother than they ever have before! I was ecstatic. There is the slight odor of burning hair but nothing that was too bad. It was really minor. The device feels a little warm on your skin but that is all.

I was a little worried that my legs weren’t the most accurate test, since I already had minimal stubble, so I attacked my arms. This was very daring for me! I have never shaved my arms before, despite the fact that they are pretty hairy. I have always been way too concerned with having prickly stubble there. But I think to have an accurate account for my readers it needed to be done.

Well, I have a lot more hair on my arms so I started with the long hair blade as instructed. The smell of burnt hair was obviously much worse because I had such long hair on my arms. Most people would not be shaving such long hairs though so I wouldn’t be too worried about it but it is a pretty gross smell. I also have the of having arms like sharp little sticks. I have bony wrists and elbows. Do NOT on your first attempt at using the no!no! use it on your knees, ankles, elbows or wrists. These are areas where you can’t hold the no!no! at a 90 degree angle so the blade wont run smoothly over your skin. I felt a prick when I hit these areas and was left with a thin burn from the wire element. The instructions do advise you not to attempt these areas at first because they are difficult but I didn’t listen (although they don’t mention the potential for burning yourself). My arms were really hard to do and now I have scattered burn marks.

My arms after using the no!no! as instructed felt very smooth but they needed a quick touch up in the shower this morning (and a few band aids). My legs needed a touch up as well but they were still pretty smooth. Tonight my legs and arms are smooth like I just shaved! No evening stubble!

The no!no! is not a replacement for shaving but the idea is that if used regularly (2-3 times a week) you will see significantly less hair growth. It will take a while for me to see if that is true but I will keep you updated. I can tell you that the process takes time and you have to be careful. I seemed to think that the thing couldn’t harm me but you have to be just as careful with it as if it were a razor or an electric razor. You will burn yourself (about the same mark and discomfort as when you nick yourself). I should have been wise to that. I will most likely be staying away from my knees, ankles, wrists and elbows in the future. Not much hair grows there anyway.

I will let you know how it is going with the treatments frequently. It’s too early for me to claim a miracle hair remover, especially since I have to get used to not hurting myself.

Update: 1/23/08
So I have done six treatments with the no!no! since January 5th. I can’t say that I am totally thrilled with the product. Firstly I haven’t seen any reduction in hair growth. I know that it is still early to judge whether it works and I should keep with it but my faith in it has been shaken a bit. The other thing is that it’s a time consuming task. Twice a week I spend about 30 minutes using the no!no! only to have to continue with shaving in the shower in between treatments. I wasn’t expecting it to be so time consuming. I don’t mind a little work for beauty but I am not seeing results so it is hard to stick with it when I would much rather spend my time doing other things. I am going to try and continue twice weekly treatments and see what happens though for my readers. Hold onto your money for now.
Oh yeah, and I still haven’t figured out how to do my elbows wrists, knees and ankles without burning myself there. As careful as I am it never fails to hurt me. So I am avoiding these areas all together.

Update: 2/20/08
As of today I have done 10 no!no! treatments. I looked at a calendar today and I noticed that I haven’t been so good about using it 2-3 times a week which may be effecting my results. I have only been doing it once a week in the month of February. However, let me to take a minute to defend myself. I timed how long it takes me to do a treatment on my arms and legs as directed by the manual (treat with long hair blade, buff, treat with short hair blade, repeat buffing) and it took 23 minutes! That is a pretty long time considering that I have to shave traditionally the next morning.

I asked a few friends their opinions on shaving and the top reason that women hate to shave is because it is time consuming. They would love to one morning take a shower and not have to do the whole shaving routine. For me, it would cut down on my showering time by 10 minutes (yes, I take a long shower)! So if you are going to spend the money on the no!no! remember that this is a timely process. I am having trouble fitting that 20 minutes of shaving into my schedule twice a week. So if it is taking just as much time as shaving does, maybe more, is it really that big of a advancement. Maybe, if it works.

I have been very good at not shaving too often in between treatments so that I can see how much regrowth I am getting and because the no!no! really needs stubble to work properly. Now as far as hair regrowth I would say that my hair seems to be growing in slower. I feel that I can go longer in between shaves. I no longer feel stubble in the afternoon after a morning shave. My legs are definitely smoother, and smoother longer.
I used the no!no! yesterday after not shaving for a week (not something my boyfriend was very happy about) and noticed that the hair was growing in a little patchy. Some areas had a lot less hair growth. And the hair on my arms (which I had never shaved prior to no!no! use) is growing in very slow.

I do feel that I am seeing results but not to the extent I was hoping for. I thought at this point I would have at least 50% reduction in hair growth and I don’t think I have reached that. However I am not using the no!no! the recommended 2-3 times a week. Now that I am seeing a little improvement I think that will change.

Also, I should mention that one of the short hair blades broke. The no!no!’s light went from green to red during treatment one time and when I looked I noticed the heating filament had snapped. It did not hurt me when this happened. If it wasn’t for the light I wouldn’t have noticed. I am also ready for a new buffing pad. Mine looks a little worn. I would say a buffing pad and a blade should last somewhere between 10-15 treatments. To replace these to items at Sephora.com it will cost me $28 plus shipping.

I will keep you updated on the process. I know people want to know the bottom line … “does it work?”. So far I am seeing progress but it takes time. If you bought it and used it for 30 days you had until returning, and saw nothing… it was because you need to give it time. And were you giving the treatment the 20 minutes you need? You have to use the no!no! slow for it to work properly.

More later.

Update: 6/25/08

Alright ladies.  I know you have all been waiting for a no!no! update and I am sorry to say, I think you will be disappointed with what I have to say.

As I mentioned in the last update, I was ready for new buffing pads and new blades.  There is no indicator on the device to actually let you know when the blades need replacing but I started noticing that the blade wasn’t removing as much hair as usual … just like a blade on a regular razor.  I really didn’t want to buy them though, because the cost as I mentioned before is $28 plus shipping! I just don’t have the money to spend on this type of beauty regimen when I am still spending money on razors.  But I finally bit the bullet and bought the refills.

Well, now I am annoyed that I did.  I have pretty much stopped using the no!no!  These are my reasons …

1.)  It is too time consuming!  I have so many other things I would rather do than shave for twenty minutes a day.  I tried to do it every other night and I just couldn’t keep it up.  

2.) The results were minimal at best.  But like I mentioned before, this may just be because I wasn’t good at doing it regularly.  Are the results worth that large amount of time?  Laser hair removal may be ultra-expensive but at least I know that if I do it I am only dedicating a set amount of time and then that is it.

3.)  The expense is not worth it to me.  Remember this item is $250 to start with but there is still some maintenance expenses.  Like the blades and the buffing pads.  Maybe if I had more patience with using the no!no! and I had great results then I wouldn’t mind the cost, but this is not the case.

4.) I can’t do my knees, wrists, or elbows.  I never realized how hairy my knees actually get!  It would be nice if I didn’t burn myself trying to shave them.  I am a little boney so maybe other girls didn’t have this problem but I have tried over and over and I can’t do it without hurting myself.  So to answer the same repeated question … No I have not used it on my bikini area.  And because of the potential singing of my nether-regions I am not going to.

5.) Finally, the major reason is because I felt like my legs were hairy ALL of the time.  Which my finace did not enjoy!  Let me explain.  I found that the no!no! worked best when you had at least 1-2 days of stubble.  When your legs are freshly shaven the no!no! can’t remove any hair (remember it is a hot wire gliding on the top of your skin) and if it can’t remove hair then it can’t prevent hair from growing … right?  So I would use the no!no!, then shave the next day (because he no!no! does not provide a close enough shave to replace shaving) and then waited a day or two for stubble to grow to no!no! again.  Well, that means that in between uses I have stubbly legs!  I would be afraid to shave in the shower in between treatments because then I couldn’t use the no!no! with the best results.  Ok.  I know this sounds a little nuts.  But this is my non-professional opinion.

So in short, in my final update on the no!no!, would I suggest the purchase to a friend.  I am sorry to those girls out there waiting for an inexpensive and easy alternative to laser hair removal, and the no!no! company that probably wishes I wouldn’t have written this, but no, I wouldn’t recommend it.  See above reasons.  That being said, DistressedDerma did have positive results and did recommend this item to her readers.  A clinical trial showed that it did in fact work on the twelve women that completed the study. But these people didn’t ask me

I am not sure if this helps the readers out there but I hope it does.  Good luck to those who decided to make a go of it.

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