Methods Of Body Hair Removal

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Having body hair can be super inconvenient and embarrassing. Did you know that there are more ways than just shaving and waxing to get rid of it?

Here we’ll take a look at the different methods of hair removal, along with their pros and cons:

Tweezing

Pretty simple. Tweezing is removing hair using a pair of tweezers. The downside to this is that you can only remove one hair at a time. It’s good for smaller areas that don’t have too much hair, or for going back to “touch up” by removing any hairs you may have missed doing another form of hair removal.

Shaving

This is probably one of the initial ways that we all learned how to remove body hair. It’s quick and easy, and for the most part, is painless if your razor isn’t months old. The down side to shaving? The results only last a day or two, and for some, maybe even only several hours. The hair also grows back thicker, which is super annoying. Some people also get skin irritations from shaving every day, causing their skin to discolour. This is a good quick, easy and cheap option, but as you can see, there are some downfalls.

Waxing

Waxing is a procedure where a wax product is used to pull out the hair from its roots. If that sounds painful to you, you’re right, it is! There are many different types of waxes, all utilising the same idea, where the product is applied and attaches itself to the hairs needing to be removed, and is quickly pulled off.

The benefit of shaving is that the hair takes 4 weeks to grow back, although, you will notice some hair growth soon after waxing due to those hairs being on a different growth cycle. The hair grows back softer and thinner, so the few hairs that have regrown, won’t be as noticeable.

I also don’t suggest that you do this yourself if you are not 100% confident that you can do this. It is very tricky, and if not done properly, can lead to ripping some skin off and bruising.

Depilatory Creams

A depilatory cream is a product that you put onto the desired areas, and the cream causes a chemical reaction that breaks down and weakens the hair bonds. You leave it on for 15-20 mins or so, and the cream can be wiped off, along with the hair that it broke down.

This method is easy, cheap and painless, though some people incur skin irritations after using a depilatory cream. It only removes hair above the skin’s surface, so you may notice a shadow from the part of the hair shaft that is under the skin, especially if you’ve got darker hair.

Threading

Originating in India, it is a method of hair removal where a piece of thread is knotted, then twisted and rolled over the desired areas to remove hair. Like waxing, it removes hair from the root.

The benefits of threading is that it allows for more precise hair removal. It can also remove finer hairs that you’d probably miss if you were tweezing.

Since the hair is being removed from the root, most people do notice a bit of discomfort during the procedure.

Epilator Machine
An epilator is basically a hand held electronic device with dozens of tweezers built in on a roller. The roller spins, while opening and closing the tweezers, and you run it across your skin, much like how you would with a razor.

The difference here is that the epilator has the ability to “grab” the hair and pull it out from the root.

Though this sounds great in theory, some hairs don’t get removed from the root. If the hair is too fine, it may risk being snapped off by the epilator.

It is also a little painful. Though it shouldn’t irritate your skin too much, the feeling of a bunch of little hairs being pulled out at once is very scary!

Laser Hair Removal

The most permanent form of hair removal is laser removal. Though it isn’t promised that it will get rid of ALL of your hair, it can drastically reduce the amount of hair that grows back.

It works by sending wavelengths to break down melanin in the hair. This is why the best candidates for laser are people with light skin and dark hair.

After the treatment, your hair will start to shed. You will have to continue a series of treatments, and will have to get ‘touch up’ sessions once a year or so.

If you are considering laser treatment, make sure to ask your doctor questions about which laser treatments are recommended for your skin tone and hair colour, how many sessions it will take to noticeably reduce your hair growth, etc. Do your research!

There are also some options to try it at home, like the Tria 4x and the Flash ‘n Go.

What is your favourite method of hair removal? Was there something I missed? Let me know in the comments below!