Let’s talk about hair removal

Shaving

Shaving is when you use a sharp razor to remove body hair using shaving gel or cream. The razor skims over the skin and cuts the hair at angle. You may be prone to the odd nick or two as well especially over the knees and ankles.

Shaving is a convenient way to remove body hair as you can do this daily in the shower or bath. The regrowth is more visible and at times the hair may look thicker as it starts to grow.

You may also be prone to shavers rash which is caused by razor irritation but this will calm down after a few days.

Ensure you do not share your razor as this very unhygienic. You can also put yourself and the other person at risk of an infection.

Epilation

Epilation is when you use an electrical shaver with loads of minute tweezers around the barrel. As this goes round each tweezer will pull the hair out the follicle. There is a risk of snapping the hair just above the skin if you go too fast over the areas. This may cause ingrowns or infections. It is ideal to move slowly and always use with the hair growth and not against it. You can use this wet and/or dry. on your legs and underarms.

An epilator is not suitable for facial hair or bikinis i.e. Hollywood, Brazilians etc… You do not need to wait for a specific length to remove body hair. Once used you can have smooth skin up to 4 weeks. The downside is that it can be painful and uncomfortable.

Waxing

Like the epilator waxing removes hair from the follicle. You can use both warm and hot waxes. Warm wax uses paper or fabric strips to remove the wax from the body once the wax is applied onto the skin. Hot wax is also applied onto a slightly oiled skin and then left to cool and harden before being pulled off the skin.

It is ideal to get your waxing done by a professional. If you do it at home and the angle of pulling the strip wax is wrong then you are more liable to get a bruise.

With waxing you will get finer and less hair regrowth with time. For best results always exfoliate the day before to ensure all hair is lifted from the skin plus you will get less ingrowns too. Some may feel that waxing is an opportunity for a bit of self care and pampering!

Laser

Lasers not only help removed unwanted hairs but also helps issues like ingrown hairs. So what does it do? The laser light damages the hair follicle and hair bulb. You can use this all over your body including your face. However if you are having it your face as the skin is more delicate you may feel a quick sharp pain.

If your goal is for permanent hair removal then laser will be a good investment, however, you may not get those results as expected. Laser treatments does take time and money so it will not a done in 1 treatment. It may take 8-12 treatments. It also depends on the individual so please be patient. Personally I would do my research and ask questions with the therapist.