Shaving

The simplest and most straightforward means of hair removal is to shave the hair off, from a specific body part. Contrary to popular myth, shaving does not make the hair grow back thicker or coarser. Apply a lotion or cream to the part of your body to be shaved and then slide a sharp razor over the skin. A drawback to shaving can be the ‘razor stubble’, or raised bumps that often come from shaving, especially in sensitive areas. Those can be as unsightly as unwanted hair.

Plucking and Waxing

Physically removing the hair from the follicle at the root can be done through a few different methods. Two of the most popular are waxing and plucking. Plucking the hair can be done using tweezers to grasp the hair and pulling to remove it. This method is time consuming and the drawback is that the hair must be long enough to be grasped by the tweezers. These hairs would be long enough to see, and this is often a reason people choose another hair removal method.

Waxing is a popular hair removal method. It is an effective method to remove large amounts of hair at one time. Warm wax is applied to the area where hair removal is desired. The wax then cools, trapping the hair inside the hard wax shell. The wax is ripped off the body in the opposition direction of the hair growth, removing the hair from the follicle. A drawback to this method is that the hair needs to be long enough to be caught up by the wax. Care needs to be taken while using wax so as not to burn the skin.

Depilatories

A depilatory is a cream that temporarily removes unwanted hair. The cream consists of a mixture of chemicals (typically thioglycolate and sodium hydroxide) that dissolve the hair. This depilatory cream is applied to the hair removal site and left on for anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. The chemicals dissolve the hair and the depilatory is then washed away. This method should always be tested on a small part of the body before using on major areas. Skin can react badly to the chemicals or the chemicals can dissolve skin cells, causing irritation.

Permanent Hair Removal

Electrolysis is a type of hair removal that offers a permanent solution to the problem of unwanted body hair. A small needle is inserted into the hair follicle and an electrical impulse is fed into the follicle. This will burn the hair follicle, rendering it unable to produce any more hair. This method is time consuming, as it needs to be done on a regular basis for up to a year to be effective. It can also be damaging if done incorrectly.