For most ladies, some type of hair removal is likely part of your beauty regimen. Depending on where you need the hair removed, there are different methods to use. There are certainly temporary methods, but you might be considering a more permanent hair removal method.
Many women have unwanted facial hair and tweezing works best for small areas like eyebrows. Just make sure you clean the tweezers with rubbing alcohol before and after each use. Family members use tweezers for lots of things, and you don’t want an infection! Grab the hair close to the root and pull! This will last anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks before hair grows back.
Shaving is a very common and very popular method of hair removal. You can shave anywhere, even in the bikini area. Shaving lasts usually for 1 to 3 days. Women can use either a razor or an electric shaver. If you do use a razor, make sure your skin is wet first, and also use a soap or shaving cream as a lubricant. If you don’t, you could get those dreaded skin bumps which can be very irritating and dry shaving makes you more likely to have an ingrown hair.
Waxing is also a popular hair removal method. You can buy a home kit or have a professional wax treatment. Warm wax is smoothed onto the skin and a cloth strip is put on top of it. Once the wax dries, the cloth is quickly pulled off to remove the hair. Some waxes don’t require the cloth strips. Many women use this for areas like the underarms or bikini areas because it lasts for up to six weeks. Waxing only works on longer hair (at least ¼ inch long); it’s difficult to grab shorter hairs.
You can also use a prescription or over-the-counter cream to remove hair. These products actually dissolve the proteins in the hair shaft and can last a couple of weeks. Many ladies use these for areas they don’t want to shave, like the face, bikini area and underarms. These creams work better on fine hairs. These might be too harsh for you if you have sensitive skin. The prescription cream Vaniqa is a relatively new product; it doesn’t dissolve hair but instead slows the growth and makes hair finer as it grows back.
Laser hair removal and electrolysis are also popular techniques. The laser or intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment actually destroys the hair root with the laser light and is the best “permanent” treatment because it lasts 6 months to a year. These treatments are best for darker hair and can be done in any body location.
Electrolysis also destroys the hair root in a different way; a tiny electric current is passed into a tiny needle inserted into each hair follicle. As you can imagine, it’s a very time-consuming procedure and is best done on very small areas (chin, upper lip, face).