Tuesday 27 December 2016

Removing Unwanted Body Hair: What Are Your Options?

The article Removing Unwanted Body Hair: What Are Your Options? is courtesy of JivaSpa.ca - Beauty Spa

Men and women young and old all have this issue to deal with in one way or another.

For women, it might be some unwanted fuzz on the upper lip or chin, hair on our legs, arms, or underarms, or eyebrows that aren’t shaped quite the way we want.

For men, it might be an excessively hairy chest, legs, arms, or underarm.

But no matter who you are, you still have unwanted body hair you’d like to take care of.

What are your options? Before you pick up that razor and shaving cream, read this article to find out!

History Of Body Hair Removal

Both men and women have been removing unwanted body hair for as long as we can remember. Before the invention of laser hair removal or safety razors, though, the process was a little different.

Great leaders throughout history maintained a clean, smooth face, including Julius Caesar, who used tweezers to pluck out his hair, and Alexander the Great, who shaved using a sharpened block of iron.

We women have been removing our body hair for even longer. Ancient Egyptian women would remove their excess body hair by tweezing with two clamshells, rubbing it away with pumice stone, or by waxing with sugar-based waxes.

The modern habit of shaving our legs and underarms began in 1915 with the introduction of the first razor designed specifically for women. And since then we haven’t looked back!

But what are your options today? Surely there’s more out there than clamshells and razors, right? Of course!

Here are some of the more popular hair removal options, and their pros and cons.

Removing Unwanted Body Hair: What Are Your Options? | woman waxing her upper lip | Jiva Spa Toronto anti aging facials beauty spa salon skin rejuvenation medispa

Shaving

The classic method for removing body hair. It’s the one we’re all most familiar with. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already familiar with it.

On the plus side, shaving is a relatively simple process. Lather, shave, rinse. That’s it. You can do it yourself at home with less than $20 worth of product - just a razor and a can of shaving cream. It’s also fairly quick, taking only a few minutes to do.

The major drawback to shaving, of course, is how quickly your hair returns. After a day or two, you’re back at the start and have to shave again. And if you’re hoping to remove a large amount of hair from your body, this can be an incredible hassle.

If this is a concern for you, you may want to consider another option.

Waxing

If you’re fed up with shaving, waxing is another common option for removing your hair.

During the waxing process, we’ll spread hot wax across the hair you’d like to remove. Then with the wax firmly attached to a sheet on the other side, we’ll pull it off. This pulls your hair out by the roots.

If that sounds painful, well, that’s because it is. Waxing is certainly the most painful option for removing your hair. While most are able to tolerate the discomfort, it should be noted anyway.

Your hair also needs to be fairly long before you can wax – about a month’s worth of growth in most people. As a result, you may feel like you have to hide your legs, arms, chest, or wherever you want to get waxed.

Waxing does, however, last longer than shaving. Waxed skin will stay smooth for up to a month or more, so if you’re going to a place where shaving isn’t going to be convenient but you still want to enjoy smooth skin, waxing may be for you.

Threading

Threading is a form of hair removal where two threads are wrapped around an individual hair and plucked out.

Because threading is so precise, it’s not very useful for larger sections of body hair. It’s mostly used to shape eyebrows or remove small hairs in the upper lip or chin.

Proponents of threading eyebrows say it allows for more precision than waxing alone, and is less painful. It does take longer, however.

Laser Hair Removal

While each of the above solutions has been around for centuries, laser hair removal is the newest of them all.

Laser hair removal works by shining an intense light on your skin. The light is absorbed by your hair follicles, which are destroyed in the process. This stops your body from producing new hair, allowing you to retain smoother skin for longer.

Laser hair removal is by far the most effective treatment for hair removal, but it’s also the most complex. You’ll usually need several treatments before you can see lasting results. And because it’s a more invasive procedure than any others it can have side effects which, while mild, are more significant than any other option.

It’s also more expensive than any other option. Depending on the area of your body you’d like to treat, it can cost up to a few hundred dollars per treatment area.

But once you‘ve completed a laser hair treatment, you’ll be done with body hair removal for a much longer time – usually for at least six months.

For laser hair treatment in Toronto, Jiva Spa can help.

Other Options

These are just some of the more popular options for hair removal. Depilatory creams, sugaring, and electrolysis are just some of the other available options.

Which is your favourite method for body hair removal? Let us know in the comments below.

Find more info on: Toronto Spa - Jiva