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Getting rid of unwanted hair without visiting a beautician is a common interest for many. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to do this in the comfort of your own home. Depending on your hair growth, time frame, and pain-threshold, you can try out any of these alternatives. These at-home hair removal techniques include traditional methods such as shaving as well as the latest methods like laser removal.
Preparing the Skin:
Before you get started, it is important to prepare the skin.
If you are using removal techniques such as plucking, waxing, or shaving, exfoliate the areas at least 24 hours before the treatment. All dead skin cells will be removed by exfoliation, making the removal process cleaner and preventing the problem of ingrown hairs.
At the time of hair removal, please ensure that your skin is clean and free from all types of oils and moisturizers. This will make the removal process relatively pain-free by providing a bit of grip.
Don’t forget to perform a patch test on your skin before trying out any new product or method. This will help you avoid any potentially harmful side effect.
Different Removal Methods and their Pros and Cons:
Mentioned below are some of the most commonly used techniques for removing unwanted body hair at home.
- Shaving: This removal technique is best suited for underarms and legs. This is the most suitable removal method for individuals that are short in time or in a rush. Most importantly, unlike many other methods, it is possible to shave at any length without waiting for an optimum hair growth. The most serious disadvantage of shaving is it may result in hair growing back coarser, darker and thicker compared to natural hair growth. Also, if you are in a hurry, there is also the risk of sustaining cuts, particularly while shaving the awkwardly shaped spots such as knees and ankles.
- Waxing: This technique is suitable for specific areas of the body such as back, legs, arms, bikini lines, brow, upper lips, etc. The best part about waxing is that it provides long-lasting result by removing hair from its root. If waxing is done regularly, hair doesn’t grow back as thick. However, if the right techniques are not used, waxing can be painful. Moreover, the associated activities such as cleaning a wax warmer can sometimes be complicated. Finally, waxing requires the hair to be long enough for a strong grip on the strip.
- Laser: This advanced method can be applied anywhere in the body. This is the most suitable removal method for individuals looking to remove hair now and forever. These devices target the pigment of the hair. Over a period of time, the follicles at the root of the hair are damaged and hair re-growth is prevented. The primary problem with this technique is the high cost of at-home laser removal systems. Also, because of the way they target melanin, these devices work differently on different skin tones and hair colors. It has been observed that these devices aren’t really effective for individuals with lighter-colored hair and dark skin tone.
- Cream: Depilatory creams work best for underarms, face, arms, legs, and bikini line. A big bonus of this technique is there is no plucking of the hair or pulling of skin involved. Though this method is very convenient, the ingredients of these creams require at least ten minutes to start functioning. Also, these creams should never be applied to smaller target areas.
- Epilating: Epilating can be used to remove hair from underarms, arms, legs, and bikini line. This technique can remove even the shortest of hairs because a plucking movement is used to remove hair from the root. However, epilating can be a tad painful.
