Hair Removal, History & Razors

Did you know that in the 1760’s, French barber Jean Jacques Perret invented the Perret razor?  In the 1880’s King Camp Gillette followed up with a much safer type and in 1915 the first razor for women was invented.

The more skin revealed the more hair to be removed but we’ve come a long way from just using razors.  Ooops … I’m immediately reminded:  not everyone removes hair from their body. Some of you have been taught and/or feel that it’s sexy to have a little hair on your body.  Ok

Hair Removal Methods and Techniques

But for those of you who choose to remove hair from your body, let’s take a look at some of the products and methods used to remove unwanted hair.

Depilatory creams – you know them as Nair or Neat, and yes, some of you still use these methods.  If it works for you without causing irritation, ok.

Depilatory creams remove hair at the surface level but they’re also supposed to keep your hair away for a longer period of time than traditional shaving.

For Men, there’s Magic Shave.  When you get past the odor, some men find this to be one of the best methods for reducing ingrown hairs.  It removes hair by weakening the hair structure and then can be easily wiped/scraped off.

Followed up with a toner or aftershave that contains essential oils and your skin will feel refreshed and hydrated.

Threading – this form of hair removal involves grabbing hairs by rolling a twisted thread over your skin.  It’s also known as fatla or khite (Arabic) or band (Persian).  This form of hair removal is typically used on brows and is probably not the best form of hair removal for larger areas.

Waxing – Waxing is either performed with cold or hot wax and the wax types are hard or soft.  Hard wax is applied to your skin and once it hardens it’s pulled off in a quick motion, whereas soft wax is typically applied warm and removed with a wax strip.

Did you know that waxing is also a form of exfoliation for your skin?

Waxing is quick and easy but it can be relatively painful, depending on the density of your hair and the area being treated.

Waxing may not be the best type of treatment for sensitive skin.

Tweezing – Facial areas such as eyebrows are still commonly tweezed both by professionals and you at home.

Tweezing is still a good method for smaller areas with less dense hair but remember your melanin brings in another element to contend with and could possibly cause skin irritations if you pull the hairs out the wrong way.

When hairs are not removed properly you then become subject to what is professionally called pseudofolliculitis barbae.  In layman’s terms it’s known as ingrown hairs.

Ingrown hairs can cause extremely painful conditions and when you use tweezers to dig into your skin and pull the hairs out, ouch!

Men are prone to suffer more with ingrown hairs because of shaving.

Laser Hair Removal/Intense pulsed light – These hair removal technologies utilize light directed at the targeted hair. These methods have become two of the most popular hair removal techniques.

This technique requires multiple treatments and will not work on hair of lighter pigments such as gray hairs.

Laser hair removal/intense pulsed light do not always give you permanent hair removal.

Remember …

Hair removal is here to stay, once you’ve had a treatment, hydrating and soothing products should be applied to your skin.

Shea butter can be used and sunscreens should be used to protect your skin from UV ray exposure.

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Esthetician/Author/Publisher

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