Say Goodbye to Body Hair—a Comparison of Hair Removal Methods

27 February 2019

It may still be cold outside and warmer temperatures are yet to arrive, but we still keep on shaving. So all year round, we have to think about how to get rid of all that inconvenient hair in our underarms, on our legs and in our bikini area. In this blog post, pjur love takes you through all the different hair removal methods—and reveals the aftercare that’s a must after shaving.

Hair removal—the best methods

There are many different methods of hair removal:

• Keeping it traditional—shaving: A blade is used to cut the hair off at the surface of the skin. The results last for one or two days, after which the hair starts to grow back again. With shaving, it’s important to wet the skin beforehand to protect it—either with shaving gel or shaving foam. You should also make sure you always use a fresh blade and only shave in the direction of hair growth. You can shave hair anywhere on your body—on your legs, in your underarms, in your bikini area and anywhere else on your body, too. Shaving even lets you create a range of pubic hairstyles in your bikini area. There are a few things to bear in mind when it comes to looking after your skin after shaving, but we’ll come to that in a moment.
• Slather with cream—hair-removal cream: Simply apply some cream, leave it to work its magic, and then remove it again with a spatula. The cream detaches the hairs from the root—and it’s all down to a low dose of an acid ingredient in the cream. Hair-removal creams like this usually also contain additional ingredients to nourish the skin, such as chamomile or almond oil. This hair removal method usually leaves you hair-free for up to ten days. It is particularly good for those with sensitive skin. Hair-removal creams can be found in any chemist’s shop.
• For a longer break in between—epilating: If you have a high pain threshold and ten days of smooth, stubble-free skin just isn’t long enough, try an epilator. This device basically has lots of little tweezers for removing the hair. You can get them for little money and now you can even use them in the bath tub, as well as on dry skin. Special precision epilators are available for the bikini area or underarms, and these are less painful—making them ideal for use in sensitive areas. Epilating leaves you hair-free for about four weeks.
• Sugaring and waxing: With Waxing, the hairs are removed using wax. There are two different types of waxing methods: one uses cold wax and the other hot wax. Cold wax strips can actually be used at home by anyone. Simply apply the strips, smooth them down and then pull them off in the same direction as the direction of hair growth. The hairs stay stuck to the wax, and are therefore removed when you tear the strip off. You can also use the hot wax method at home, but it’s best not to do this unless you’ve got some experience—or better still, get a beauty therapist to do it for you. That’s because it uses hot wax to remove the hairs, and hot wax preferably also shouldn’t be used on irritated skin or varicose veins, for example.

Instead of wax, sugaring uses a sugar paste. It is applied lukewarm to the skin and then pulled off in the direction of hair growth. Sugaring can be used to remove hair just one or two millimetres long. The good thing about sugaring is that it is made from natural ingredients, and sugar can even have an antibacterial effect. You can get sugaring done by a beauty therapist, too. It is suitable for the bikini area, the underarms, the legs and any other part of the body, too.

Anyone who opts for waxing or sugaring for hair removal will have roughly three weeks before the hair grows back. It’s important to be aware that both methods can be painful the first time. However, the hair grows back finer and sparser each time, making these hair removal methods less uncomfortable each time you get it done.

And afterwards?

There are probably lots of you right now asking what comes next. Yet women (and men too, of course) frequently have to contend with shaving rash, especially after shaving. Not only does it look unsightly, but it can also itch and sting. That’s why hair removal doesn’t end once the hair is removed. Instead, it should be followed by appropriate skincare in the area hair has been removed from. However, it’s important to make sure the skincare products you choose don’t contain any perfume or alcohol, as these will only irritate the skin further. Our pjur WOMAN After YOU Shave is unperfumed and alcohol-free. It contains panthenol instead and nourishes the skin. Simply spray on shaved skin straight after shaving.

With sugaring and waxing, too, there are a few things to bear in mind after removing the hair. You should avoid using any deodorants, creams or fake tans containing alcohol or perfume on that smooth, hair-free skin for 24 hours.

As a general rule, you should always be careful what you put on your freshly de-fuzzed skin—no matter what method of hair removal you use. It’s best to completely avoid sun cream, deodorant, creams and even fake tan straight afterwards.

What about permanent hair removal?

If you don’t fancy having to bother with hair removal every few days or weeks, there’s one last hair-removal method to consider—laser hair removal. A laser is used to permanently remove the hair roots, which means that hair can no longer grow. You can get it done by a beauty therapist or a dermatologist. You’ll need to book in several sessions over a period of time, however. This is because hair grows in cycles, and a hair root will repeatedly go through rest phases when there is no new hair growth. Several sessions are therefore needed to get all the hair roots. It’s also important to avoid strong sunlight for six weeks following laser treatment. The cost for this kind of treatment always depends on the area of the body being treated and of course the thickness of the hairs, too.

The so-called IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) hair removal method is still relatively new and also uses pulses of light to achieve permanent hair removal. You can find out exactly what IPL hair removal is at smoothashell.com.

There are lots of ways to get rid of all that inconvenient hair on your legs, in your underarms, in your bikini area and in other parts of your body, then. In the end, though, we all have to decide for ourselves which hair removal method is right for us

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