Body hair can be pretty 全身脫毛 embarrassing to have in excess. After all, no one wants to look like the Wolfman. While it’s of course totally natural and normal to have some body hair, it can be seen as a bit of of stigma to have excess body hair in some countries, including the U.S. Having a lot of body hair can make going to the beach or a public pool an embarrassing and sometimes unpleasant affair, when the whole idea is to relax and enjoy yourself. Body hair removal is becoming increasingly prevalent as this sort of stigma grows and spreads. We are becoming increasingly vain.
Americans seem to do shame pretty well, or so it seems. We are constantly looking for ways to look younger, lose weight, conceal blemishes, restructure our faces, and we are now getting obsessed with body hair removal. Turn on any television to late-night infomercials and you will see some sort of product that is geared towards body hair removal.
One of the older tried and tested methods of body hair removal is of course waxing. This is my personal favorite. What could be more pleasant than having hot wax poured over your body and having hair ripped from its roots? If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing this form of body hair removal, I highly recommend it. Somewhere between medieval torture and a bad day at the dentist, getting your body hair waxed is a great way to spend an afternoon.
The most popular of all is also the most familiar to all of us, shaving. Shaving is by far the most popular form of body hair removal although I’m not so sure it is the most efficient. While it is painless, or at least is supposed to be, the hair just ends up growing back a short time later anyway, and what do you do about the hard to reach areas. Body hair removal for your legs, armpits, and of course face is easy to do by shaving, but what you do if you’re looking to remove back hair or maybe even your butt? Now there is a pleasant thought. And of course shaving always carries the risk of you cutting yourself.
That leaves us with probably the most effective form of body hair removal that I know, electrolysis. This is a medical procedure that involves lasers that permanently, or nearly permanently, removes hair by killing the roots. It is a relatively painless procedure but it is rather expensive compared to the other alternatives, and unless you have a lot of money in these costs can add up quickly.
You can also get specific body hair removal creams and lotions, but I’m not too crazy about robbing those chemicals all of my body. So what is the best way to go? In the end, like most other things in life, that is the decision but you have to make for yourself.
A recent study by the International Spa Association reports that 30% of spa goers are men, and that men tend to be extremely loyal, repeat customers. They’ve moved on from simple haircuts and shaves to a wide variety of grooming treats. And topping the male grooming list is body hair removal. This article will discuss waxing trends for men.
Does it really hurt?
Perhaps you’ve heard from your female friends that waxing hurts. Well, the hair is being pulled out of the shaft at the root, so give the ladies a break. It does hurt a bit. The process involves warmed wax that is spread onto the skin over the hair. A piece of cloth or muslin is pressed onto the wax, and then the cloth is pulled off in a quick motion, taking the wax and the hair with it. Although certain areas can be more sensitive than others, generally each time you have waxing done, the pain minimizes. Most women who have waxing done regularly find the pain a small part of the whole process.
What should men wax?
Back & Shoulders
If there is a swimsuit in your future, having your back and shoulders hair-free is a necessity. It should be no surprise that women polled on things that turn them off, hairy backs rated at the top. Besides the appearance when you’re shirtless, having a smooth back also prevents hair from holding onto sweat, keeping you cleaner.
Chest
While a hairy chest has always had a place in manliness, there are times a smooth chest is desirable as well. If you’ve worked hard to get a muscular chest with stone hard pecs, removing the hair will bring out their shape. You don’t see hairy body builders! And some men prefer it if they spend a lot of time at the beach or doing water sports. Drying time is shorter without all the hair, and if you’re dealing with sunscreen, you no longer have to work it through your hair.
Eyebrows
Nothing is less cool than a unibrow, so many men will often have the area between their eyebrows waxed. This doesn’t mean the waxing has to shape the eyebrows like when women get it done. But if you’ve been shaving between your eyebrows, waxing will not only give you more time between hair removal, but when you have an aesthetician you’ll also known that your eyebrows are cleaned up evenly. Plus, she’ll trim back any crazy “mad scientist” hairs you may have sticking out.
Armpits
We all know we sweat through our armpits, which is why we apply deodorant to the area. However, if you have a lot of hair, sweat is getting caught in it and holding onto B.O. A lot of men will wax their armpits to stop odor. Plus, a clean armpit area also provides less mess with deodorant. No cake build-up or slime from roll-ons.
Brazilian
Yes, this is what the ladies do to remove it all from down there. For men, the service leaves the family jewels alone, but will clean up the entire area front to back. A lot of men prefer it for cleanliness and less odor. And a side benefit… less hair makes everything look bigger.
How long does it last?
Waxing lasts from six to eight weeks before another treatment is needed. If you think about how often you shave, imagine not having to remove your hair for two months!
DIY?
It is definitely not recommended to do waxing yourself. There are home kits, but if you’ve never waxed before, you might get in over your head. Not to mention the fact that some areas you simply can’t reach on your own. A professional aesthetician will be able to remove the hair with the least amount of discomfort, do it in a healthy environment to prevent infection, and will make it look good.
What is the obsession these days with removing body hair? I mean, what is it with painting on thick eyebrows, excruciatingly painful waxing, and obviously fake-looking hair extensions?
This baby boomer must be feeling my age because I just don’t get it.
Yes, I shave my legs, but I can’t help noticing that women are overly preoccupied with hair lately. Were we women bamboozled into this obsession by marketers?
According to the book, Plucked: A History of Hair Removal, more than 99 percent of American women remove their body hair.
Interestingly, Gillette introduced the first razor for women in 1915 along with the message that body hair was “unsightly” and “objectionable” and thus needed to be removed. And they just so happened to have the perfect tool. The company now earns over 9 billion dollars a year in sales.
The Brazilian bikini wax was created in Manhattan by seven Brazilian sisters in the early 1990s, who now earn six million dollars a year from waxing, hair, and nail treatments.
People are profiting big time from this obsession to remove hair. Not only do women wax their legs and armpits, but suddenly it became imperative and ever-so-fashionable to wax other places as well. I mean, OUCH! When did ripping hot wax off sensitive areas become empowering?
In fact, women spend about $10,000 and the equivalent of over four months of their lives removing hair. Those who wax once or twice a month will spend an average of $23,000 during their lifetime.
Really ladies?
Does this all seem a bit strange to you baby boomers who fought for the feminist revolution with the conviction that instead of obsessing over physical beauty, women should focus on their intelligence, careers, achievements, and making a difference? During the 60s and 70s, women felt free to make their own decisions about hair removal and many chose to go au natural. These days, women feel ashamed and somehow dirty without a bikini wax. What happened?
Not to sound old-fashioned, but aren’t there more important things to think about and do than obsess and spend time and money on removing body hair? Back in the old days (okay, now I sound ancient) people seemed more focused on spiritual matters and family. They didn’t spend all their time worrying about whether their armpits were properly waxed. And many would have donated that $150 for a full body wax – to remove hair that’s going to grow back real quick – to a good cause.
And while we’re discussing this, just when did women become so helpless? Have you baby boomers noticed that women don’t know how to pluck their own eyebrows, shave their own legs, or paint their own fingernails and toenails anymore? In addition to all the money spent on waxing, women spend about $1,300 a year on manis and pedis alone. Yes, I splurge once in a while to do my nails but it’s not rocket science to apply nail polish. Wouldn’t you rather take a trip with all that money?
We boomers didn’t go to the hair salon for a “blow dry.” Instead, I deftly wielded my own blow dryer like a pro and stuck prongs into hot rollers without burning my fingertips to look like Farrah. If we wanted our hair colored we picked up a bottle of Clairol at the drugstore. We even dared to perm our own hair! Yes, we looked like poodles but who cared? And give me a break. At least we didn’t look like a Dr. Seuss book with multi-colored rainbow hair! What’s with that crazy trend?
When women aren’t busy trying to remove every scrap of hair from their bodies, they are clipping or taping on hair extensions to look like a Real Housewife or one of the Kardashians. Some women become addicted to the more permanent type of extensions which leaves natural hair looking like a war zone. Did I mention the pain of ripping out the tape from the more permanent type of extensions? The possibility of bald spots? Does this sound like a good idea to you? Even Jennifer Aniston has admitted that her famous locks had become thin from extensions.
Okay, I must confess that in the 60s it was popular to frost hair. For those of you who don’t remember, this process involved a tight-fitting rubber cap with tons of little holes. A small metal crocheting needle was then used to pull pieces of hair through the holes – one at a time. So, it was kinda tortuous and women may have lost some of their hair in the process. And we baby boomers won’t talk about the bristle rollers women somehow slept in or teasing hair until it looked like a bird’s nest. Women back combed their hair until they looked like Marge Simpson and then applied enough sticky hairspray to make hair crunch.
But that was different. Sort of. Why don’t we change the subject?
Can we talk a minute about those wonky eyebrows, deemed the “power brow?” These trendy fuller brows are supposed to look like works of art, but they just look silly to me. Dark brow fillers create these squared off but perfectly arched eyebrows that look anything but natural. I have nothing against eyebrows, but should these two arches on your forehead warrant this much attention, cause so much work, and cost so much money? And why wax off your eyebrows if you’re only going to draw them back on again? I’m so confused.
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be too critical. My senior picture displays thin, arched eyebrows that are perhaps a tiny bit over-plucked. Actually, I can’t believe I walked around so proudly like that, but that’s beside the point. At least I plucked them proudly all by myself and it didn’t cost me a penny!
Still, this whole cultural phenomenon puzzles me. But wait a minute. Maybe armpit hair is making a comeback. There’s an Instagram account called Lady Pit Hair that features women going against social beauty norms and growing out their armpit hair and dying it bright colors.
“Today’s beauty standards really bum me out as they constantly police women’s bodies,” says Taylor Carpenter, a 23-year-old whose hot pink pits are featured on the page. Besides the issue of rebelling against norms society forces on us women, she has another reason for brightening the color of her body hair: “Honestly, I really like how they look. When I catch a glance of my hot pink pits, it makes me smile.”
Okay, I sorta like the sentiment of standing up against this cloud of disgust over any scrap of non-waxed body hair, but I’m still mystified. Is fluorescent green leg hair the next trend? Maybe I am getting old!
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