The Ultimate Guide To Hair Removal

There are lots of ways to remove unwanted body hair, from at-home methods to salon solutions. The right solution will depend on your budget, time frame, hair growth, and pain threshold. Here are some top tips for effective hair removal to keep you feeling and looking your best.  

Prepare The Skin

Always exfoliate before hair removal. If you know that you’re going to shave, wax, or pluck, the exfoliate the areas that you’re going to de-fuzz 24 hours before you start any treatment. This removes any dead skin cells which make for cleaner hair removal and will prevent ingrown hairs. 

Make sure that your skin is clean and free of any moisturiser or oils when you start hair removal. This means you get a bit of grip, which makes the process as pain-free as possible. 

If you’re going to try a new product or hair removal method, always do a skin patch test first, so you’re sure you won’t experience any side effects or allergic reactions. 

Hair Removal Methods

Shaving

Best for: Legs and underarms

Pros: If you’re short on time, then shaving is ideal. Unlike other methods, you don’t need to wait for the hair to reach a certain amount of growth, as you can shave at any time. 

Cons: Stubble. Once you’ve shaved, hair can grow back thicker, darker, and coarser than it was before. There’s also a risk of cutting yourself, so take extra care, especially around fiddly areas like your knees. 

Lasers

Best for: Anywhere you don’t want hair to ever grow back. 

Pros: Laser removal targets the hairs pigment and damages the follicle to prevent regrowth. Lasers are a painless hair removal method and mean you never need to deal with hair again. 

Cons: Laser hair removal isn’t cheap, so it should be viewed as an investment. Results can vary, and for good results, you will need to invest in several sessions. At-home lasers can be dangerous, so see a professional. 

Waxing

Best for: Large areas like arms, legs, and the back, or small areas like the upper lip, brows, or bikini line. 

Pros: Waxing leaves your skin soft and smooth. Hair is removed from the root, making for long-lasting results, which is ideal for holidays or a low-maintenance routine. If you wax regularly than the hair won’t grow back as thick. 

Cons: Waxing can be painful. However, the more you wax, the less it will hurt. You will have to wait until the hair is long enough for the wax to grip, so regrowth can be annoying. 

Epilating

Best for: Legs, arms, underarms, and the bikini line

Pros: Epilators removes hair from the root with a plucking movement, so it can grab even the shortest hairs with no waiting for long regrowth. 

Cons: Epilating can be painful at first, as it removes the hair one by one. As with waxing, the more you epilate, then the more you’ll get used to the feeling, so you will find it much less painful.