Hair Removal at Home
In this article we’ll look at the different methods for home hair removal.
The Ultimate Home Hair Removal Guide
If you choose to ditch the fuzz, there are plenty of options for at home hair removal. In this article, we’ll look at the pros and cons of some of these options.
Shaving
Possibly the most popular home hair removal method, shaving cuts the hair that has grown above the skin.
Pros: Shaving is quick, relatively easy, and gives an impressive finish with little effort. You don’t have to wait for hair to grow to a certain length, and it’s pain free.
Cons: Because shaving just trims the hair, it can regrow quickly. As well as this, razors cause the hair to become blunt rather than tapered. This can give the impression of hair growing back thicker and darker. You can also get ingrown hairs, or even cut yourself while shaving tricky bits like knees and ankles.
Best For: Legs and Underarms
Waxing
Hot or cold wax can be used to remove hair from the root.
Pros: Waxing removes hair from the root, meaning it gives longer-lasting smoothness compared to shaving. Over time, repeated waxing can make your hairs finer and easier to remove.
Cons: Waxing can be painful, especially if you have thick hair or are waxing a sensitive area. It can also be messy and might take a few goes to get the hang of it, especially in fiddly areas. As well as this, you can’t wax stubble. You need to let the hair grow long enough that the wax can grab it.
Best For: Legs, underarms, upper lip, eyebrows, and bikini area
For more information, check out our article How to Wax at Home.
Threading
Threading uses string looped around your hairs to pluck them out.
Pros: Threading gives a neater finish around eyebrows than waxing. It is also a gentler option, especially for those who have sensitive, thin, or redness-prone skin.
Cons: Threading is fiddly and can be tricky to learn how to do to yourself at home. You may struggle to do it yourself, especially when you need to pull the skin taught.
Best For: Eyebrows, upper lip and chin
Hair Removal Cream
Hair removal cream, also called depilatory cream, breaks down the Keratin structure in the hair. This ‘melts’ the hair so when you wipe away the cream, the hair comes with it.
Pros: When used properly, it’s a painless and relatively easy way to remove hair. Unlike shaving, the hair isn’t blunted, meaning it will feel softer when it grows back. You can invest in creams that get to work while you’re in the shower, making it even more convenient than shaving.
Cons: Some creams can take up to 10 minutes to work, so this method may slow you down in a rush. Similarly to shaving, depilatory cream only removes the hair above the surface of the skin, meaning hair will grow back quite quickly. They can be messy and feel itchy while they work, and lots of them have a less than pleasant scent. Improper use can also result in damage to your skin.
Best For: Legs, arms, underarms, upper lip, and bikini line
Dermaplaning
Dermaplaning uses a single blade to remove peach fuzz and dead skin cells from the surface of your skin.
Pros: It’s painless and easy to do. Removing peach fuzz and dead skin cells means your skin is left feeling smooth, and it creates an even base for makeup.
Cons: Hair will regrow quickly as it isn’t being removed from the root.
Best For: Peach fuzz and upper lip
Epilating
An epilator is a handheld device that has a rotating head with tiny mechanical tweezers to catch and pluck hairs.
Pros: Hair is removed from the root, meaning it takes longer for them to grow back and repeated use will make hairs finer. The mechanical tweezers can also remove stubble.
Cons: It can take longer than shaving or waxing to remove all the hairs. It can be a painful process and might be more patchy than other methods.
Best For: Legs, arms, underarms, and bikini lines
IPL (Intense Pulsated Light)
IPL uses light therapy to target the melanin in hair follicles and damage the root to stop it producing more hair. IPL is different to Laser Hair Removal.
Pros: It’s not very painful and the results can be permanent. Also, different size attachments mean you can target both large and small areas of hair.
Cons: Buying an IPL machine can be costly. They also work best on contrast, meaning the ideal person using IPL would have dark hair and light skin. It can be less effective on dark skin and dark hair or light skin and light hair. As well as this, the results can be patchy. IPL is more likely to permanently reduce the amount of hair you have, rather than get rid of it all together.
Best For: Anywhere