Hair Removal Options – Waxing, Threading or Laser?

As women, we spend way too much time thinking about hair. How to style it, how to keep it healthy, lush and luxurious, and how to remove it from unwanted places.

There are several ways you can get rid of leg, underarm, upper lip and other hair. You can, of course, shave or pluck it at home. But if you want to be able to take one more thing off that long list of to-dos, why not let someone else deal with your unwanted hair and have one less thing to worry about?

One option is waxing, in which a warm wax solution is spread over the hair and a cloth or paper slip is placed on top of it. When the wax cools, the strip is pulled off and the hair comes out with it, by the root. It’s relatively quick (though not as quick as shaving), but it lasts longer and over time the hair follicles may stop growing hair so you might not have to keep doing this forever.

Results last anywhere between two and six weeks, which is much longer than with shaving. However, hair needs to grow to at least ¼ of an inch long in order to be removed by waxing, so you’re going to have to be hairy for awhile before you can be smooth.

Threading is an ancient hair-removal method that is commonly practiced in Eastern countries like India and Egypt, and is starting to become more and more popular in the West. A cotton thread is pulled and twisted along unwanted hair, trapping it and pulling it out of the follicle. Like waxing, the results of threading can last up to six weeks.

Threading is very precise and is great for areas like eyebrows that are difficult to get perfectly even. It is generally only done on the face (brows, upper lip, chin). It requires 1/16 of an inch of regrowth and, like with waxing, can over time cause the hair follicles to stop growing hair. An expert can do it very quickly (unlike tweezing, in which you have to pluck out each individual hair) and it is a very sanitary procedure. People with skin sensitivities to chemicals and wax ingredients will find threading much gentler on their skin.

Laser hair removal slows the rate of hair growth but doesn’t stop growth altogether. A hand-held laser pulses light onto the area you want hair removed from. The intense heat of the light damages the hair follicles, inhibiting further growth. The hair will fall out 10-14 days later.

You do not need to grow your hair out before doing a laser treatment. But it can take several treatments before you see a significant difference in the rate of regrowth. People usually do about 4-6 treatments, spaced about a month apart. After that you may want to follow up with a maintenance treatment every 6 months to a year.

The treatment is most effective on people with light skin and dark hair because the laser targets the pigment in the hair, which is most prominent when it is up against light skin. When the hair regrows, it may be thinner or lighter in color.

The laser can cause some skin irritation, depending on the type of laser, the type of hair, and your own personal pain threshold. Usually the first treatment hurts more and subsequent treatments are less painful. There is also a small risk of blistering, burning or scarring. Laser hair removal treatments can reduce your hair count by 40% to 60%.

Choose the method of hair removal that sounds like it will work best for you, both in terms of comfort and in terms of cost. At the end of the day, it’s your hair and your body, and you have to be comfortable with the choice you make and happy with how you look.