Defining Depilation Up & Down the Body

Perhaps because it draws from both Latin and German, English is an extraordinarily rich language. This notwithstanding, and despite their morphological, biochemical and developmental differences, the keratin fibers growing on the body surfaces are called just “hair,” as if they were not interesting enough to justify the coining of different words for scalp hair, pubic hair, chest hair and so on. Notable exception are beards and the mustaches, names given to hair growing on the face and upper lips of males; yet, when they grow on the face of women, they are just called hair.

Scalp hair is accompanied by legend and religion. While excess testosterone provokes hair loss, one legend associates Samson’s strength to his scalp hair: when his hair was cut, he lost his strength and was imprisoned by his enemies, the Philistines. To varying degrees, several religions forbid that female scalp hair be visible when in public. This measure of modesty may have something to do with the esthetics and attractiveness associated with scalp hair. When it comes to other body hair, the story might be different.

The Role of Body Hair

Armpit hair and pubic hair play a role in reducing friction when those anatomic regions are involved in specific activities. Other body hair is reminiscent of the role in maintaining thermal balance played in our early ancestors: during the Napoleonic campaign in Russia’s winter, a French field doctor noticed wounded soldiers with no scalp hair had the worse prognosis.

There is historic evidence that upper class women in ancient Egypt and Rome removed body hair. Renaissance paintings from Italy and Germany portrayed women without pubic or axillary hair. This being “hairless” was probably a luxury reserved for the few who wanted to have smooth skin whereas for the other women in the western world the presence of body hair seems to have been acceptable very matter-of-factly over the centuries. In the 19th century, occasional body hair removal was recommended for hygienic reasons, such as the removal of all kinds of lice.

Around the time of World War I, thanks in part to the legislation that introduced paid vacations for employees, it became fashionable and widespread to mimic the whimsical behavior of those eccentric British aristocrats who enjoyed bathing half-naked in the Mediterranean Sea. Skirts became shorter, swimsuits became smaller, body surfaces exposed to sun became larger, body hair became visible—and the depilation industry was born.

Depilation Methods

The art of removing body hair is the same on both sides of the “pond.” Preferences about which one to use, however, differ. 

In the US, women who decide to remove body hair prefer the razor. Interestingly enough, in the 1960s and 1970s, the word “shaving” was banished from the female-only depilatory advertising because “shaving” was considered to be an exclusively male activity! 

In Europe it seems that women prefer “waxing.” The action of waxing plucks the hair from the skin and maintains the skin “hairless” for a longer time than the “shaving” procedure. The longer lasting effect of waxing comes with an intense albeit short pain that occurs when the wax is stripped from the skin, together with many hairs. 

Depilatory creams chemically break the keratin fiber within minutes after application. They can be removed by rinsing and leave the skin smooth without the slight irritation associated with shaving and without the pain associated with waxing. The main ingredient of depilatory creams is thioglycolic acid, a chemical with a strong and unpleasant odor that can be irritating to skin, nose and eyes.

The results obtained with these methods are transient and last, perhaps, for as long as one month. Longer lasting results can be obtained by laser hair removal or electrolysis. 

Laser hair removal targets the hair follicle. Heat-releasing laser light is shone into the follicle and stops new hair from growing. It can be performed everywhere except in the eye zone and is said to work best on lighter skin with dark hair. This technology only works on hair follicles in the growth phase, and this is why several sessions with a certified dermatologist are necessary to obtain the best results. After hair is removed via laser, the skin remains hair-free for several months. One drawback of this procedure is that it can cause discolorations on darker skins.

Electrolysis is another technology to remove hair. This kind of electrolysis has nothing to do with the electrolysis we learn about in Chemistry 101 classes. This “electrolysis” is a procedure for permanent hair removal, the description of which is accessible on the web. 

“An extremely fine needle or wire is inserted into the hair follicle without puncturing the skin,” explain board-certified dermatologist Michele Green. “An electric current travels down the probe to the follicle’s base, destroying it permanently and removing any existing hair.” 

The procedure can be done to any part of the body where unwanted hair is present. The duration of the treatment is very time consuming: from about half an hour for an upper lip to several hours for one leg. Treatments should be performed at a rate not exceeding one treatment per month, so that a full body depilation via electrolysis will take up to a year or more.

Electrolysis is painful. How painful? It depends on how well one resists pain. To give you an idea, if you avoid waxing because it hurts like hell and are afraid of laser hair removal because the pain is unbearable, electrolysis might not be for you.

Conclusion

There has been a long debate about whether hair removal is a constraint exerted on women in a male-driven society or whether it is a free choice exerted by those who think that by removing their own hair they become more attractive to potential partners. Each one of these hypotheses contains perhaps a bit of truth. 

One of the positive results of the debate is that the individual attitude toward hair removal is accepted and respected…and nobody will ask me anymore “how does one know that an airplane is Italian?”

Paolo Giacomoni, PhD

Insight Analysis Consulting

paologiac@gmail.com
516-769-6904

Paolo Giacomoni acts as an independent consultant to the skin care industry. He served as Executive Director of Research at Estée Lauder and was Head of the Department of Biology with L’Oréal. He has built a record of achievements through research on DNA damage and metabolic impairment induced by UV radiation as well as on the positive effects of vitamins and antioxidants. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 20 patents. He is presently Head of R&D with L.RAPHAEL—The science of beauty—Geneva, Switzerland .