Our hair can say a lot about us. During last years lockdowns unable to undertake out usual grooming routines meant it was a subject we were all talking about. I for one had lock down hair. I don’t go that regularly to my local hairdresser as I have long hair. I think those with shorter hair certainly found things harder as more length just kept growing. Home cuts were attempted with various degrees of success and I even had to persuade Emma to give my locks a trim in my garden.
It was not only the hair on our head we had to worry about all body hair as professional services gave way to amateur home based solutions. Have we always been so obsessed with removing hair from every part of our body?
I remember when I was 18. At this age I had only ever shaved my legs. No sooner that I had achieved a smooth finish, the next morning the prickly stubble was back. At university my friend Helen introduced me to waxing. Wow it hurt but the results lasted for weeks. Yes, that’s weeks not hours! I was confidently informed that with each stripping the hairs weakened and the pain would be less. In summer a bikini line became a must before venturing to the beach. It was here the trouble started. Ingrown hairs. Pesky hairs that refuse to grow out and head back in causing large often spot like bumps and sores. No matter how hard I scrubbed and lotioned, there would always be one or two unsightly pustules. The bikini was so close…..
It’s a testament to innovation and capitalism that new treatments have continued to arrive. Hair removing creams took the market by storm. Emma once had to have an hours’ driving lesson with her legs covered in ‘Immac’. She’d forgotten about the lesson and when the driving instructor arrived, she was in her knickers with legs covered in cream. Nothing for it. On when the jeans and into the car she jumped. I can only imagine the smell as the creams smelt toxic. I am surprised no one passed out. I remember giving myself an unintended Mohawk. I had covered my legs in cream and sat on the toilet to wait the allotted time. It did not even occur to me to keep my legs apart until I started to wash off the cream and to my horror my pubes came away in clumps and there was not a lot left. Creams did not give me ingrown, but they smelt, and the results did not last as long as waxing.
And so, to facial hair. It is no secret I am a sucker for a beard on a man. To me, a man with a beard is ALL man. However facial hair on woman is not so socially acceptable. I for one was blessed with a damn fine moustache for a woman. In my teens I would bleach it. In my 20’s I would wax it. Neither of which were satisfactory solutions. It was at a time when my hormones were running high and my body was intent on providing me with a beard to match my rather fine moustache. Things got serious and I turned to electrolysis. A thin wire is inserted into the hair follicle under the surface of the skin. An electric current moves down the wire to the bottom of the follicle, destroying the hair root. The follicle damage prevents hair from growing and causes the existing hair to fall out. Sounds painful? Is painful! I had holes and welts in my skin. I persisted for a year and just ended up with dark discoloured patches of skin on my face as well as the unwanted hair.
Enter laser hair removal. I chanced upon what was at the time the latest treatment emerging for unwanted hair. I was desperate to get rid of the unsightly facial hair and was ready to try anything. Yes, the flash from the laser makes you jump. It’s like someone flicking a rubber band on your skin. The results however, spoke for themselves. After the first treatment it took weeks for any hair to reappear and with a handful more treatments, it was gone. Gone. Completely gone. In the 10 years since I think I have only had one top up! Bikini line was next, followed by legs and underarms. Brilliant! I occasionally find an unexpected straggler, but it works! One of the other unexpected benefits is your skin is smooth and therefore super soft.
You do need to be certain you want to get rid of the hair permanently before you decide to laser, so there’s one or two areas where I am remaining ‘au naturelle’.