Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

People have been removing hair from their bodies for more than ten thousand years. Their reasons have ranged from a treatment for lice to an indicator of civility and marital status. For the sake of beauty, we’ve removed hair from just our foreheads or upper lips, while others find a lack of hair over the entire body most attractive. Athletes have long found it useful to remove hair from areas in anticipation of injuries, as well as to lessen “drag,” while various religions use hair removal in their rites and ceremonies. No matter the reason for removing hair, there are a wide variety of methods used to achieve the desired results.

Temporary Solutions

Over the centuries, people have developed an assortment of methods to rid themselves of hair, some that last just a few days to a few weeks:

• Shaving
• Tweezing
• Sugaring and Waxing
• Bande Abru – aka Threading
• Hair Removal Creams

Permanent Hair Removal

If you’re considering a more permanent solution to unwanted hair, laser removal or electrolysis are the two primary options. In deciding which course will be best for your needs, it’s helpful to know that each hair on our body has a cycle of growth, broken into three phases: growth, transitional and resting. Another important aspect to consider is the total area and density of the hair you wish to remove. Both procedures require special equipment and expertise and therefore may not be done at home.

Electrolysis uses a filament is inserted into each follicle which is then zapped to prevent further growth. The process can be time consuming because each hair must be treated, one at a time. It does generally produce excellent results and may be used on most any skin and hair types, but may be quite painful and require many sessions, depending on the hair density and area to be treated.

Laser hair pemoval uses a bright light to target the melanin in hair to destroy them in the growth phase. People with lightly colored skin and dark hair or darker skin with coarse hair tend to have the best results, but it does require several brief sessions to halt the production of hair as desired. If the hair is dense in the area to be treated, it’s recommended that you start with laser removal, such as INMODE Optimas DiolazeXL, to reduce the volume of hair before considering electrolysis. Our team at Creative Facial Aesthetics is trained to offer relatively painless, convenient hair removal in our Midtown Manhattan spa. Contact us to schedule your hair removal consultation.