Permanent and Temporary Hair Removal Through the Ages

Contrary to some of the popular beliefs the ritual of hair removal dates to long before the 21st century.

Contrary to some of the popular beliefs the ritual of hair removal dates to long before the 21st century. Even in ancient Egypt, Greece and Middle Eastern countries it has been performed for aesthetic purposes with the idea of achieving beauty as well as for other purposes such as hygiene. In Egypt women removed their head hair and also facial hair which was considered the mark of a lower class. Also in other countries women removed almost all of their body hair except the eyebrows.

Over time many different methods have been developed to help remove unwanted and unsightly hair. One of the original techniques for hair removal, used in ancient times, was and still is, called sugaring.  This consists of a treatment with a sticky paste substance that is applied on the skin and then removed like the wax today with a strip of cloth.

However, the purpose of waxing, depilation, shaving, plucking and other temporary similar means, was and remains only to remove hair from the unwanted areas.  It cannot prevent it from growing again on the same spot.  Permanent hair removal is growing as a trend in recent years. But how would one be able to eradicate that annoying growth?

Electrolysis has found a solution to the permanent hair removal problem long ago.  It was invented at first for medical purposes in 1875 for eyelash distortions and to permanently remove in- growing eyelashes. Since then the electrolysis machine has developed to treat all facial and body hair and meet the demand from women and men for a permanent hair removal solution.

Electrolysis targets the follicle of the hair and following a course of treatments the hair will not grow back on the same spot.  The hair follicle itself is disabled.  This is the only method of hair removal that can achieve this result. One of the many advantages of an electrolysis machine over laser hair removal is that the practitioner can treat all skin and hair types without any side effects.

Laser and IPL were recently introduced to the market as being able to perform permanent hair removal; however, they cannot and do not achieve this claim and realistically do not eradicate the hair fully. Because of this fact, laser hair removal and IPL have been allowed to use permanent hair ‘reduction’ as a claim in advertising the benefits of the products.  Meaning that the hair grow is ‘diminished’ for a period of over a year.  Laser hair removal and IPL are a hair management system and have their limitations. 

Very often electrolysists have clients that have come for supplementary treatments after they have undergone a hair removal procedure with IPL or laser. This is because the laser hair removal and IPL work on the melanin in the hair as they are light based treatments and if the hair is blonde, white or grey there is no melanin in the hair to work on.  Sometimes the power is inadequate to treat the hair and the hair is just stripped of colour.  Additionally, there are cases of secondary growth where hair growth is stimulated in an unrelated area by laser or unsatisfactory results after laser and IPL treatments that the practitioners have to solve these problems using their electrolysis machine and expert knowledge.
Therefore, electrolysis is the only permanent hair removal method that can guarantee the eradication of the unwanted of unsightly hair, when performed correctly by a qualified practitioner.

Radina Simeonova is associate author with Sterex Ltd, expert in electrolysis - the permanent hair removal and also offering epilation equipment, wart removal, skin tag, thread vein and advanced cosmetic procedures.  

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