Hair removal has a long history. For centuries social and religious customs have required the removal of hair. Those who violate these cultural standards often face rejection from their peers and problems with cultural acceptance.
The First Hair Removal Methods
Hair removal methods have been evolving for thousands of years. The first hair removal customs date back to the cavemen, who scraped hair from their body using flint or sharpened stones. Ancient Sumerians developed primitive tweezers to remove hair, while Native Americans plucked hairs one by one with clamshells. The ancient Eqyptians practiced hair removal as well; razors made of bronze were discovered in Egyptian tombs dating back more than three thousand years.
Depilatories were also used as an alternative to tweezers and early razors. The earliest depilatories date back thousands of years and were concocted from a frightening array of ingredients, including cat feces (which were dried, ground into a powder, and combined with vinegar to dissolve hair), resin, lime, ass’s fat, bat blood, arsenic, starch, and viper snakes (which were also ground into a powder).
One of the oldest hair removal methods (that is still used today) is an ancient Middle Eastern technique called “threading”. Threading involves lacing doubled-up strands of cotton string around the fingers and running it over individual strands of hair, removing the hair from the roots.
Modern Hair Removal Methods
Most modern hair removal methods are based on techniques that date back centuries. The first safety razor was developed by a barber in the late 1700s, and disposable razors date back to 1903, but primitive razors have been used for thousands of years. The depilatory creams of today are certainly safer than methods used in the past but are no more effective. The most significant advance in hair removal technology in the modern era has been the development of laser hair removal systems, which offer what all of these primitive hair removal methods never could: permanent hair removal.
If you are in the metro Denver Boulder area please come visit us for yourlaser hair removal needs at Bella Pelle Laser