Where did this whole hair removal thing start? How long has it been around? Curious much? We could bore you with the details, but think the below summary should just give you enough info to toss into casual cocktail convo… Enjoy!
Pharaoh Pharaoh. Oh Pharaoh let my people go — Go Hairless! The ancient Egyptians around BC removed all their hair from their armpits to their pubic hair using sugaring. Far it was they who wanted to be animal-like. In , the first depilatory cream, Poudre Subtile, was invented. Additionally, in the early s, depilatory creams began to run ads to the general public. At this time, the standard was to remove hair on the face, neck, and arms.
Because there was a shortage of nylon due to World War II, leg hair removal became increasingly popular as women had to skip the stockings and go bare-legged more often.
In the s, hair removal was more widely accepted. Depilatory creams were still largely irritating to skin, so the most popular methods of hair removal were shaving and plucking. Women would shave their underarms and legs and pluck their eyebrows. The s saw the debut of the use of wax strips to remove hair. This spurred the practice of women routinely shaving their legs.
The first electric razor for women was also released by Remington in Around the time the first women's razor was launched, ads for depilatory creams were becoming increasingly popular. Beauty standards for women were soon being shaped by the media, through images in magazines and in the movies. In fact, a women's fashion magazine ran an ad featuring a model with her arms raised and her armpits bare. This marked the first time that fashion directly influenced how women groomed their body hair.
As hair removal ads ran throughout the midth century and continue today , women felt more obligated to rid their body of hair. With photoshoots of models embracing hairless armpits and bikini lines, it became clear that the ideal beauty standard for women at the time embraced the no body hair image.
Razor ads for men also existed, but they were more focused on facial hair removal. The most popular method of leg and underarm hair removal soon came into the market. Waxing strips were widely popular due to their efficiency and effectiveness, tied to the growing fashion trends that involved showing more skin, such as the rise of the mini skirt and hotpants. This also aligned with the Sexual Revolution and Women's Movement of the s, as women gained more liberties and defended their autonomy over their bodies.
On one end of the spectrum, many women continued with the clean shaven, body hairless look that had been popularized in the s and '50s, and on the other, feminists turned their back on hair removal and opted to go au naturale. New hair removal methods continued being developed as the beauty trend became more widespread. The first laser hair removal method was introduced in the mid-'60s, but quickly lost popularity due to its damaging effects.
That said, the s eventually brought the development of transistorized equipment, allowing safer methods of electrolysis and laser hair removal. While bikinis have been around since the s, they continued getting smaller throughout the 20th century, and by the s the style was completely mainstream. With more exposure came a growing desire to remove hair around the bikini line, in addition to other areas of the body like the legs and armpits. Brazilian waxes, a beauty treatment consisting of removing all pubic hair, became a standard by the '80s.
It is reported that the first full body waxing experience was first offered in the U. From that point on, waxing centers and spas have provided whole menus dedicated to waxing treatments, addressing just about every part of the body with hair. Today, body hair is no longer tied to any standard of beauty. After thousands of years of being told what to do with their hair, society has reached a point where body hair is now celebrated, and men and women alike are free to do whatever they want with it.
Men with beards or women with body hair would be perceived as uncivilised — a servant or a member of the lower class. For waxing, they would use beeswax and a sugaring method and for tweezers, they used seashells — definitely not for the faint of heart!
This was roughly the same as the Ancient Egyptians. Body hair was seen as uncivilised and if you had some, you would be regarded as part of the lower class.
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