In western culture, underarm hair is considered smelly and unattractive. As you age and enter puberty, whether you are a boy or a girl, you will begin to grow underarm hair. This hair will be thicker and coarse than the hair on your head, and, unlike the hair on your head, it will not grow unchecked until you trim it, but will stop usually stop growing once it reaches a length of about three inches. Many men leave their underarm hair alone, but it can significantly increase your body odor.
Women in western cultures nearly always keep their underarms smooth or nearly so both as a cosmetic ritual and also to limit body odor and increase the effectiveness of deodorant. However, since your underarm hair is real, growing hair, you will have to take some steps to get rid of it either temporarily or permanently as it will continue to grow back each time it is removed.
Getting Rid of Armpit Hair:
Shaving:
This is easily one of the most unpopular ways of getting rid of armpit hair. Many have sworn by the bad effects that shaving does ingrown hair, itchiness, irritation, pigmentation, and the like. But a lot of people have claimed great benefits from using a razor. The key to having a nicely shaved armpit is minimizing the irritation. Be sure to take a shower prior to shaving. Applying soap or shower gel to your armpit hair makes the hair softer and more ideal for saving. This also makes the skin supple in consistency and less likely to develop redness and irritation as a reaction to the process of shaving.
Make sure that you have a good sharp razor before proceeding. Lather up with a nice helping of shaving cream and just let the blade do the work. Razors are designed to shave close to skin without nicking skin so just let it glide. Unlike facial hair, armpit hairs grow in different directions so there’s no need to follow a particular grain. Once you’re done, pat dry with a towel and wait for a few minutes before applying deodorant.
Waxing:
waxing the armpits waxing is not just for armpits: it’s also applicable to eyebrows, bikini lines (Tips on how to bikini wax) and leg hair. Some men (particularly swimmers and cyclists) also resort to waxing off their chest and leg hair. Either you do the waxing yourself or a cosmetologist can do this for you. Waxing involves the use of a special heated wax. Upon application of a thin layer, a paper strip or cloth is pressed on top of it and is ripped off against the direction of hair growth in a sudden and quick movement.
This ripping removes your armpit hair, the wax and even the dead skin cells. What’s great about waxing is that it takes some time before the hair grows back because no stubble is left in the follicles. The number one disadvantage to it is that it’s excruciatingly painful for most people.
Plucking:
This is an increasingly popular method especially for women. Using tweezers, you can pluck out individual hairs one by one. Since there’s actual physical manipulation of the hair follicle, there’s a real chance of irritation and dilation of the skin pores. This might be an entry point for bacteria and other organisms so extra care must be done to prevent the occurrence of infections.
Epilators:
You can also use over-the-counter creams and waxes for removing hair. Though there might be some discomfort associated with the use of these products as well as an increased cost, these methods ensure that hair won’t grow back as fast compared to the other methods already mentioned.
Laser:
When worse come to worst, you may choose to opt for using lasers to permanently make your follicles from growing hair. This might seem like a very extreme procedure and it actually is. This should only be considered as a last resort because the other methods can definitely take care of the problem with lesser cost. To those willing to part with their money (and their armpit hair for life), many dermatologists would be more than happy to help you become hair free!
Advice:
Do not wax if using antibiotics, Isotretinoin, Accutane or Retin-A due to sensitivity of the skin. It may produce possible damage to the skin.