The History of Depilation
Throughout history, hair removal has been an important part of the beautification process. Ancient societies often associated smooth skin with a perfect ideal, and women (and sometimes men) went to great lengths to remove unsightly hairs to improve their appearance. Over the years, fortunately, technology has evolved to make the process considerably easier to deal with. Does this Spark an idea?
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Early Ideals
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Hair removal was an important part of the cosmetic process in both ancient Egypt and Greece. The Egyptians, as evidenced in their idealistic art, strove to match a single image of beauty, and any stray hairs out of place could ruin the effect. Likewise, the Greeks had a similar ideal of perfect beauty, and body hair was generally considered an ugly defect common to barbarians and the uncouth. Given the primitive nature of the methods available at the time, those dedicating themselves to the pursuit of perfection had quite a task ahead of them.
Ancient Methods
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Certainly the oldest method of hair removal is shaving. Unfortunately, it's also the least effective, and even with modern tools can subject the user to nicks and cuts and irritation. In ancient times, when the only shaving implement might have been a razor-sharp hunk of volcanic stone or polished bronze, it says much about the dedication of the users to the process of hair removal. Another commonly used method in this period is plucking, either by hand or with rudimentary tools; again, the amount of time and effort required made any such beautification a daunting task.
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Waxing
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The ancient Egyptians developed one of the first substantial advancements in hair removal, the process known as sugaring. Oil and honey were mixed into a sticky poultice, which was then applied to areas of the body in need of depilation and then vigorously removed, taking the hair with it. Eventually this evolved into a process involving melted wax, which generally proved superior to sugaring in hair removal effectiveness, but also proved considerably more painful as the wax would be more likely to adhere to skin.
Electrolysis
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Originally developed in the nineteenth century, electrolysis involves the permanent destruction of hair follicles via application of an electric charge to each one. The process gives permanent results, but the necessity for the practitioner to apply it to each and every hair means the process can take a considerable amount of time. Permanent depilation of large portions of the body via electrolysis can take months or even years of treatments to accomplish.
Chemical Depilation
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One relatively modern method of hair removal is the chemical depilatory. These products, usually found in cream form, contain substances such as calcium thioglycolate, which dissolves the keratin that gives hair its structure. Chemical depilatories have the advantage of being relatively painless (unless left on the skin too long) and are generally long-lasting, but remain only a temporary solution to excess hair.
Laser
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The most modern technique of hair removal is via laser. A short pulse targets the melanin in darker, coarser hair, burning it while leaving the surrounding tissue intact. Unfortunately, this also means that lighter, finer hair is less susceptible to this method of treatment and must generally be removed by other means.
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