Epilation is a term used to describe mass plucking of
hairs. Whilst it would be a marathon of a task to remove hairs individually
with tweezers, there are ways of doing it much faster. These are threading or the use of an epilator.
Probably the first form of epilation ever is known as threading. Like
colonic hydrotherapy, this orginated in the ancient Middle East, another
sign of how highly developed the Egyptians were. They called it fatlah.
It's basically a way of using a coil of string to trap and pull out unwanted
hairs, and it's considered less painful than plucking by some. Areas with larger Persian or Asian populations often have beauticians offering it for brow shaping. It works fantastically though the speed with which the hairs are removed has reduced me to a tearful wreck every time I've used threading.
In the modern age epilation is relatively easy to come by thanks to
electricity! Most epilators take the form of a row of rotating tweezers,
although a few use vibrating wire coils. Simply plug in, run over the
skin and hairs are removed by the root.
Epilation machines can remove hairs relatively quickly and being that
they remove them by the roots, they offer some advantages:
Hair regrowth is slow, typically it'll be a couple of weeks
Hairs get softer the more you remove them through epilation much
as with waxing
It's clean and you only ever have to buy an epilator once which means
that it gets cheaper and cheaper the longer you stick with it
It's one of the easiest ways of removing hair solo as waxing can
be difficult in certain areas and requires a fair amount of determination
to pull the hair out, so waxing is much easier if you can get someone to
help you
On the flip side, epilation doesn't suit everyone because:
If you have thick hair you may find it too painful at first to persevere
with
It can be uncomfortable on sensitive areas and some places are hard
to reach, like the backs of the legs
You need the hair to be of a certain length before you can epilate
of else the tweezers can't grab it to pluck
Very fine hair is hard to treat effectively
If you do decide to epilate, make sure that you pull the skin tight.
This prevents snagging and makes the hair removal treatment less painful.
You may also find it best when you've had a hot bath and then dried off.
Make the room warm while you are epilating as cold air will draw the
skin tighter making the epilation less comfortable.
Personally my hair was too dense and thick when I tried to epilate and
within minutes my eyes were watering and I was quivering like I was
having a fit. If anyone now tries to bring an epilator machine anywhere near me, my first reaction is to call security.
However, I do know some people who've claimed good results through
epilation, so it is a case of horses for courses. If you find that the sensation
of having hairs rapidly plucked is tolerable to you, epilation can be
a cheap, quick and effective way of removing your hair that can easily
be performed solo.
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