Buh-bye, body hair: A look at hair removal options

With summer coming soon, we're all ready to trade in our layers of heavy winter clothes for swim suits, shorts, tank tops and flip flops. But, after taking inventory, we may discover an "unwanted friend" has appeared on our bodies during the long winter months: body hair.

There are many ways to remove it, from old-fashioned shaving to waxing to body sugaring to laser treatments.

Laser hair removal, which beams highly concentrated light into the hair follicles, can be a long-lasting option.

"A laser beam travels down the hair shaft and kills the hair root," says Pam Strauss, an LPN at Heartland Plastic and Hand Surgery in Cape Girardeau. "We usually do five or six treatments about six weeks apart."

Not everyone is a good candidate for laser hair removal.

"To be a candidate, a person should be pale or light-skinned with dark and coarse [body] hair," says Strauss.

While there is a slight sting when the procedure is done, Strauss says the pain is minimal.

"We use a prescription numbing cream combined with cold air that blows from a machine [to reduce the pain. The procedure is] very tolerable," she says.

The cost of laser hair removal at Heartland Plastic and Hand Surgery varies greatly depending on how large of an area is treated.

"It can run anywhere from $35 to $500 per treatment," says Strauss.

Body sugaring and waxing are two methods of hair removal offered by Mirror Image Salon in Jackson.

Body sugaring is an all-natural procedure where a sugaring paste is applied. "[Body sugaring] pulls the hair from the bulb," says Heidi Hume, owner, stylist and licensed sugarist at Mirror Image. "The hair then grows back thinner, lighter and softer. When you use a shaver, it breaks off the hair, [the skin] feels prickly and the hair grows back faster."

Body sugaring also exfoliates the skin and removes dead skin cells.

"[For best results], you should always exfoliate before and after a sugar paste treatment," says Hume.

She recommends getting the procedure done every four weeks, and eventually, it can stop hair growth permanently.

"You need to do it for 18 months to three years for it to be permanent," she adds.

Body sugaring isn't as painful as waxing, according to Hume. "Some areas will be more painful and some will be less painful, but it doesn't pull [the skin and hair] like waxing," she says.

The cost of body sugaring at Mirror Image runs from $13 to $61 per treatment depending on what part of the body is sugared.

"No chemicals are used [in our sugar paste] and it's safe for all hair types and skin types," says Hume.

Shine Medical Aesthetics in Cape Girardeau offers both laser and waxing as hair removal options.

"With the BBL laser, we do a series of treatments," says Sidney McAlister, office manager at Shine. "We recommend six to eight treatments spaced three to four weeks apart."

This procedure should create semi-permanent results.

"After that, you just go on a maintenance program where you come in every one to two years," says McAlister.

For some people with certain hair colors, McAlister believes waxing is a better option.

"Only dark pigmented hair will respond well [to our laser treatments]," says McAlister. "Natural blondes and redheads don't [typically] do well, [so for them], I would recommend waxing."

Waxing should be done every four to six weeks, according to McAlister.

"The more you come in on a [regular] basis, the less hair growth there will be each time," she says.

Waxing services at Shine range from $15 to $65, where laser treatments run from $50 to $400.