Some males shave every day, while others are happy to live with some stubble and tend to prefer clippers to razors. Some men like to shave their heads, faces, and chests, while many will go with the natural look and embrace body hair and grow out their beards.
Whether you are female or male, you will spend a substantial part of your life grooming, shaving, and perhaps waxing. This has helped a huge market to grow based on hair treatments and removal.
What strange facts exist around hair removal and growth?
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The world’s laser hair removal market for example was worth about $583 million in 2021 but is expected to quadruple to $2.51 billion in 2031. The hair removal devices market is also expected to grow by a CAGR of 9.8% from 2019 to 2027.
For 39% of American males, this is a moot point, as this is the number of men that have lost or are losing their hair naturally, or through some medical condition. But, for those who are interested, this article contains some incredible, and odd, facts about hair removal and growth in general.
10 Incredible facts about the hair removal industry
You can start with the weird world of shaving foams for the first strange facts. Shaving foams no longer come unscented as they did in your grandfather’s heyday, oh no.
1 Oddly scented shaving creams exist
Most shaving foam smells pleasant and helps to deliver an enjoyable shaving experience. Manufacturers use a wide choice of fragrances such as citrus, bergamot, and sandalwood in their products now. But, some brands go a little bit too far with the experimental scents.
Lanolin is regularly used in shaving creams but not everyone finds the smell pleasant, yet there are far worse products out there. Believe it or not, you can find shaving foam with turmeric included, and also you can buy bacon shaving cream if you wish to smell like a fried breakfast all day.
2 The Brazilian became famous in New York
This style of waxing does originate from Brazil, and if the stories are to be believed, the Brazilian came from necessity after bikinis in the 70s and 80s became smaller and more revealing.
However, it wasn’t until seven Brazilian sisters opened a waxing salon in Manhattan, New York, that international recognition occurred. Nowadays, you can get a Brazilian in a salon located near Nashville, or from a technician in London, UK. Brazilian wax treatments are popular in many countries now.
3 Waxing was invented by the Ancient Egyptians
Although not technically waxing, the Egyptians way back used natural ingredients such as honey and oil to remove hair and leave their bodies hairless.
While this was done for aesthetic reasons, many cultures today still link hair removal with beauty and increased hygiene.
4 You might spend 5 months of your life shaving
The average male shaves around 20,000 times during their lifetime according to some estimates. This adds up to somewhere in the region of five months and may explain why more men are sporting beards these days as they tire of shaving.
5 Shaving is not environmentally friendly
You might not associate hair removal with the environment, but disposable razors are a huge problem according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Each year, about 2 billion plastic disposable razors will be thrown away ending up in landfills across the US.
6 The hair waxing industry is huge
After considering the environmental issues with disposable razors, you might wonder, is waxing better than shaving?. Clearly, millions of people see waxing as a good option, and the hair removal wax market is expected to be worth $4.5 billion in 5 years according to PRNewswire.
7 Hair grows at different rates in different climates
If you live in a hotter climate, your hair will grow about 10% faster than if you were somewhere colder. And your race will play some part here too. Asian hair grows faster than Caucasian and African hair by up to 1 or 2 inches per year.
8 Damaged hair follicles grow back
If you are suffering from hair loss you might well be exploring different cures for and ways to regrow your crowning glory. Unfortunately, unless you use minoxidil, you are probably wasting your money.
Yet, damaged hair follicles from being pulled out or through an injury, say, can repair themselves and grow hair once more. So, if you’ve plucked a hair and caused damage to a follicle, it will likely grow back, but it might take some time.
9 This goes for eyebrows too
On average, there are about 250 hairs in each person’s eyebrow. Of course, some people have bushy brows, and some seem very fine. Overplucking an eyebrow is easy to do and can be concerning to the owner. But, in general, a plucked eyebrow hair will grow back in about 2 months, as long as you haven’t overly damaged the follicle.
10 Laser hair removal lasts a long time
Although you might have to undergo a few sessions, for some people, laser hair removal is the best option. And the results can last for up to two years.
Summary
People do strange things with their hair with different styles, and colors being used to create unique looks. Some people even use fake food hair accessories including French fries, and this is a popular trend in Japan.
What is perhaps most incredible about human hair is just how much time people put into shaving, plucking, styling, and growing it.
Image Source: BigStockPhoto.com (Licensed)
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