History of Hair Removal

Removing body hair goes back, way back to ancient Rome and Egypt.  The first razors found were made of copper and were used by Egyptians around 3000 BCE.  Egyptian women, who were beauty-obsessed, removed their head hair, and considered pubic hair not proper.  Wealthy and elite Roman women of the sixth century BCE used tweezers, pumice stones, and depilatories to remove unwanted hair, while Egyptians of Cleopatra’s time used a sugar mixture in a method similar to waxing; today we call that “sugaring”. This procedure is opposite to waxing, as it is applied in the opposite direction of the hair growth and “flicked” off using the hand.  Elizabethan women removed their eyebrows and hair from their foreheads to give themselves a longer brow – we hope this look never comes back! 

Three different industries, that all saw profit in hair removal, are to blame for the trend in removing one’s hair; the fashion industry, men’s hair removal industry, and women’s magazine industry. Once skirts started to get shorter and sleeveless clothing was more acceptable, so was removing unwanted hair that some perceived as being unsightly. By the 1900s, women were shaving their armpits and their legs.  Once fashionable stockings were available on the market, women didn’t want their expensive accessories to skag or run so having smooth legs was important to them. 

The bikini was introduced in 1946 and therefore so did shaving of the bikini line. Once Playboy launched in the 1950s, bikinis started to get tiny and so did the amount of hair people had in those areas. Brazilian waxing hit the mainstream in the late 1980s and news traveled fast throughout the world about this new trend in hair removal. 

We fully believe that it is the right of every person to decide what they want to do with their bodies. You cannot force a person to remove their hair or keep it if they do not wish to.  People remove their hair for many different reasons ranging from religion, a sense of cleanliness, confidence, pro athletes, prep for surgeries, and more. You do you!

Buzz into Queen Bee for one of the best waxes in your business!!