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Summer may be over, but doesn’t mean it’s time to pack up the razor and embrace your inner wildebeest. Nobody wants to hop into bed at night and feel like they’re sleeping next to a prickly pear. And when it comes to being hair free and care free, it seems Australians are pretty good at keeping on top of things. According to EuroMonitor’s Personal Care Appliances in Australia report, personal care appliances in Australia in 2011 had a stellar year, with volume sales increasing by four per cent and value sales increasing by 2 per cent. With hair removal high on the list of beauty priorities for Australians, we take a look at the most popular choices to turn you into a smooth operator.
Shaving
Shaving first became popular during World War II when there was a shortage of nylon stockings and bare legs became socially acceptable. Far from the simple blades used to take care of hair removal in the early 1940s, shavers these days include new innovations such as ergonomically designed handles, pivoting cartridges, built-in shave gel bars, three to five blades, miniature motors inside the handles, wire-wrapped blades to protect skin and pivoting blades.
It is still the quickest, easiest, safest, least painful and least expensive modern hair removal method today,” says Shick Disposables brand manager Renee Fowler. The Hair Removal Incidence Check conducted for Schick by Millwood Brown in 2011 found that 57 per cent of Australian men and 59 per cent of Australian women claim razor shaving is their most often used method of hair removal.
Each year invest millions of dollars in the research and development of its products to offer its consumers many first-to-market technologies. An example of this is their recently release Schick Hydro 5 Power Select, which is about power, precision and hydration and it’s one of Schick’s most advanced developments yet,” says Schick Men’s senior brand manager Aaron Collins. Product innovation has paved the way for features such as: multi-speed custom vibration with three vibration settings, a LED interface with battery life indicator, a breakthrough hydrating water-activated gel reservoir and breakthrough skin guards to prevent irritation.”
But while electrical and everyday shavers have upped the ante with technology, so have the disposables. Schick’s Quattro shaver has four precisely synchronised blades for a close, smooth shave plus conditioning strips enriched with aloe and vitamins, and ergonomically designed handles. The brand’s Xtreme 3 is the only triple blade disposable razor with pre and post shave lubricants and blades that flex and pivot, while Exacta 2 has a slim head for a close precise shave in tight spots, a unique push cleaning button and a micro-cushioned handle.
Epilators
An epilator is an electrical device that pulls hair from the roots. Epilators can remove hair as short as 0.5mm. They are a portable solution for women (and men) on the go,” says business development manager Tracey Duff. Epilators are now incorporating advanced technology to ensure more efficient and comfortable hair removal. An example of this is seen within the Emjoi range. Most of our epilators are multifaceted,” says Duff. Most Emjoi epilators use 24-carat gold tweezers, reducing the chance of skin irritation. Some of our epilators include massaging fingers to hold the skin down taut while epilating to minimise sensitivity.”
Emjoi’s BodyBare Ultimate is the number one selling epilator in Australia and is popular due to its dual head technology for faster epilation. It’s little sister, the BodyBare Diamond epilator is specially designed for the face and other delicate areas. We have found that people have been understandably nervous about using larger epilators on their faces, but the compact Diamond epilator has dispelled these fears.” And the smaller size has certainly been well received by consumers, with the BodyCare Diamond being the number three selling epilator in the country.
Waxing
Waxing removes hair from the root, with the new hair taking two to eight weeks to grow back. While a popular in-salon treatment, at-home waxing is becoming more common due to new innovations including sensitive skin wax designed specifically for the face, easy grip tabs on wax strips, upgraded wax formulas for superior hair-free results, wax strips embedded with essential oils, wax with beeswax to specifically target sensitive skin and wax strips with unique contour weave fabric technology.
Trimmers
A similar hair removal method to shaving, the benefit of a trimmer is that you can choose the length of hair you wish to get rid of. Generally used for shaping beards and the bikini line, hair can be trimmed right back to the skin. Schick’s innovative Quattro for Women TrimStyle is the first (and only) product on the market that includes a razor and waterproof bikini trimmer all-in-one.
Tweezers
Very time consuming if you want to remove large areas of hair, but getting out the good ol’ tweezers is a great way to pluck random unwanted hairs or shaping eyebrows. New innovations include a light embedded into the tweezers, high-tech precision tips, slanted-tips and claw tips that all make precision tweezing easy breezy.
Depilatory creams
Depilatory creams use chemicals to help dissolve unwanted hair. The chemical Thioglycolate helps disrupt the bonds that hold skin and hair cells together. Creams are applied for 1 to 15 minutes, with the leftover jelly-like substance then wiped or washed off. Many of the current depilatory creams offer skin hydrating benefits as well as removing the hair.
Intense pulsed light (IPL) and laser treatment
While traditionally performed in salons for permanent reduction of hair using electrical devices that stop hair growth at the roots by distributing pulses of light, IPL and laser hair removal systems are now heading into the arena of at-home treatments. Adjustable and efficient laser settings, convenience plus the benefit of privacy will spearhead the growth of the hair-removal method into our homes.
For more brand options, visit the bd hair removal category .