It seems that as many as 80% of women and 50% of men have to cope with unwanted hair in some shape or form.

Although women have removed unwanted hair for decades while men just shaved their faces, it is a relatively new but growing phenomenon for men to remove body hair.

Today, salons report that between 35% and 60% of their clientele are male.

But does removing hair make any difference to how attractive you are?  

Well it certainly seems that way for women. Experiments have shown that women with body hair are viewed by both males and females as less intelligent, less sociable and less happy.

For men, the jury is still out – except where hairs between eyebrows (the "unibrow") and on shoulders and backs are concerned plus those pesky hairs sprouting from nose and ears. Any more is probably unneccessary but hair is often removed to show off good musculature (body builders have a task and a half here) and for sexual reasons. 

The bottom line is that, no matter what anyone else thinks or believes (and different cultures view body hair in different lights anyway), the need for hair removal is purely personal.

If removing hair makes you feel better than not removing it then you'll go through the hassle of waxing, shaving, depilatory or laser. And the more you dislike that excess hair and the more attractive you feel without it the more hassle you'll put up with! 

Image from Allposters.com

Just read today Harrison Ford has had his chest waxed in protest against earth deforestation.

As vice chair of the global environment group Conservation International, presumably he felt that he wanted to draw attention to the painful affects of deforestation by getting his chest painfully deforested.

Apparently the whole waxing event was witnessed by Melanie B of the Spices Girls (How come she got an invitation to the waxing party and where are those pictures, girl?!)

Mind you, in his Indiana Jones movie poster there Mr Ford does not seem to have a thick thatch on his chest anyway.

So maybe removing his body hair was not so painful after all.

Or maybe he had his chest waxed for the Indiana Jones movie too.

Laser hair removal for men has become very popular in recent years as the trend is for men to have as little body hair as possible these days – at least that’s the trend among fashionable men from the world of sport, fashion and movies (the beautiful set who appear regularly in celebrity magazines).

Of course, there are other ways of removing hair such as waxing, depilatory creams and shaving but laser hair removal is the most popular method of removing hair for men who have the cash to spend. Here’s why:-

1. You can treat large areas of your body fast. Men typically want to remove hair from areas such as the back, chest, stomach and legs and this would be too costly and time consuming for any other permanent hair removal method such as electrolysis.
2. Laser hair removal is less painful than other effective methods of hair removal. Any man who has read a graphic description of chest waxing (or worse, back, crack and sack waxing) is likely to choose laser treatment from sheer terror! Although men will of course experience some discomfort from laser hair removal it is nowhere near as painful as waxing or as daunting. (The treatment feels like being pinged with tiny rubber bands)
3. Laser hair removal is a permanent method of reducing hair growth. After the initial sessions the odd top-up session might be needed but hair will be permanently reduced or eliminated. Actually, this can also be a disadvantage (see below).

If men decide against laser hair removal the main reasons are usually because

1. the cost of laser treatment – you pay a few hundred dollars per session and need probably 3 to 6 sessions to treat each area plus follow up maintenance sessions to deal with any regrowth
2. the time required for appointments in a busy schedule
3. the permanent nature of laser treatment. Once hair has gone it is unlikely to return and as we know fashions change..a chest wig is not a good look

Laser hair removal for men is available in many clinics and centers nationwide. They are just as used to treating men as they are women. So if it seems like the right method for you, browse around a few clinics online and make appointments with a few consultants to talk about treatment, costs and potential results.