Permanent hair removal products – that’s the holy grail of hair removal – to have a product which removes hair permanently, particularly one which you can buy, use discretely at home and be assured that your hair removal problems are over for good.

But do such products exist?

Well, among the many scams and fake ads there are a few products on the market which really do work to get rid of your unwanted hair. They work, but they are not for everyone.

Why is that?

Each of the products requires careful operation and attention to detail so that you get the best possible results from the device. If you are slapdash with them, lose patience and don’t follow instructions you won’t get good results and you may damage your skin.

Here are a couple of the better examples of such products.

The Silk’n Laser Device

The Silk’n hair removal machine is a laser hair removal product for use in the home. You can treat your hairs quite quickly provided your hair and skin coloring are suitable for the machine and you are looking to treat body hair rather than hair on your face and neck. It isn’t cheap but it provides more affordable laser hair treatment than you will find at beauty clinics and medical spas. While the ideal is that you always go to professionals for laser hair removal, if you can’t afford that this machine provides you a cost effective alternative. See Silkn laser hair removal machine reviews for more details.

The One Touch Machine

The One Touch hair removal device is a product which works on the principle of electrolysis. It is much cheaper than the Silk’n and can be used on the face as well as the body (once you are experienced in using it).  You have to be more precise with this mahine and it is slower to treat your excess hair as you have to treat one hair at a time rather than “zapping” a few at once. See our review at One Touch permanent hair remover for more details about this.

You will only be pleased with your purchase of these products if you have the determination to deal for once and for all with your unwanted hair and you are prepared to put in the time to learn to operate the machines effectively and get the most out of them. Remember, even with professional treatment, you won’t get instant permanent removal of your hair. You have to go back for a number of sessions. Sometimes many. At least with these permanent hair removal products you can treat your unwanted hair as often as you like from the comfort of your own home without incurring   huge additional costs of repeat salon visits.

It used to be OK for men to have hairy backs but these days the clean, groomed look is in and back hair removal is pretty much the norm for men who care about their appearance.

But it is not that easy to even see your back never mind remove the hair from it without assistance. So how do those in the know about male hair removal achieve (and maintain) a smooth back?

Well, you have a number of options to remove hair from your back and you may have to experiment a little to find the method that works best for you, depending on your budget, how your skin reacts and whether or not you have anyone to help you.

Back Hair Removal by Shaving

Shaving is the way that men naturally turn to when thinking about unwanted hair because you have probably been shaving your face for a good few years and it’s certainly the way body builders have achieved a smooth look across their whole bodies for years.

You would think that with this method of removing body hair you would need a lot of help but actually there is now a shaver or grooming tool available which has been specifically designed so that you can deal with your back hair yourself. It’s called the MANGROOMER Do-It-Yourself Electric Back Hair Shaver

As you can see it shaves a larger area than the norm with a 1.5″ blade and extends so that you can reach your own back. Its cutting edge design gives you a very close shave and prevents ingrowing hairs.

You will of course need a mirror with good lighting and maybe a hand mirror to be able to see but it should not be too much of a problem to get these and perform your own back hair removal as often as you like without incurring much in the way of ongoing cost – great for those on a low budget.

The only disadvantages with shaving is the rate of regrowth – you are going to have to carry out the operation regularly to maintain a smooth back – and also how your skin reacts to shaving.

You will probably find that your back skin is a little irritated as it is not used to shaving but this will not last. However if you have bad problems with ingrown hairs and razor bumps on your face you may also have problems with back shaving so you may want to look at other methods if that is the case, Otherwise the Mangroomer is well worth a try.

See here for details and over 200 positive buyer reviews of the Mangroomer

If you don’t have one of these razors and are relying on a standard safety or electric razor then you will need assistance on a regular basis. Do you know anyone who is willling to shave your back for you every day or two?

Waxing or Sugar Waxing

For back hair removal by waxing or sugar waxing you will definitely need assistance. Even Houdini I reckon could not wax his own back.

Back waxing can be easily performed professionally in a salon but it is quite costly to have this done regularly at around $50 a session in some cities and you may find it inconvenient to have regular appointments to take care of your back hair. The treatments would need to be repeated every 3 to 6 weeks and unfortunately the hair has to grow about an eigth to a quarter of an inch before the wax is able to grip hold of it so you will have to see some regrowth before you can get treatment again. The rate of regrowth depends on your own individual hair texture and regrowth rate.

If you have a willing partner you can save money by using a hot wax kit at home. It’s not too difficult after a little practice but it is a bit of a messy operation. Sugar waxing is great in this respect as any sticky residue can be easily washed off with clean water.

The main disadvantage with waxing is that it is quite painful as hairs are ripped out from the root as each strip of wax is removed and your skin will be left a bit red and sore for a while.

Depilatory Creams

Back hair can be removed using hair removal creams. You will probably be able to reach your own back to apply these so it is a method you can probably manage yourself which only involves applying the (rather smelly) cream and then waiting for around 5 to 10 minutes until the hair has dissolved before removal.

Hair regrowth is pretty quick with this method as, like shaving, it removes hair only from the skin surface. You will also find that you get through a lot of hair removal cream with this method of back hair removal and it can be an expensive way of maintaining your smooth back if you plan to use hair removal creams regularly.

Electrolysis for the back

Back hair removal by electrolysis is going to be a long and costly business as each hair from this large surface area has to be removed individually and may need several treatments to remove it permanently. It will be a bit painful too as each hair is removed and the follicle is destroyed. However you can be sure that it will be permanent in the end so if you really want to get rid of your hair for good then this can be a good way to go, especially if you are not talking about a full back area and maybe just the back of your shoulders etc.

Back Laser Hair Removal

This is one of the most popular methods of back hair removal and with good reason as laser treatment is able to deal with a large number of hairs in one session and is much quicker than electrolysis. It is expensive however and you will need several sessions and  afew thousand dollars to achieve a permanent reduction in back hair as well as follow up sessions to deal with any regrowth. For more details see laser hair treatment

Once you have thought about which methods for back hair removal might suit you, take the plunge and have a go. You will only know how your own skin and back hair reacts and which hair removal method truly suits you once you try it.

Bikini hair removal – it’s the only way to prevent that nightmare for any well-groomed girl on the beach or in the bedroom – unwanted hair poking out from the legs of your swimsuit or underwear.

Bikini line hair removal tidies up the bikini line nicely for whenever you want to look your best with or without your clothes.

So what is the best bikini hair removal method?

Well, as with removing hair from amy part of your body, different methods suit different people and purposes. You can tackle your bikini area hair removal in any of the following ways :-

Laser Hair Removal – Bikini Line

This will cost you in time and money and (if you’re the shy type) embarrassment as you lie there and have the hair removed from your nether regions. But don’t worry the laser technicians are used to doing these procedures and have seen it all before. Laser bikini hair removal is a little painful (like being pinged with elastic bands) but each session will be fairly fast. You will however need several sessions to permanently remove most of the hair and probably top up sessions to deal with any stubborn regrowth.

Bikini Line Waxing

Now this has got to be one of the most painful experiences a girl can go through depending how much hair you want to remove. A few wisps from around the top of your legs is one thing while a full Brazilian bikini hair removal job leaving only a “landing strip” is quite another. Don’t attempt this with a home waxing kit unless you know you will have courage to pull off those strips (and in any case have a professional treatment first so you know what you are letting yourself in for).

Again, with a professional bikini line wax you need to be able to face the embarrassment of lying there with all on display while the beautician gets on with removing your hair. But again she should put you at your ease and you should not be exposed for any longer than necessary.

You will need to go through this painful process every 4 to 6 weeks if you want to stay well groomed with this method of hair removal.

Bikini Hair Removal Cream

Using a product like Veet or Nair hair removal cream or lotion is one of the easiest ways to remove bikini line hair and thankfully, for once, it is a painless method.

Simply follow the directions on the packaging, smearing on the cream, waiting a few minutes, wiping off and you’re done. And in the privacy of your own bathroom.

Only trouble with this method is that you do have to redo the process over and over as hair regrowth is quite quick. And it can be quite difficult to shape the hair as nicely as you can with bikini line waxing. It’s just not as accurate in terms of application.

Bikini line Shaving

This method of bikini line hair removal can be done with care but generally it’s not a great way to remove hair from the bikini line as this is an awkward area to shave yourself. (Use a mirror and a lot of care if you attempt this). You also have the problem of prickly, stubbly regrowth which can cause a lot of irritation.

As you can see, bikini hair removal products and methods each have their drawbacks. If you don’t want to go “natural” then you need to make a choice. Of course, the sophisticates among us will pop off to the beauty salon to have their bikini line hair waxed on an regular basis without batting an eyelid and simply grin and bear the pain or they will pay up for laser hair removal. If you’re not so sure, see if bikini line hair removal cream suits you before trying one of the more expensive (and painful) methods of bikini hair removal.

The short answer to the question is laser hair removal permanent is “yes, maybe” but beyond that you need to understand what is behind the maybe and why it might not be permanent removal of hair from the whole area treated in your case.

All that laser hair treatment clinics may promise is a permanent hair reduction – electrolysis is the only method approved for permanent hair removal. But what does “permanent hair reduction” mean exactly?

It means that a significant proportion of the hair follicles will be destroyed by laser treatment and those hairs will not grow back.

Usually MOST of the hair follicles are killed and you will have minimal regrowth after the recommended number of laser treatment sessions. The remaining hair is easily dealt with by top up treatments (which may destroy more follicles each time) or other hair removal methods.

Just sometimes all of the hair follicles are destroyed and then you have permanent hair removal.

But why do all the hair follicles not get destroyed by laser equipment during treatment?

The laser needs to target the hair follicles when they are at the right stage in the growth cycle in order to destroy them permanently. Hairs are at all different stages in that cycle and although all the hair will be removed during a laser session the follicles may not be destroyed. During any one treatment only a proportion of the hairs will be permanently destroyed.

Also the laser beam has to reach the right depth in the skin for each individual hair follicle. Some follicles may be deeper in the skin and the laser will not reach them with enough power to destroy them. Too powerful a laser would damage the skin so those hairs may not be successfully treated.

Having said all that, most people in recent times with state of the art lasers and multiple sessions designed to hit hair at each stage of growth have successful laser treatment in nearly all cases and enough hair is destroyed to make them happy with the result.

So in summary, if you are asking is laser hair removal permanent you would have to say that you are likely to experience a permanent reduction in hair which will make laser treatment worthwhile and potentially permanent removal.

You may have heard of IPL hair removal and wondered what it is as it often often talked of alongside laser hair removal as a permanent method of hair reduction.

IPL stands for Intense Pulsed Light and is actually one of the most common forms of “laser hair removal” used though it doesn’t actually use lasers in the strictest sense of the word!

The difference is that lasers (or Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation) produce a precise high energy beam of light in a single wavelength while Intense Pulsed Light systems use hundreds of different wavelengths of light. The bursts of light in IPL are filtered so that the flashes can be targeted at the hair in as precise a way as lasers would be.

In fact there are very few differences in the effect of laser and IPL hair removal treatment. Both work in the same way. The high energy light (whether from a laser or IPL hair removal machine) is designed to burn the hair and damage the follicle while leaving the skin relatively unscathed. The hair follicle is affected by the light energy heating up the cells at the base of the hair and damaging them causing them (hopefully) to be unable to produce further hair growth.

The benefits of IPL hair removal over lasers are that it treats a much larger area of skin per light pulse than laser hair treatment. It is therefore extremely popular with patients and clinics alike as it is both faster and cheaper without appearing to have any reduction in effectiveness. However the costs of laser hair removal you see quoted are generally those for the IPL form so this reduction has already been taken into account.

Another benefit of IPL over laser treatment is that there is less risk of damage to skin. That’s because the light is sent out in 4 or 5 pulses. The skin heats up less rapidly with each pulse than the darker hair and follicle and cools down faster between pulses resulting in damage to the hair follicle but not to the surrounding skin. Skin is generally treated with a cooling gel to reduce any burning sensation too.

While it will always be easier to treat patients with fair skin and dark hair (where the difference in hair and skin color is greatest) some IPL machines have been designed to deal with different skin colors these days.

The problem with treating other shades of hair is that it is the melanin in dark hair which absorbs the heat from the IPL machine. If you have blond or gray hair it has very little melanin to absorb the heat energy and so it does not get destroyed.

If you have dark, olive or tanned skin then the skin will also absorb some of the heat energy and may get damaged. This has been tackled by controlling the light in different ways for different skin types. Your treatment will probably take longer than someone who has fair skin and dark hair but it is now possible. Make sure you discuss these details during the initial consultation to ensure that the treatment and machine being proposed for IPL hair removal treatment are matched to your specific requirements.

Unfortunately just as with laser hair removal treatment IPL only damages follicles that are in their growth phase. This means that each Intense Pulsed Light treatment will only be effective on about 60% of the hair follicles that are actively growing at that time. (This percentage varies a little across different parts of the body). You have to rely on further IPL hair removal treatments to tackle the remaining hair. This means that everyone needs a course of at least 3 treatments and possibly 6 to 8 for best results.

As hair removal methods go, laser hair removal is one of the best. It works on large areas of skin very quickly and following a course of treatment it usually results in a permanent reduction in hair growth. But there are varying results for different people whereas with a process like electrolysis you know that whatever your skin or hair type you will achieve permanent hair removal in every case.

In the past laser hair treatment was not always effective and there were many stories of disappointment with the process. Now we are wiser and know that not all hair will be destroyed completely so our expectations are more realistic and with the latest laser hair removal equipment most people achieve such a reduction in hair growth that they are happy with the results and usually go on to have other areas of their bodies treated.

Still, it has to be said that laser hair removal treatments are not suitable for everyone. If you have fair hair (including blond, red or gray) it will not work for you. It will not work even if you dye your hair as it is the pigment at the root of the hair which the laser attacks.

It will also be less effective for you if you have dark skin. Although there are new laser hair removal machines which can work in these cases, it is still more difficult to attack the pigment in the hair with sufficient power without affecting the pigment in the skin so it may take longer and result in less hair being permanently removed. Even sunbathing can reduce effectiveness, so it is better to stay “pale and interesting” if you are about to embark on a course of treatment and you should be given instructions about this at your first consultation.

If your hair or skin color make treatment difficult, at least you will know this in advance and you may be advised against laser hair removal treatment by the clinic at your first appointment. At least the better clinics will do that. Always ask about success rates for people with your particular coloring before you sign up for treatment. The cost of laser hair removal is far from trivial and you don’t want to waste your money.

There will also be a few cases where the hair is not as affected by the laser as you would like. You will not know about this before you have treatment and see how your particular skin and hair react. You just have to hope you do not fall into that category. In any case, you are likely to experience significant unwanted hair reduction so it is usually still worthwhile.