For women, too much body hair can really hurt

Rae Gross knows her hair-removal techniques. The 26-year-old has spent half her life shaving, bleaching, waxing and weighing the benefits of other hair-elimination methods.

“I tried Nair but my hair was too thick,” she says. “I looked at electrolysis but the cost was prohibitive and it would have taken a decade. And my mom suggested threading but it just seemed like I had too much of an area to cover.”

Gross, a public relations manager from Laguna Beach, Calif., finally decided to try laser hair removal. She’s invested the last two years and more than $10,000 on what she calls the “full treatment.”

“I’m getting it on my underarms, arms, hands, chest, stomach, Brazilian, legs, face, neck and back. And I can tell you, it’s painful.”

Hairless ‘hauties’
Equally painful is growing up as a hairy female in a culture where the only acceptable hair is glossy and luxurious and limited to the top of the head. While our mothers and grandmothers only had to worry about shaving their legs and their underarms, women today are lining up for hair-blasting lasers and Brazilian waxes like brides outside of Filene’s, undergoing excruciatingly painful — and pricey — procedures in order to join the ever-increasing hairless hordes.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, laser hair removal was the third most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedure performed in 2007. (More than 1 million zapped!) It also was the No. 1 procedure for people under the age of 18.

Where to find help To learn more about hair-removal options and find support and guidance, check out these online resources: American Academy of Dermatology   Hairtell.com    Hairfacts.com  Hirsutism.com   Hypertrichosis.com

Waxing, too, has experienced phenomenal growth, says Joao Padilha of The J Sisters Salon in Manhattan. In addition to denuding the women of Gotham City, The J Sisters ships waxing supplies to salons across the country.

“Before waxing, beauty salons were mostly about hair and skin care but in the past five years, the hair-removal business has grown at least 25 percent,” he says. “And that’s not just at J Sisters, but coast to coast. Pop culture has a lot to do with it — even ‘Sex and the City’ had an episode about waxing.”

The pain of depilation
Unfortunately, the spike in popularity brought on by pop culture — and, some would argue, the porn industry — has created a world of hurt for the hirsute.

Gross, who inherited her ubiquitous dark hair from her Eastern European father, says she spends an incredible amount of time plucking, tweezing, shaving, waxing and, most of all, hiding her body-hair burden from the world.

“People don’t get it; they just think you’re super anal about your appearance or that you’re vain,” says Gross. “But I have body hair pretty much from head to toe. And no one really knows. Up until I started getting laser, I could count on one hand the number of people who knew what I had to go through just to get ready every morning. But I don’t have a choice. I work in an image-oriented industry. I have to look good.”

Lara Del Rio, a 24-year-old executive assistant from Santa Monica, Calif., says she’s practically neurotic when it comes to hair removal.

“I’m Hispanic and have darker hair and I spend a ridiculous amount of time making sure my body hair remains unseen,” she says. “I don’t care how painful it is, I’ll do it. I like the way it makes me look, plus I live in a place where people can be very critical about body image.”

Hair woes aren’t just limited to those whose genetics — or geographical location — ensure a lifelong relationship with their aesthetician.

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