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Body grooming is the act of maintaining a clean appearance. It is typically associated with hair. [1]
| This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2009) |
Body grooming is the act of maintaining a clean appearance. It is typically associated with hair. [1]
Today, men and women around the world embrace body grooming as an essential part of their everyday routines. Once an activity limited to the daily morning shave of the face, grooming is now about the whole body from head to toe.
20% of men aged 15 to 90 in the United States and 50% of men in Germany of the same age shave, wax, sugar or trim hair below the neck. For men between 24 and 34 in the U.S., the number jumps to 30% and in Germany, the number reaches 40% among men between 20 and 34 years of age, with numbers still rising.
Salons that cater to the grooming needs of men have opened up all over the world and offer services in a masculine environment that fights the age-old stigma that waxing and shaving below the neck is just for women.
Historically, body hair has been associated with virility, power and attractiveness but the removal of body hair by men is not just a modern-day fad. In fact, hair removal has a traceable history that stretches as far back as ancient Egypt, where men and women would shave their bodies, heads and faces and priests ritualistically shaved their bodies every three days.
Back in the 5th century BC, the Greeks heralded the young, hairless, athletic man as beautiful while hairy bodies were considered hideous and associated with satyrs, barbarians and the cult of Dionysus.
The same ideal male image is found in the statue of David during the Renaissance, when Michelangelo explored classical imagery. The statue of David caused quite a stir because he signified power and beauty and had both genitals and pubic hair, which had not been seen before.
Between these periods, which favored Greek idealism, were more conservative and hairier times. With the rise of Christianity, the body was meant to be denied[ citation needed ] and the nude male body was seldom depicted.
For much of the late 19th century, long beards were en vogue and hair removal was frowned upon. The 1960s were also a major ‘hair milestone’ as hippies let hair of all kinds grow wild in contrast to the clean-cut military style during the Vietnam War. Hair and hairy chests were signs of eroticism and free love.
Women's Liberation was also a factor that influenced contemporary male grooming trends. As feminism led to the objectification of men in the 1960s and 1970s, women began to ogle men, buy Playgirl magazine and attend male strip shows for the first time.
During the 1990s, the idea of the perfect man as plucked, amply moisturized, clean-shaven and devoid of most body hair went mainstream and dominated major media from fashion magazines to television. The metrosexual period also made it socially acceptable for men to shave parts of their body that lay due south of their face and neck.
Grooming is a matter of personal preference and men have numerous reasons for trimming or removing their body hair. For most men, being well-groomed means being more attractive to possible partners. In addition, men choose to remove body hair for hygiene purposes, sporting reasons, to show off their muscles, enhance the appearance of their body shape, for religious reasons, to express their personal style or to be up to date with the trends.
Body odor is also a potentially embarrassing grooming issue and a common reason for trimming or removing body hair. While it's not the hair itself that smells, body odor is caused by bacteria that grow in wet conditions when air is standing still. Hair reduces the amount of air exchange and traps sweat so it can support the growth of odor-causing bacteria.
Trimming or removing body hair, because it can provide a slight competitive edge, has long been popular among competitors in several sports. For swimmers, cyclists, and track athletes, body hair can slow them down by causing drag or wind resistance. Wrestlers remove hair so their opponents will have less to grab onto.
When it comes to hair on the face and body, there now exists much variation in how and what a man will groom. It's a personal choice and very individual.
Shaving is the most commonly used hair removal technique. It involves taking a razor, manual or electric to remove hair.
Electric trimmers involve shortening hair in certain body areas instead of getting rid of all of it.
Waxing involves heated wax that is applied in the direction of hair growth over the skin. Hair becomes embedded in the wax as it cools and then quickly pulled off by a cloth or paper strip.
Sugaring is similar to waxing, except that sugaring does not always require strips and it's applied against the hair and removed with the hair for less breakage and damage to hair follicles. Sugar is not hot and there is no need to ever let it cool. By removing the hair in the earliest growth stage (anagen) sugar will help diminish regrowth by letting the follicles naturally shrink.
Plucking hair with tweezers is an effective way to remove hair but can be very time-consuming. The hair shaft must be long enough to grasp with tweezers.
Electrolysis involves inserting a fine needle into the hair follicle and applying an electric current to the follicle root. This procedure burns the hair root, theoretically preventing it from producing more hair.
Laser treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration involves a laser beam basically killing the hair follicles. Results depend on skin pigmentation and color of hair.
Depilatories use a chemical called thioglycolate mixed with sodium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide to literally melt the hair away.
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fine vellus hair. Most common interest in hair is focused on hair growth, hair types, and hair care, but hair is also an important biomaterial primarily composed of protein, notably alpha-keratin.
Leg shaving is the practice of removing leg hair by shaving the hair off using a razor or electric shaver. In addition, some people remove leg hair using waxing, sugaring, depilatories, epilators or other depilation devices, or lasers, but shaving remains the least expensive and one of the least painful methods.
Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis bone and the mons pubis that covers it, it is known as a pubic patch. Pubic hair is also found on the scrotum and base of the penile shaft in males and on the vulva in females.
Hair removal, also known as epilation or depilation, is the deliberate removal of body hair or head hair.
Shaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down—to the level of the skin or otherwise. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove their leg and underarm hair. A man is called clean-shaven if he has had his beard entirely removed.
Leg hair is hair that grows on the legs of humans, generally appearing after the onset of puberty. For aesthetic reasons and for some sports, people shave, wax, epilate, or use hair removal creams to remove the hair from their legs: see leg shaving.
Waxing is the process of hair removal from the root by using a covering of a sticky substance, such as wax, to adhere to body hair, and then removing this covering and pulling out the hair from the follicle. New hair will not grow back in the previously waxed area for four to six weeks, although some people will start to see regrowth in only a week due to some of their hair being on a different human hair growth cycle. Almost any area of the body can be waxed, including eyebrows, face, pubic hair, legs, arms, back, abdomen, chest, knuckles, and feet. There are many types of waxing suitable for removing unwanted hair.
An eyebrow is an area of short hairs above each eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the brow ridges of some mammals. In humans, eyebrows serve two main functions: first, communication through facial expression, and second, prevention of sweat, water, and other debris from falling down into the eye socket. It is common for people to modify their eyebrows by means of hair removal and makeup.
Bikini waxing is the removal of pubic hair using a special wax, which can be hot or cold, that adheres to hairs and pulls them out when the wax is removed quickly from the skin, usually with a cloth strip. While the practice is mainly associated with women, male waxing has become a more common practice to remove men's pubic hair.
Laser hair removal is the process of hair removal by means of exposure to pulses of laser light that destroy the hair follicle. It had been performed experimentally for about twenty years before becoming commercially available in 1995–1996. One of the first published articles describing laser hair removal was authored by the group at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1998. Laser hair removal is widely practiced in clinics, and even in homes using devices designed and priced for consumer self-treatment. Many reviews of laser hair removal methods, safety, and efficacy have been published in the dermatology literature.
Pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) is a type of irritant folliculitis that commonly affects people who have curly or coarse facial hair. It occurs when hair curls back into the skin after shaving, causing inflammation, redness, and bumps. This can lead to ingrown hairs, scarring, and skin discoloration. PFB can be treated with various methods, including changing shaving habits, using topical creams or ointments, and undergoing laser hair removal. Prevention measures include proper shaving techniques, using sharp razors, and avoiding too close a shave.
Sugaring, sugar waxing, or Persian waxing is a method of hair removal that has been in use since 1900 BC. Historically, sugar was confined to the regions surrounding Persia until the first millennium AD. As a result, it is speculated that honey was the first sugaring agent. Sugaring was also known as sukkar or ḥalawa in the Middle East, as ağda in Turkey, and as moum in Iran.
Hair care or haircare is an overall term for hygiene and cosmetology involving the hair which grows from the human scalp, and to a lesser extent facial, pubic and other body hair. Hair care routines differ according to an individual's culture and the physical characteristics of one's hair. Hair may be colored, trimmed, shaved, plucked or otherwise removed with treatments such as waxing, sugaring and threading. Hair care services are offered in salons, barbershops and day spas, and products are available commercially for home use. Laser hair removal and electrolysis are also available, though these are provided by licensed professionals in medical offices or speciality spas.
Body hair or androgenic hair is terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is different from head hair and also from less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in color. Growth of androgenic hair is related to the level of androgens and the density of androgen receptors in the dermal papillae. Both must reach a threshold for the proliferation of hair follicle cells.
Judaism prohibits shaving with a razor on the basis of a rabbinic interpretation of Leviticus 19:27, which states, "Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." The Mishnah interprets this as a prohibition on using a razor on the beard.
Horse grooming is hygienic care given to a horse, or a process by which the horse's physical appearance is enhanced for horse shows or other types of competition.
Plucking or tweezing can mean the process of human hair removal, removing animal hair or a bird's feathers by mechanically pulling the item from the owner's body. In humans, hair removal is done for personal grooming purposes, usually with tweezers. An epilator is a motorised hair plucker. Those under the influence of deliriants or trichotillomania may pluck their own hair out of habit.
Prepubertal hypertrichosis, also known as childhood hypertrichosis, is a cutaneous condition characterized by increased hair growth, found in otherwise healthy infants and children. Prepubertal hypertrichosis is a cosmetic condition and does not affect any other health aspect. Individuals with this condition may suffer with low self esteem and mental health issues due to societal perceptions of what a "normal" appearance should be. The mechanism of prepubertal hypertrichosis is unclear, but causes may include genetics, systemic illnesses, or medications.
Irritant folliculitis is an inflammation of the hair follicle. It characteristically presents with small red bumps in the skin at sites of occlusion, pressure, friction, or hair removal; typically around the beard area in males, pubic area and lower legs of females, or generally the inner thighs and bottom. An associated itch may or may not be present. Pseudofolliculitis barbae is a type of irritant folliculitis in the beard area.
At the outset of the United States, leg and underarm hair removal was not a common practice for women. In fact, body hair had been viewed as a boon by Caucasian people, and therefore removal was not an imported practice from European settlers into the United States. The removal of armpit and leg hair by American women became a new practice in the early 20th century due to a confluence of multiple factors.
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