Tag: hair removal

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Public Health Advisory to alert consumers, patients, health care professionals, and caregivers about potentially serious and life-threatening side effects from the improper use of skin numbing products. The products, also known as topical anesthetics, are available in over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription forms.

The FDA strongly advises consumers not to:

• make heavy application of topical anesthetic  products over large areas of skin;
• use formulations that are stronger or more concentrated than necessary;
• apply these products to irritated or broken skin;
• wrap the treated skin with plastic wrap or other dressings; and
• apply heat from a heating pad to skin treated with these products.

I have discussed these potentially dangerous side effects here:
Risks in hair removal pain management

Topicals over large areas: should be avoided

Risks:

impairs ability to gauge overtreatment
dangerous in combination with pain medications
can cause severe allergic reaction
use on a large area can reach toxic levels of drug absorption

Topical preparations are generally a very good option to reduce hair removal pain, but it’s important to be careful when using them on large areas like the back or legs. Do a test with the product on a small area, then wait a few days before undergoing a procedure using a large dose. If you have a noticeable skin reaction to the test dose (itching, blistering, skin color change lasting more than a few hours), you should not use the topical over a large area.

Full article: (fda.gov)

Maria Jorica B. Pamintuan at The Philippine Star has a cute essay filled with observations about hair removal:

This brings us to the two types of body hair: the hair we like, and the hair we don’t…. Professional hair removal is a good, albeit expensive, option as well. Bottom line is we shave, we wax, or we pluck because we feel better about our bodies when we do so. We desperately try to remove the hair we don’t want, and try to multiply — or preserve — and primp the hair that we do.

Full article (philstar.com)

From a press release announcing Aesthera Isotip in the United Arab Emirates

The Isotip™ is based on Aesthera’s breakthrough photo-pneumatic technology (PPx) and is ideally suited for acne treatment, hair removal, pigmented lesions and vascular lesions.

Full press release (arabianbusiness.com)

Richard Connelly at the Houston Press has some snark for a 2008 blog post by NBC newscaster Jane McGarry, which reads in part:

With summer around the corner, the subject of the bikini wax came up. Do you get one or not? I offered that I have before, but I can’t see the point because you have to let the hair get long enough to wax again, which means, you’ll need to shave! So why wax to begin with?

Before long the bikini wax conversation had turned into a debate about shaving, vs. waxing, vs. laser hair removal….and then, how much hair to remove. Well, that depends on your generation.

Our 5:00 anchor Meredith Land says these days, to younger women like her little sister, good grooming means…a complete wax, if you get what I mean.

Personally, I think it’s no biggie, and hair removal is something almost everyone does in one form or another.

Full article (janestake.wordpress.com)

Sharon McKinley at Silicon Valley lifestyle mag The Wave has a good tip for weddings, Valentine’s Day, and other events where you plan to get both hair removal and spray tanning:

Have a trial run of your fake tan about two months before the wedding to help you determine the depth of color that suits you best. Be sure to get all waxing and hair removal treatments out of the way 24 hours before your final fake tan, so that no irritation occurs.

Full article (thewavemag.com)

Bob Rae at The Star (UK) prfiles Helen of Troy a manufacturer of hair rmeoval devices and products:

The Brightside Lane-based leading designer and marketer of personal care products will take Veet, the leading supplier of depilatory creams and waxes for women, into a new area, electrically-powered hair removal devices…. The products, launched in Spring 2009, include epilators, shavers and bikini trimmers.

Full article (thestar.co.uk)

Another article (marketingweek.com)

Samantha Booth at the Daily Record (UK) profiles Glasgow salon Transform:

Transform plastic surgery clinic in Glasgow now offers a new laser hair removal treatment. The difference between this service and other laser systems is that all you feel during the process is a sensation similar to an ice cube being run over your skin.

Feeling apprehensive, I went along to give it a try on my underarms to see if it really was as pain-free as they claim and if it really did work. And, yes, the process actually is as simple and as painless as Transform promised.

Full article (dailyrecord.co.uk)

Manufacturer Wilkinson Sword includes an interesting statistic in a recent press release:

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of women regularly maintaining their bikini area, with 49% of women now incorporating this zone into their beauty regime vs only 35% in 1999.

Full article (talkingretail.com)

IANS has an article on the trend of young men from India seeking hair removal and chest surgery:

If you are an Indian male in your 20s and living in a metro, chances are you want to flaunt a firm, unshaven chest like Bollywood’s Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar or Aamir Khan, and don’t mind being operated upon for it.Cosmetic and aesthetic surgeons say they are seeing a surge in men who come to them for breast reduction and permanent hair removal from their chests in the hope of showing off their cleavage.

“Ten years ago, about 10 percent of my clients used to be men. Now it is 40 percent. Most young men want to flaunt a firm, unshaven chest,” Anup Dhir, a senior consultant in the department of cosmetic surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, told IANS.

Inspired by Bollywood actors and models who strut around shirtless, these men – mostly in their 20s – are ready to shell out money to show off cleavage.

Full article (thaindian.com)

Shelley Widhalm from the Reporter-Herald in Loveland, Colorado profiles local spa Vogue Laser Clinic:

The last room at the end of the hallway is the laser room for cosmetic treatments, including body and facial hair removal that men, along with women, are using, Charpentier said. “You’d be surprised at how many men are involved in taking care of themselves,” she said.

Where: 1625 Foxtrail Drive, Suite 260 (just west of Interstate 25 at U.S. 34)
Sample costs: Waxing, $15-45; facials, $50-75; microabrasions and chemical peels, $60-100
Phone: 593-3009
Web site: www.voguelaserclinic.com

Full article (reporterherald.com)