Body hair - who needs it ? Well I suppose it does have some potential for fun, I once knew a man who shaved his pubic hair star-shaped and dyed it electric blue. Personally though I prefer to be hairless, and this is something I share with many others in the fetish/BDSM community. There is a great deal of attraction in the look and feel of a thoroughly depilated body, and over the years I have researched and experimented with many different methods of pubic hair removal. I thought I'd share some of this knowledge.

Shaving was the obvious first method to try. The benefits of shaving are that it's quick and, once you've had some practice, relatively easy, and shaving as part of a 'scene' can be especially rewarding as the recently-shaved area will be extra sensitive ... If you haven't shaved before, you should start by removing as much hair as possible either with scissors or better still a beard trimmer. Follow this with a thorough exfoliation preferably with an anti-bacterial and moisturising scrub. There are many suitable products on the market, I use a tea-tree oil based preparation. Rinse off, and apply the shaving medium of your choice; when shaving the genital area it is probably best to use a product that is recommended for sensitive skin. Using a fresh blade, shave with the grain of the hair, rinse off very thoroughly, then repeat the process this time going against the grain. Only go over the area once in each direction as scraping away at it will just make you sore, if the finish is not as smooth as you'd hoped it's best to wait 24 hours then do it again.

The drawbacks of shaving are that sharp, itchy stubble is likely to appear within hours, and once you get into shaving you really have to do it every day to maintain anything like a smooth finish. Shaving also puts you at risk from ingrowing hairs, causing unpleasant pimples, the bane of all depliation enthusiasts; regular exfoliation should help reduce this problem. Some people experience a rash when they first begin to shave, this will get better over time as the skin adjusts.

My experiences with depilatory creams have not been happy, and I would hesitate to recommend them to anyone. I've found creams to give the least smooth finish of any method I've tried, and even the ones that are marketed specifically for the 'bikini line' can cause some very unpleasant skin reactions when used over the whole pubic area.

Both shaving and creams will need constant refurbishment as regrowth is quite rapid. For a longer-term result, root removal is really the only way to go. Waxing is quick and easy, but can bring tears to the eyes. I've found it less than satisfactory for pubic hair although I've had pleasing results using it on my legs. It tends to be a bit too vicious for such a sensitive area, I suspect it takes some skin away with it as well as the hair, and it doesn't necessarily rip all the hair out by the roots. A certain percentage will simply break off at skin level, and may ingrow. Likewise the electric depilator - great on legs, troublesome on pubes. Far and away my preferred method is to pluck each hair individually with tweezers. It takes ages but can become quite enjoyable, compulsive even, and
gives an excellent long-lasting result. Stretch the skin slightly, grip the hair close to the root, and pull gently, firmly and evenly. The entire hair will lift right out, and it'll be weeks before you see any significant regrowth. Don't yank, or the hair will break and that ingrowth problem will raise it's head again. After you've spent hours removing all the hairs you can see, when your run your hand over the area you will realise that there's still plenty left ... these are fine, newly emergent hairs and are best left alone at first as they break very easily. It's best to wait a few days until there's enough to get hold of, then go over the entire area again. The time and patience involved in this method make it an obvious no-no for anyone on a tight schedule, my schedule isn't particuarly tight but even so I can rarely find the time to do a full plucking job and usually resort to shaving, just plucking around my genital piercings where shaving gets tricky.

But really I'd like to kiss unwanted hair goodbye for ever, and it was with this end in mind that I found myself sitting in the waiting room of a very plush, private cosmetic surgery clinic, staring at posters about lyposuction and breast enlargement, and flicking through the testimonials from satisfied clients all of whom, strangely enough, seemed to have identical handwriting... I found the immaculately coiffed and made-up woman who came to speak to me about laser treatment slightly disconcerting, and kept catching myself staring at her trying to figure out if she'd had a face lift.

'So, how does laser treatment compare with electrolysis?' I asked. 'Which is the most effective?'
'Electrolysis doesn't work' she told me, with a dismissive toss of her head. 'Laser is the only permanent method'.

I told her I'd heard rumours about burning and scarring, which she played down. Apparently they do a test patch first, at a cost of 50 UK pounds. They cover the area to be a treated with a gel, and simply zap it with a laser and the roots are basically burnt out. Most of the hair is said to come off when the gel is wiped away, the rest should fall out over the next week or two. They recommend a second treatment a few weeks later, to take care of any possible
re-growth.

'It's great', she said, 'It's lovely never to have to bother shaving your legs again ...'
'Ah, but I'm not actually all that interested in legs' I said. 'It's the pubic area I want to know about. Wouldn't the risk of scarring be greater in such a sensitive area ?'
'Bikini line ?' she asked. 'All of it' I replied. She really didn't want to go there ... she stopped making eye contact with me, and kept dragging the conversation back to legs. I asked for some literature to take home with me, and went off to keep my next appointment, which was with someone who could tell me about electrolysis.

'Is it for your legs ?' they asked at the electrolysis place.
'No, pubic area' I said.
'Bikini line ?'
'All of it'.
'I'll just have to have a word with the manageress ...'
She came back a couple of minutes later.
'No, I'm sorry, we've never done that'.
I tried one last gambit. 'But wouldn't you like to boldly go where no beautician has gone before, just in the interests of research ... ?'
'No'.

At the next place, I didn't have an appointment, but it was just across the road from the first place so I walked in speculatively and yes, they had time to talk to me. The young woman I spoke to was a bit more in tune with my way of thinking. Yes, they'd done that sort of thing before. Several of their clients had been *cough* 'models' and 'actresses', she told me with a flicker of a smile. I'm neither a 'model' nor an 'actress', but I let that pass because she was obviously catching my drift.

'So how does electrolysis compare with laser treatment ?' I asked.
'Lasers don't work', she said. 'Electrolysis is the only permanent method'.

They use a small device that looks a little like a ball-point pen, with a fine needle in the end. The needle is inserted into the hair root and a mild electrical charge kills the follicle.

'Are there any side effects or scarring associated with it ?' I asked.
'Not really', she replied. 'Some people find it a bit upsetting if they don't like needles...' she glanced first at my multiple-pierced ear lobes and then down at the tattoo on my wrist '...but you'll probably be alright '.

As each hair has to be treated individually, it does take a very long time. Still, at 25 UK pounds an hour it probably still works out cheaper than laser treatment, for which I was quoted 400 UK pounds for a 'bikini line', and I think it's probably safer.

I really need to find an establishment that offers both services, then I might stand a better chance of getting an unbiased opinion on which is the most effective method. At both places I was very aware that I was talking to people who were trying to sell me something, and didn't want me to take my money anywhere else. One day I might try the laser test patch, but for now, I think I'll just break open a fresh pack of razor blades...