Hair is the short, fine thread that grows on different parts of our body. Hair exists on any part of the body except for the palm, sole, mucous membranes, and skin boundary. Also hair does its role depending on its location. In these days, many people try to remove and hide their hair. However hair has its role. If you have ever seen the picture ‘Importance of the Hair’ then you can understand hair’s role in beauty. Not only for beauty, but also for biological reasons, hair is important to animals and humans.

As everybody knows, eyelashes protect the eyes, and the hairs of the nostril filter out fine dust. Also the hairs of armpit and groin help limbs to move softly by reducing friction. Nowadays the hair, which grows on one’s head, is known to serves the purpose of looking beautiful and staying healthy. This is because the hair on our heads not only gives us a style, but also allows us to stay warm.

As mentioned above, hair is highly essential to humans. However, for some time, especially for women, hair has become less desirable. Epilation has becomes a compulsory custom for women. Exactly how and when did epilation first begin?

The history of depilation is more recent than expected. According to many old documents about the stones used for shaving, epilation starts from about 20 thousand years ago. In ancient Egypt, every man and woman trimmed one’s hair. People who did not care for epilation were just slaves. At excavation sites, cosmetic mixtures of mixing lime powder and grass were found. Greek historian Herodotus recorded that razor blades made of copper were found in Cleopatra’s grave. Also, ancient Egyptians believed that gods would not have hair. So they thought hair was filthy.

Now, let us take a look at the Medieval and Renaissance periods. During the Medieval period, people evaluated women’s hair negatively. This belief can be seen in many medieval works of art. For example, in the medieval period nude picture, women’s skin is hairless and smooth. Also epilation for beauty reason has been steadily continued. During the Medieval times, broad forehead was the trend. To broaden the forehead, people plucked the hair of the upper forehead and invented remedies to suppress hair growth. In Rome, to noble women, including the hair of the nostril, it was trend to epilate all the hair growing on her body. They used seashells as tweezers to pluck the hair of the calf and so on. Also Romans frizzed their hair by lamplight.

Like this, in the past, people plucked hair by seashells, removed hair by using cosmetic products containing dangerous component, and so on. All these epilation methods eventually led to shortening the women’s life expectancy. Surely in these days, not like the past, epilation methods are not harmful. There are 4 typical modern epilation methods. First of all, there is laser epilation. This method’s procedure is simple and this method can epilate all the parts people want. Second, epilation is done by using tweezers. Using this method, people can pluck the roots of their hairs. So it has the longest duration. Third is waxing, which also plucks hair from its root, so its duration is long. Last but not least, there is epilation by depilatory. This method is simple and painless.

Depending on the era, the purpose and the method of epilation are different. However hair has not been a widely loved thing, so women have continued to epilate. Since the dawn of man, all people have hair. And there must be reason for it. Nevertheless, before one knows, epilation has become the most widely accepted custom.
 

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