Hair Or Bare?

4th March 2015

Image credited to Closer Online

Reality TV star, Millie Mackintosh, shared a photo of herself online recently. She was sunbathing on yet another tropical holiday and was met with a Twitter torrent of followers asking ‘ew, why are your legs so hairy?’

The former Made in Chelsea star’s tanned legs weren’t covered in a blanket of thick, dark fuzz, but barely visible, thin blonde hairs. Sound pretty normal? I thought so too, yet even this was deemed by hundreds of her followers to be unattractive and unfeminine.

Despite these comments, according to this month’s Vogue magazine, women are seeing a backlash against shaving and waxing and body hair is officially “back”. The rise in the publicity of unairbrushed photos of celebrities is apparently driving women away from the razor.

This isn’t the first time that the media has challenged women’s depilation habits and it certainly won’t be the last. Two years ago, Gwyneth Paltrow told Ellen DeGeneres that she was rocking “a Seventies vibe” around the bikini line and, late last year, we heard of a rise in women in search of the perfect ‘bush’ turning to pubic transplants.

So, why is the subject of female body hair such a contentious and regularly debated issue?

Well, primarily, there’s an awful lot to talk about – hair removal dates back hundreds of years to the days when it was done with clamshell razors. Today, the UK hair removal industry is worth a reported £628 million – so there is a vested interest for the likes of Venus to keep it in the news.

But, will women ever be clear on whether it’s best to hang on to that hair or go totally bare?

One thing’s for sure, the media will always have something to say about it!