Hair Removal Methods: From Least to Most Painful! - A Smooth Life (2024)

Everybody in the world has their own level of tolerance for pain. What may be excruciating for one person may be nothing but a pinch for another and vice versa. It’s quite odd how different human bodies can be from each other, but that nevertheless is what makes humans so interesting. When it comes to hair removal methods, there are also different levels of pain – for every single method! Some people may find one method to be absolutely painless, while some may find the very same method to be excruciating.

There seems to be a general consensus, however, for the levels of pain for most of the hair removal methods out there.

Here is a list of the most common hair removal methods, from the least painful to the most painful, as most people have agreed:

Shaving

If you are shaving the right way, then chances are you will not have any sort of pain whatsoever. Shaving is the most common hair removal method, and the most accessible to everybody in the world. Most do agree that there is little to no pain involved in it whatsoever, not unless you accidentally nick yourself with your blade during your shaving.

Hair Removal Creams

Another painless method is using hair removal creams. There are many different brands out there, and many different varieties, created specifically for different skin types (for example, there are varieties for dry skin, for normal skin, and for sensitive skin).

Hair removal creams are quite convenient as you can apply them, leave it on for around ten minutes while you do something else, then scrape it all off before you rinse. It’s really pain-free, unless you are sensitive to one of the ingredients in the formula, in which case a skin reaction may cause you a some discomfort or pain.

Because this is the case, it is good to always patch test a new hair removal cream you have not yet tried before you apply it all over the area you want to treat.

Threading

Threading, when done by the right person, should be mostly painless, with only a little twinge of pain here and there. However, in the wrong hands, perhaps in an untrained, unskilled person’s hands, threading can be really painful. If you are going for a threading choose a reputable salon!

Tweezing

Tweezing is one of those methods usually used for smaller areas, simply because it can be insanely tedious to tweeze a large area of skin such as your legs or arms. Tweezing is usually reserved for small areas like the eyebrows, the upper lips (for women who have light whiskers) , or perhaps even the arm pits. Tweezing on its own can provide a sharp pain, especially since the areas usually tweezed are really sensitive.

Epilating

Epilating is like the big brother of tweezing, since essentially the epilator device is a giant automatic tweezer that can treat larger areas. As such, it makes sense that it is one of the more painful hair removal methods – since it’s like getting many hairs plucked all at once. If you’re not used to epilating you may even end up having to run the epilator over the same area over and over, adding to the pain and irritation.

Waxing

Waxing is one of those hair removal methods that can make some people’s skin crawl. Just the thought of the pain that can come from waxing can make some cringe and say no immediately. The scene in the movie 40 Year Old Virgin where Steve Carrell gets his chest waxed is a perfect example of the potential for pain that waxing holds. And why wouldn’t it be painful – waxing literally rips a strip of hair out of your body in one fell swoop – like ripping off a band aid… an extremely large, insanely painful bandaid.

Bonus: Laser/Electrolysis

Laser hair removal and electrolysis both are hair removal methods that consistently get mixed reviews. Some find them to be completely painless, some find the pain tolerable, and some find the pain entirely too unbearable that they could barely last through one session. With such a wide variation in reactions, these two methods are a bit hard to place.

So there you go – the most common hair removal methods rated from least painful to most painful. Do you agree with this list? Or do you think one method is more painful (or less painful) than another?