Male or female, teen, adult, or senior – it doesn’t matter. North Americans seem to love their hair removal treatments and will go through almost any amount of pain to achieve the smooth hairless beauty standard. It doesn’t matter if you opt to shave, thread, sugar, wax, or get laser hair removal—each grooming method carries its own set of dangers.

From embarrassing rashes to painful ingrown hairs, let’s take a look at five less than desirable after-effects of hair removal

Inflammation
Waxing, especially for first-timers, can be really painful. This hair removal method covers an area of the skin in hot wax and uses a cloth strip to yank out the hair by the root. Waxing should always be done by a professional, but even so, it can lead to skin irritation and inflammation due to several factors. Sometimes the skin will react negatively to chemicals in the wax. Or if the wax is too hot, there may be a risk of burn. And this might not even happen during your hair removal procedure. Many folks experience what’s known as a post-wax reaction, which can cause redness, inflammation, and breakouts.

Ingrown Hairs
Folks who favor waxing, sugaring, or even threading for hair removal have likely experienced ingrown hair. Ingrown hairs occur when hair is forced back into the skin, causing a painfully inflamed bump (that looks like a pimple) and risks getting infected. Ingrown hairs often occur in folks who undergo sugaring or wax too often or too soon. If the hair is not long enough (a quarter inch), hairs can become ripped or broken and cause improper growth patterns.

Skin discoloration
Light or darkened patches of skin occur mainly with laser hair removal. Many folks are drawn to this hair removal method due to its permanency. However, because this removal technique damages your hair follicle by employing heat, it can cause irritation, scabbing, blistering, and permanent scarring, as well as alter the texture of skin.

Bacterial Infection
If you opt to shave your legs, beard, or bikini line you probably already know that a quality razor makes all the difference. But that hasn’t stopped many of us from tempting fate with a dull, rusty razor when we’re in a pinch. Unfortunately, running a dull, rusty metal blade over your skin can lead to cuts, razor burn, and a nasty infection. The most common shaving infection is folliculitis, which results from a bacterial staphylococcus infection deep within the hair follicle.

Bruising
Both sugaring and waxing hair removal treatments can lead to bruising if the skin is not held tautly when sugar or wax strip is pulled away from the skin. Aestheticians are trained to hold skin tightly when pulling off waxing strips and sugar. However, if you attempt to try waxing or sugaring at home, you could end up with bruising.

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