While there are some women who are blessed with straight and delicate arm hair, there are a lot of us with really dark and messy arm hair with a mind of its own. It decides where to grow, how to grow and won’t tell you any of its secrets. But instead of being centered around this idea of completely getting rid of it and keeping your arms bare, why don’t we talk about how to thin arm hair or methods that will slowly make it thinner and lighter over time.

It’s also important to keep in mind that the overall thickness of a person’s body or arm hair is dependent on their hormones or genes. This can be hard to accept but keep in mind that, it is still very possible to remove most of it, if not all of it.

Here are 8 tips on how to thin arm hair along with some pros and cons of each method:

Don’t Shave: When you shave your body hair, the hair isn’t plucked at the base or the root. This, of course, causes it to grow back thicker and more noticeable.

Cons: Even though this is the fastest and the cheapest method, it causes bumps, stubble and thick hair always grows back. By no means does shaving lighten hair either.

Bleaching:

Bleaching is a good idea if you want to lighten hair but only if your hair is thin. There are many natural ways to bleach hair which calls for turmeric and chickpea flour, and there are cosmetic products that you can buy as well. Bleaching isn’t your best option if the hair length on your arm is very long. Overall, bleaching is best for someone with short and thin arm hair.

Cons: Cosmetic products include harmful chemicals that can cause skin irritation for sensitive skin.

Trim with Scissors:

If your arm hair is long, a great way to thin it out is to grab some nose hair scissors and give it a trim. This method is really cheap and painless.

Cons: If the hair is very thick, this method isn’t the best because it will just grow back as the hair isn’t pulled out.

Tweezing:

One way to get the effect of less hair without removing everything is to individually tweeze some hairs out. At first, you’d have to get used to tweezing and then doing it would actually reduce hair growth or at least the speed of hair growth because you are pulling the hair out from the root.  Unlike shaving which can be done in 15 minutes, tweezing means that you won’t have to deal with any stubble or bumps. As you tweeze more of the longer hairs, you should end up with a bunch of newer younger hairs that tend to be thinner individually. A nice way to do this is to put on a movie and go to town on one arm, and then shift to the other. You don’t have to pull every piece of hair out. Within 5 minutes your body will also numb the pain and it gets easier. One great tip is to place a bowl of cold water next to you so that you can dip the tweezer in there after you pull out the hair. Remember to throw all the water and wash this bowl for future use.

Cons: Time taking and tough to do the inside of the arms.

Waxing:

You can have your arms waxed at the local salon by a professional and treat yourself to this experience. Even though it is a little painful, depending on your hair’s thickness and stubbornness it’s nice to get the hair out of your arm from the root. This creates a softer feel for the hair when it grows back and actually the process of waxing is great for exfoliating the dead skin cells which is why it makes your arms fairer as well.

When the next batch of hair starts to grow you can actually try tweezing maybe a few hairs here and there. It is intimidating to tweeze with the full volume of hair you naturally have, so try it after a wax session.

Cons: Wax is sticky and often ineffective because hair can grow in different directions and in different areas. Over pulling or over waxing is not recommended for healthy skin. 

Sugaring:

This is like waxing but is highly credited with helping hairy women who don’t like waxing. A gentler approach calls for natural caramel instead of wax to be the best method for hair removal in general. If you go about every once in 4 weeks (or more at first), over time, you can notice the hair getting thinner and lighter with every removal. You’ll only have to go every 3 or 4 months when the hair fully grows back.

Cons: Make sure to exfoliate after sugaring or else you can be subjected to a lot of ingrown hair.

Laser Hair Removal:

You can always go to a dermatologist and have the hair removed little by little with a laser hair removal treatment. Keep in mind that this method of hair removal is very expensive, women all over the world have rave reviews about this process. In laser removal, laser energy is absorbed by the pigment in your hair. This then converts it into heat and then destroys the hair in it’s growing phase. With treatment doctors claim that the hair becomes finer and finer- so this is especially great for people with very thick and coarse hair. You might achieve 60 to 90% permanent hair reduction with laser hair removal.  Make sure to get consulted by a doctor for a specialized treatment based on your needs.

Cons: Very expensive but you will still be spending money on other methods.

Epilator:

This small electronic device helps to remove hair from the roots and will leave your arms feeling smooth. Although an epilator is cheaper than laser hair removal, it is very very painful. It does take time to get used to dealing with the pain. This method truly does work to thin out the hair. You may use one for a few months, then stop and see the new hairs forming into thin lighter hairs. A lot of people do complain about the extremely high levels of pain they feel and then claim that they eventually got used to it. Some, on the other hand, will use other forms of hair removal to avoid powering through and bearing such pain.

Cons: An epilator is expensive ( Braun Epilators start at Rs 1000 and go all the way up to Rs 9000 and more) and highly painful in the beginning.

So the next time you’re wondering “how to thin arm hair?” you’ll have these tips to back you up and make you feel confident and beautiful with any decision you make. It will take some trial and error, but the easiest thing to do is to start with the cheapest options and then proceed to the stronger, more expensive methods if needed.