Home Remedies for Unwanted Leg Hair Growth

Unwanted leg hair has been troubling women for centuries. Many women remain slaves to the razor, but the shaved hair grows back quickly. Electrolysis is expensive, and waxing can be not only costly, but painful as well. If you'd prefer to try a home remedy, several methods may be effective in not only removing hair, but discouraging, or at least slowing, its regrowth.

Turmeric and Salt

While there is little scientific evidence to link turmeric and hair removal, it is very popular in India, particularly with parents wishing to use it to discourage the growth of unwanted hair on their children 4. Mix fresh turmeric with rock salt until it forms a thick paste, then apply it to your legs. Let the paste sit, then gently rub away the hair and rinse with water. This method may not remove all of the hair, but the exfoliating action will help to slow regrowth, and the turmeric should help to soften and condition your skin.

Sugaring

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Body sugaring is a form of hair removal similar to waxing, only using ingredients you can easily find in your kitchen or local grocery store. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon, then mix it with 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of sugar in a small bowl or saucepan, and heat it in the microwave or over the stove until the sugar melts. Let it cool until it is still warm, but not too hot, as hot melted sugar can burn your skin quite severely. Once the mixture has cooled, sprinkle your legs with cornstarch, then use a tongue depressor or a rubber spatula to apply a thin layer of the sugar mixture to your leg. Press a strip of cloth against the sugar and let it sit for 30 seconds. Once the time is up, grasp the strip by one edge, then pull it off quickly against the direction the hair is growing.

This technique is likely to be somewhat painful and messy at first, but it is quite inexpensive and the results will be long-lasting. The best part about removing hair through this method, as with waxing or tweezing, is that hairs pulled out by the roots will grow back more sparsely as well as slowly 4.

Pumice Stone

Pumice stones are another age-old method of hair removal 4. It involves friction--the rubbing action of the stone exfoliates the skin while gently pulling the hair out. Pumice should never be used on dry skin as it can be very irritating, but if you soap your legs in the shower and then rub them gently with a pumice stone on a daily basis, you should find this a relatively painless and easy method of hair removal 4. As with other friction-based methods, you are not likely to see immediate, dramatic results, but if you keep it up on a daily basis, your leg hair regrowth will slow down considerably in a few weeks or months.