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Body hair seems to be the bane of every women. As per social norms, women look beautiful with smooth skin, which implies that there should be little or no body hair. Today, even men are considered desirable without alot of body hair. That is the reason why right from the time of one's birth, mothers and grandmothers start practising age-old rituals to get rid of surplus body hair. |
Fact File
In hilly areas, many women believe that if one rubs mother’s milk on the baby’s skin while nursing the baby, it helps remove body hair.
It is widely believed that when the child is between 15 to 45 days of his or her birth, the efforts taken to remove body hair yield maximum results.
Homemade Remedies
- In North India, people use loi, a mixture of besan (Bengal gram flour)/wheat flour, mustard oil, turmeric and curd. This mixture is made into stiff dough and massaged on the baby’s body.
- The white of eggs also acts a natural hair remover, and hence, is often used by mothers to reduce body hair of their children.
- Another mixture, consisting of 1tbsp of milk powder, wheat flour, one tablespoon of besan (Bengal gram flour) and little milk, is applied on a child between 15 to 45 days post-birth. It is a tedious process but it controls the growth of body hair quite effectively. To keep the baby’s skin tender, a paste made of pine nuts (chiraunji dana), few green pistachios, few almonds and a little red masoor dal, is applied
Maximum hair removal efforts should be taken when the child is young. With age, all the hair removing methods yield fewer results. Some of the methods adopted are:
- The use of good quality pumice stone: A number of women gently rub pumice stone on their bodies to get rid of hair.
- Applying ‘til’ or sesame oil: The use of sesame oil lightens the colour of body hair and renders it less visible.
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A Few Don’ts
Most people these days wax their hands, legs and faces to get rid of hair. While that is fine, one should make sure that one doesn’t use chemical products. One should also not shave, as it leaves the skin very rough.
Laser treatment has become very common these days. Although expensive, it removes 80 per cent of body hair permanently. But if the family members start early, one need not spend these huge sums of money at a later stage. |
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Anju Poddar is a successful home maker fascinated by Hindhu traditions and festivals. She has authored four well recieved books, the latest being Meals, Menus & More |
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