Let’s talk about something a bit annoying for a change : hairs!

Hairs are (fortunately not completely) everywhere. They grow everyday no matter what you do to get rid off them and no it’s not just you, they grow faster under hot climate! While backpacking for several months hairs become an issue unless 1) you don’t care about looking like a bear which is your right, 2) you don’t have a lot of hair, in which case I have to say I’m a bit jealous of the gift your received from nature and you can stop reading this article. Lucky you!

Anyways the question is : how to handle hair removal and stay glamourous at all times while backpacking ?

One could be tempted to go to the beauty parlour and get waxed by a skilled beautician, which in some countries won’t cost much. But that’s cheating! And personally, I remember being burnt by a Nepali beautician once in Harlem, NY. Once I got bruises after the girl waxed my legs at Yves Rocher in France and once in Mumbai, India I got waxed standing up, with the girl applying really hot wax on my skin with a knife…This is why I decided I would handle the situation by myself!

Here’s what I got :

– tweezers : essential for touch-ups,

– thread : really perfect to remove any facial hair, without requiring electricity. This is an Indian technique and this short video will teach you how to play with the thread!

– an electric epilator : this can be tricky depending on the voltage of the electricity in the country where you are traveling but you can use an adaptor. I find that the electric epilator is quite fast, a bit hurtful but good for wide areas like the legs. Hair often grows under the skin after using this machine so you might want to use a good scrub in between two “sessions”.

– hair removal cream : for very sensitive areas (needless to name them) where you couldn’t use the electrical epilator or threading. In terms of results it is almost the same as using a razor, just painless. 

– ready to use cold wax stripes : you can buy before leaving but you can find them in most countries now (often under the Veet brand). Quality, quantity and price varies from one country to another. For example in Thailand you get small quantities because most Thai women are not very hairy. Those are efficient but it gets tricky when the climate is too humid (like in India during the moonsoon when I had to use talcum powder and sit under the fan to get this done).

Voilà! Please don’t hesitate to share your own backpacking beauty secrets in the comments, I am always looking for more practical (yet glamourous) products! Thank you for reading this article!