Whether you love it, leave it, remove it or hate it, the politics surrounding the way women tend to their hair is a contentious issue. It's personal and completely your choice. Here are the various options:
Shaving
Cut hair with a razor or shaver. Cheap, easy and quick but short term results. Can lead to irritation and ingrowns.
Waxing
Apply hot or cold wax and removing in strips to pull hair from the root. Hair is removed against the direction of growth. Can be painful and poor technique can lead to bruising, sensitivity and ingrowns.
Sugaring
Applying a mixture of lemon, sugar and water to the skin and peeling it off together with the hair. Hair is removed in the direction of hair growth.
Epilate
Plucking individual hairs from the root using mechanically-operated tweezers. Can be painful, best for less sensitive areas such as legs.
Tweeze
Using a small tool to remove hairs individually from each root. Best for small areas such as maintaining brows.
Bleach
Chemical process that removes colour so hair is less visible. Best for small areas such as face.
Depilatory cream
A cream that breaks down the hair to enable it to be washed away. Painless but can be messy.
IPL (Intense Pulse Light)
These procedures remove hair at a deeper level and help to prevent it growing back over time. With IPL the results vary depending upon your skin tone and hair colour. You may need top-up treatments over time but it will certainly help reduce the occurrence of ingrown hairs.
Electrolysis
Electrolysis uses a needle to destroy the growth centre of each individual hair follicle causing the hair to stop growing permanently. A number of sessions are required.