Why Do Women Wax Their Armpits?

Developing armpit hair is a normal part of growing up. Armpit hair can help reduce friction between our arm and body and plays a role in how we release our natural body scent (pheromones). However, beauty and fashion trends led to smooth underarms being associated with femininity and athleticism. While there is increasing acceptance for women’s armpit hair, many women still want to know how to get a smooth underarm.

Shaving is a fast and effective way to remove armpit hair, but because shaving cuts the hair at the skin’s surface. An alternative solution to consider is a depilatory cream, which dissolves the hair shaft just below the surface of the skin to get it smooth and hair-free.

Waxing is a form of epilation, which removes the entire hair shaft and root from under the skin’s surface. Pulling out the hair completely means that you can have long-lasting, smooth underarms.

Preparing Before Waxing Your Armpits

The underarms can be a sensitive area, so here’s some tips getting ready for waxing your armpits.

• Avoid waxing your armpits if you have any cuts or irritation to your skin. You may also want to delay waxing during your period or if you are pregnant — your hormones can make your skin extra sensitive and waxing may be more painful at this time.
• If your armpit hair is longer than 2 cm, you can trim it a little shorter to make waxing easier. Veet’s Easy-Gel Underarm Wax Strips can work on hair as short as 1.5mm.

How to Wax Armpits

Whether you choose wax strips or warm wax, follow these steps for smooth and hair-free underarms:

• Just before you wax, wash and dry your armpits thoroughly. Clean, dry skin helps the wax stick properly
• Hair tends to grow in two different directions on the underarm, with hair in the upper part growing upwards and hair on the lower part growing downwards. Because of this, wax each armpit in two stages.
• Put your hand behind your head and lift your elbow high to tighten your armpit skin. Then, apply the wax on either the lower or upper half of the underarm and smooth down firmly in the direction of hair growth (away from the centre of the armpit).
• Remove the wax in the opposite direction of hair growth (towards the centre of the armpit) — hold the skin tight with one hand and pull the strip quickly with the other hand, keeping it as close to the skin as possible.
• Repeat for the other half of the same armpit, and then on your other armpit.

Solutions for Everyone

Choose from the range of Veet wax products for a simple way to achieve long lasting smoothness for your underarms. For an easy, ready-to-use solution, try Veet® Easy-Gel Underarm Wax Strips, which work even on short hair (1.5 mm) for long-lasting smoothness. For a salon waxing experience, try the Veet® Spawax Stripless Wax Warming Kit, which includes professional quality warm wax and a warming system that maintains it at the perfect temperature to give you salon-perfect results at home.

For those times when waxing isn’t right for you, try Veet® Silky Fresh Hair Removal Cream for Sensitive Skin for a quick and painless way to achieve smooth, silky underarms. The cream is specially developed to easily remove hair from as little as five minutes and is suitable for sensitive areas such as your armpits.

Waxing Armpits Tips

It’s also worth keeping these tips in mind to achieve the best results when waxing your armpits:

• Before using any hair removal product, patch-test it on a small area of the skin you plan to treat, following all the instructions on the leaflet carefully. If there is no reaction after 24 hours, you can continue to use the product.
• Don’t wax over the same area more than once in a waxing session. You can tweeze out any remaining stragglers.
• With regular waxing, your armpit hair may start to become finer and easier to remove.

Aftercare for Waxing

To maintain beautiful underarms and avoid irritation or ingrown hairs, avoid the following after waxing underarms:

• Hot baths and showers
• Tight clothing
• Deodorants or other skin care products that could clog pores
• Exercise, especially swimming
• Sun exposure, tanning beds, or saunas

While attitudes are always changing when it comes to beauty and fashion trends, so too is the range of hair removal products we can choose from. Whether you grow it, dye it, or go for the smooth and silky look, the main thing you need to do is to love you and your body. No matter what you do, love your pits!

RB-M-14208

First published: 3rd June 2022

Last updated: 7th September 2023