According to common opinion, a haircut or shaving of hair transforms them into a number of parameters. We checked if it was true.

The stereotype “The more often you shave, the faster the hair grows” Distributed In society. Often, men deliberately delay the time of the next shaving, so as not to increase the speed of hair growth, which would make it more often resort to hygienic procedures in the future. A similar picture applies to ideas about the density of growth, thickness and hair color - supposedly frequent use of razor can seriously affect these parameters.

For more than a century, the authors of medical literature are fighting this set of stereotypes, referring to the results of comparative experimental studies. So, in 1928, four Americans took part in the following experience. They shaved the site of their face with the same movement from top to bottom, using the shaving soap of the same brand, fresh razor and water of the same temperature. After each shaving, the authors of the study collected shaken hair and compared 100 of them. The conclusion was unequivocal: there is no evidence that frequent shaving accelerates hair growth.

In 1970, the results of another were published research. Each of the five men participating in it for several months shaved one of his feet weekly, and left the second as a “control sample” for the final measurement. Scientists have not found significant differences in the thickness, stiffness or hair growth rate.

By words Melanie Grossman, a dermatologist from New York, these data are completely correlated with what her colleagues see in their practice. The factory of dermatology of the Academic Forest Academic Forest Amy McMaikl adds: “Women shave their legs all the time. They would look like gorillas if the hair became thicker or darker. In addition, we would never have to think about hair loss on the head if the haircut made them thicker. ”

Similar observation applies wax depilation (Vaxing). How It is noted In the journal Scientific American, if you tear out hair with the root, a more rigid copy will not appear in its place. However, there are other genetic and hormonal factors that can affect hair growth. In addition, if you strongly scratch the skin area (which does not happen with ordinary shaving or wax depilation), it can become rough as a corn, and this can stimulate hair growth. In this case, thickening of the skin and nerves can lead to thickening of the hair, but in practice this is a rarity.

Why does it seem to us that the stereotypes are fair? It's about visual deception. On the side of human hair is similar to a pencil or spear, tapering to the end. Therefore, when the razor cuts off the tip of the hair, it may seem that the rest has become thicker than it was before the haircut. This stump, sticking out of the follicle, and the touch will be rude.

In addition, one must not forget about the development of the human body. If the guy shaves a mustache and the hair in them becomes thicker, then the explanation of this is simple: during this period of life, natural hormonal vibrations that are not associated with hair removal occur in the teenager’s body.

As for the darkening of the hair after shaving, here people can confuse the following circumstance: the hair (or their parts) recently breaking through from under the skin at first seem darker because they have not yet been subjected to the brightening effects of pollutants, chemicals (like soap and shampoo) and the sun with its Ultraviolet.

And finally, about the density of the hairline. As they assure Specialists, this factor does not depend on shaving or haircuts. The number of hair follicles on our body is programmed even during intrauterine development. So we can influence this parameter only, if we do not carefully treat the skin.

Thus, a haircut (and shaving as its special case) in the general case does not affect either the speed of hair growth, or their thickness, density or color.