Remember how excited you were when you first started shaving? It was a sign of maturity, and what was originally something to be proud of eventually became a chore that you have come to hate. If you’re tired of shaving or waxing, you’re most likely considering a form of long-term hair removal. After all, a day without shaving is like a vacation. Just think of what you could do with those spare minutes.
While hair removal isn’t overly complex, having an understanding of your body’s natural hair cycle will help you understand why many treatments require multiple procedures over a period of time. For now, allow us to clear up the mystery behind the life cycle of an individual hair.
How Hair “ACTs”
If you’ve ever been waxed, then you were probably surprised by how quickly your hair grew back after your first treatment. Many people think their hair grows really fast, but what looks like new growth has actually been in the making for a while. The hair that was forcibly removed from the follicle won’t grow back for several weeks, but other follicles will still be active or in transition. While you won’t be able to know when your hair is in a given cycle, learning the acronym “ACT” will help you understand the cycles themselves.
A Is for Anagen
Within your skin, hair grows inside a bulb of stem cells. When you’re healthy, most of your hair is in the active (“A”) anagen phase and is nourished by the body. This stage can last between 3-5 years.
C Is for Catagen
Since everything in your body changes on a day to day basis, think of this next phase as a time for transition or a time for change (“C”). Hair doesn’t simply go from being active to falling out. There’s a period of transition, known as the catagen phase, where it begins to detach from the follicle. The process doesn’t occur instantaneously, but actually happens over a period of days or weeks
T Is for Telogen
Growing hair is hard work, and every single follicle needs time to rest before producing a new hair. These little “time outs” are part of the telogen phase (“T”), which can last several months.
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By being aware of your hair’s growth cycles, you’ll have more realistic expectations when undergoing a hair removal procedure. Stay tuned for our next article, which will explain the top three ways to eliminate hair long-term or even permanently.
Wishing you less “hairy” days,
Team Reflect
We hope you enjoyed this short, informative post. If you did, we’d love for you to share it with your friends via email or Facebook. Thanks for reading! Come back soon for part two!