Most Common Myths About Shaving

There are myths about everything from “Shaving makes your hair grow thicker?” to “Peeing on a jellyfish sting will soothe the pain?”.  We have our suspicions on a lot of it, but for the sake of short attention spans we’re just going to focus on debunking four of the most common shaving misconceptions out there and set the record straight.

               

Myth #1: Shaving cause hair to become coarser

I call bull on this one. Hair becoming courser is not caused by shaving. The thickness of your hair is governed by the location on the body and its response to hormones. Not to get all scientific up in hea’, but when a hair is cut by a razor in the middle of the shaft, it's flat surface feels a bit sharp. Not to worry it will feel soft again as the hair grows out more. But let’s also not forget, when you are shaving you are cutting the hair shaft at its thickest part, if allowed to grow, it will be thinner and finer.

Myth #2: Shaving causes hair to grow faster

Nope, again.  Shaving does not cause your hair to grow any faster than Spiderman’s symbiote costume – you know, that black gooey stuff in Spiderman 3.  Apparently our hair grows at a different rate depending on location on the body, whether you’re male of female, our age, and even depends on the season. From what I hear, our hair grows faster during the summer.          

               

Myth #3: Shaving causes hair to re-grow darker

You can’t make this stuff up. Personally, I have never heard of shaving making your hair darker, but here’s a reasonable explanation: The color of the hair is determined by the amount of pigment (melanin) in it and bleaching is caused by the sun, destroying that pigmentation. Hair that has been exposed to the sun is lighter. When it is shaved, the part that was not exposed begins to grow out of the skin. Since this part of the hair shaft was not exposed to the sun, it will appear darker. So therefore, the longer you allow your hair to grow, the lighter it will become.

               

Myth #4: Shaving a previously unshaven area will cause new hair to appear

I think 9 out of 10 sixteen year olds’ having probably laid this myth to rest already. Shaving a previously unshaven area is not going to cause new hair to appear. Our growth patterns are determined by factors such as hormones and genetics. Over the course of a lifetime, hair growth patterns have a tendency to change. If this myth were true, I can picture a bunch of men feverishly standing in front of their bathroom mirror with shaving cream for yarmulkes.  Sorry bruh’, not going to happen.