The Observer's Blog

Beard Control

Tonight my substantial finger hair had a close encounter with a birthday candle. Besides making a wonderful smell and sculpting my finger hair into a uniform bristly surface, the incident reminded me how different our hair is from our skin. If my skin were to come close to a candle it would just get warm or pink, not vaporize.

Hair is so fragile! Why hasn't someone been able to exploit this fact to find a less painful solution to the problem of unwanted facial/body hair? I thought our civilization was advanced enough to cheaply make chemicals that denature proteins. If so, why are we not focusing on making those chemicals that can denature the proteins of the hair on our face? Imagine being able to spread some gel on your face and have the hair dissolve right into your hands . . .

If I'm somehow wrong about the protein denaturing chemicals, then the fire solution seems just as plausible. A short but intense, highly localized blast of heat to the face designed to vaporize hair but not burn skin. This device might also be useful for cutting hair, either your own or your enemies. Imagine being able to render an entire person hairless from a mile away . . .