The Truth is Out There

I've been saving up my anger since last week when I stumbled upon a YouTube video where the oldest shaving myth in the book was once again quoted with absolute sincerity.

Why are some people perpetuating the myth that shaving makes your hair grow back thicker and darker?

It's becoming a rather intense pet peeve, especially when I find a so-called "professional" aesthetician touting their know-how or wares on the Internet and insist that shaving is the worst thing you can do because it somehow magically changes the color and consistency of your hair. When supposed experts are saying that with such an air of assurance, of course others are going to repeat it. Girls asking the Internet at large whether or not they should shave this or that, receive replies from hopefully well-meaning strangers in the form of a vehement "NO!" because they've probably read or heard that myth someplace that appeared to have some kind of authority. And what if shaving could have been the perfect solution for that girl?

I can't profess to have any kind of authority myself, except that I do shave my face and it has not made the hair grow back with different characteristics. Some quirk in my genes predetermined that my hair would eventually get darker, and it kept happening whether I shaved, plucked, bleached, or used depilatory cream.

The truth is that the multitude and darkness of your body hair is dependent on genetics. Genetics will dictate the number of hair follicles you have and the amount of melanin present in them. Even the hormones that sometimes affect the follicles and make hair darker or affect its growth are dependent on workings far below the surface of your skin where that razor is working.

Hair is a dead protein filament. If you cut it, you make it shorter. You make the end blunt. You can irritate the follicle that hair comes from, but you can't change genetics by doing it. It is impossible to so strongly affect that follicle by shaving. There are too many dermatological sources to quote from. Do an internet search for "shaving myths" and find all the scientific reassurance you need.

When I come to a site in the search for new ideas to improve the hair removal experience, and I see the author quote this shaving myth, it completely destroys the reliability of the content. I will look no further. That specialist has ruined their reputation and they should feel embarrassed. Do they still rub butter on their burns and believe cats steal air away from babies, for goodness sake?

I guess it is the Internet and anyone can put anything they want out there, but call me old fashioned for expecting people to have a little respect for accuracy and truth--heck, integrity-- when they're going to try to give others advice.

In lieu of that, I suppose we all just have to think carefully about what we read.