Hair removal as a form of payment for challenges or dares lost involving the removal of all body hair. Inmates have their head shaved upon entry at certain prisons. Depilation is the removal of the part of the hair above the surface of the skin. The most common form of depilation is shaving or trimming. Another option is the use of chemical depilatories, which work by breaking the disulfide bonds that link the protein chains that give hair its strength. Epilation is the removal of the entire hair, including the part below the skin. Methods include waxing, sugaring, epilation devices, lasers, threading,
Long hair or longer is only possible to reach for people with long anagen. The anagen lasts between 2 and 7 years, for some individuals even longer, and is followed by shorter catagen (transition) and telogen (resting) periods. At any given time, about 85% of hair strands are in anagen. The fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5) gene affects the hair cycle in mammals including humans; blocking FGF5 in the human scalp (by applying a herbal extract that blocked FGF5) extends the hair cycle, resulting in less hair fall and increased hair growth. In ancient Greece, long male hair was a symbol of