It is believed that Stone Age men started shaving 100,000 years ago by using clam shells like tweezers and pulling out their beard hair. About 60,000 years ago, man discovered shaving, and started using sharpened obsidian and clam shells to shave their beards.
Before the advent of razors, hair was sometimes removed using two shells to pull the hair out or using water and a sharp tool. Around 3000 BC when copper tools were developed, copper razors were invented.
Beardless dandies of the 18th century actually had heavy stubble, study shows. The 18th century gentlemen may often be viewed as perfectly groomed and bewigged, but in reality he only shaved once or twice a week, and probably often had heavy stubble, new research shows.
Over time in Europe, a clean-shaven face became the preferred style. By the 15th Century, clean-shaven men were still in, but beards would come back in the 17th Century. Varying brands of facial hair have rolled in and out of style and importance since these times.
The practice of removing female body hair is not new, it can be traced back to ancient Rome and Egypt. Some of the first razors, made of copper, were used in Egypt and India around 3000 BCE. Egyptian women removed their head hair and considered pubic hair uncivilized.
Women in Classical Greece would remove their hair through various painful measures. In addition to singeing their hair with ashes17 and lamps, as depicted in this krater and another kylix (Pl. 27), they could also pluck and shave their genitalia to yield the desired pruned result.
Greece and Rome – 400 CE
Later in history, in Ancient Greece and Rome, it was considered uncivilized to have pubic hair, so men and women used tools to pluck the hairs individually or singed them off with fire. Other forms of hair removal included razors, sharpened stones, and even forms of depilatory cream.
Just about every Victorian man in Great Britain, and many in the United States, had elaborate facial hair, with even Prince Albert maintaining a neat mustache. Why were beards such a popular male facial hair style in the 19th century, and why are our pop culture icons and political leaders mostly clean-shaven now?
Still, beards remained rare among the Romans throughout the Late Republic and the early Principate. In a general way, in Rome at this time, a long beard was considered a mark of slovenliness and squalor.
Cavemen and women most likely removed the hair from their bodies and heads in an effort to keep anyone from grabbing onto it during battle and to help prevent frostbite. But starting in ancient Egypt, being hairless was less about survival and more a symbol of cleanliness and status.
Europe – Middle Ages
In the Early Middle Ages, women practiced removal of all body, face and even head hair. Bald heads allowed them to wear gaudy wigs or headpieces, which were in fashion at the time. The routine was arduous and shaving and plucking was done daily.
In the 1920s, the new fashion for sleeveless tops and short dresses meant that the legs and armpits of American women were now visible in social situations, and advertisers seized the opportunity to encourage women to shave their legs and their armpits.
“From picture sources we know that the Vikings had well-groomed beards and hair. The men had long fringes and short hair on the back of the head," she says, adding that the beard could be short or long, but it was always well-groomed. Further down on the neck, the skin was shaved.
They did not just cut hair and shave beards, but also trimmed finger and toe nails, removed unwanted body hair and made wigs.
It is believed that Stone Age men started shaving 100,000 years ago by using clam shells like tweezers and pulling out their beard hair. About 60,000 years ago, man discovered shaving, and started using sharpened obsidian and clam shells to shave their beards.
According to the book "The body project", women started shaving their legs in the 1920's when skirts became shorter.
Sikhs. The Sikh religion forbids cutting or shaving any bodily hair.
Religions such as Orthodox Judaism, Rastafarianism, and Sikhism all prohibit haircuts, the removal of facial hair, or a combination of the two due to beliefs that hair is sacred or a gift from God.
Judaism prohibits shaving with a razor on the basis of a rabbinic interpretation of Leviticus 19:27, which states, "Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." The Mishnah interprets this as a prohibition on using a razor on the beard.
Through history facial hair fashions have surged and receded: beards were out for most of the 18th century, very much in for the second half of the 19th, and out again by the dawn of the 20th. Their return in the 1960s and early 70s was short-lived; the tide went out pretty quickly.
Male leg hair removal in modern times was initially related to sports, though it is now more frequently done for aesthetics. For sports such as cycling and swimming, men started shaving their legs around the turn of the 20th century.
Eighteenth century men differed from those of the preceding centuries in their preference for beardlessness. This was the typical facial hair condition throughout most of the 1700s, when wearing a beard was likely to cast one into the category of eccentric, insane or otherwise unreasoned and ungoverned.
Full Body Hair Removal of the '80s
Brazilian waxes, a beauty treatment consisting of removing all pubic hair, became a standard by the '80s. It is reported that the first full body waxing experience was first offered in the U.S. in 1987.
Most men are trimming, so not removing all of their hair. Women are much more likely to remove all their pubic hair when they groom. But there is a select group of men who remove all their hair.
Men report grooming their pubic hair for various reasons including sex and hygiene, comfort, and curiosity. Reasons for pubic hair grooming by age are reported in Figure 1. The majority of men report grooming in preparation for sexual activity with a peak prevalence of 73% among men aged 25 to 34 years.