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This "misconception" -- or rather, its labeling as such -- annoys me to no end: >Shaving does not cause terminal hair to grow back thicker (more dense) or dark
by SilasX 6y ago
This "misconception" -- or rather, its labeling as such -- annoys me to no end:
>Shaving does not cause terminal hair to grow back thicker (more dense) or darker. This belief is due to hair that has never been cut having a tapered end, whereas after cutting the edge is blunt and therefore thicker than the tapered ends; the cut hair appears to be thicker and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges. The shorter hairs being less flexible than longer hairs also contributes to this effect.
So ... shaving an area of hair for the first time doesn't make it come back thicker, darker, and fuller.
It just looks like it's coming back thicker, darker, and fuller.
When the thing that everyone cares about in this context is it looking like it's thicker, darker, and fuller.
Really stretches the definition of "misconception" to the breaking point. I mean, when you make the exact same predictions over observables that someone without the "misconception" would make ...
- londons_explore 6y agoYou haven't considered the outcome of not shaving, which is also that thick dark hairs grow, but you also have your wispy ends from before, so the overall result is thick, dark and long...
- SilasX 6y agoNo, the reason the believe persists is because of all the people who have wispy unshaven hair, who think they're improving things by shaving it, but then who have more visible hair than they had before but now have to keep shaving it. This misconception leads you to do exactly the right thing.
- goodside 6y agoI’ve only ever heard “If you shave it, it grows back thicker” in the context of advising someone who wants the hair to be less visible, not more visible. It’s usually given as an argument for why women should pluck or wax rather than shave.
- SilasX 6y ago>I’ve only ever heard “If you shave it, it grows back thicker” in the context of advising someone who wants the hair to be less visible, not more visible. As did I -- where did you get the other view? I've heard it given as an argument -- like in the popular Seinfeld episode -- that it will be more visible after you first shave and so you have to keep shaving.