Does hair grow back thicker after shaving?

No. And if this were true, wouldn’t women who’ve shaved for years have legs like gorillas and armpits like Chia Pets?

One of the reasons for this common misperception may be that new grown stubble seems thicker than uncut hair. But the truth is, all hair growth takes place below the skin, down in the hair follicle. The section of the hair we lop off is just dead protein. Shaving doesn’t make your hair grow back any faster or thicker or darker or coarser.

If there were even the slightest chance that shaving caused thicker regrowth, men suffering from male pattern baldness would be hacking away at their shiny pates with the latest five-bladed razor from dawn till dusk.

By Mark Leyner

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"Does hair grow back thicker after shaving?" was posted on Saturday, September 29th, 2007 at 11:51 pm.