Many people have too much hair growth around their armpits, which can interfere with daily life by causing excessive sweating and pulling of the hairs. When women have too much hair under their arms, it can cause trouble when the hair continuously needs to be shaved. Waxing under the arms shocks the hair follicle and stops the hair from growing at the armpit.

Soak the armpits in hot water for 15 minutes before waxing. This not only opens up the follicles, but it desensitizes the area so you will feel less pain when the hair pulls out. You can soak you armpits in the bathtub or apply a towel soaked in hot water directly to the skin.

Trim the armpit hair until it is around 1/2 inch long. If the hair has been shaved in the recent past, wait until it reaches a length of 1/4 to 1/2 inches before waxing. This length of hair is ideal for the wax to grip onto and pull out.

Heat up the wax and make sure the consistency is correct before applying the wax to your skin. It should be about the consistency of honey. Using a wooden spreader, smear a little bit of hot wax onto the armpit and press on a strip of wax cloth. Smooth your fingers over the wax cloth until the wax bleeds through the other side. Then pull off the wax cloth in a fast, fluid motion going away from the grain. This means to pull the wax cloth away from the direction of the hair growth. Continue to wax your under arms until all of the hair is removed.

Continue to wax your armpits every 3 weeks. After about 2 months of waxing, you will start to see a marked decrease in the hair volume and thickness. This is because the waxing shocks the hair follicle and causes the follicle to not reduce hair over time. Repeated waxing can even cause hair to thin permanently. (For more information on waxing for permanent hair removal, see Resources.)