insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 09 - November 2015 | Page 55

WA X A N D T H R E A D :

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

It all started with the ancient Egyptians and their obsession of beauty rituals. An awful lot
of time and effort was spent on hair removal; it was common for ancient Egyptian women
to remove all of their body hair.
The Roman Empire followed suit — lack of
body hair was a sign of wealth and class; even
pubic hair was considered uncivilised, which is
why many statues and paintings we often see
of this era are depicted hairless. In the middle
ages, Queen Elizabeth I set the trend amongst
women to remove facial hair, part