My Hair Removal Guide:

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The arrival of summer means exposing pale flesh to the outside world. It also means dealing with unwanted - and suddenly visible - body hair. According to the Institute of Electrolysis, eight out of 10 women are bothered by excess body hair. The most expensive technologies, which promise (and sometimes deliver) permanent removal, continue to grow in popularity. The latest and best - but most costly - is the Intense Pulsed Light (IPL).

With IPL, light is pulsed through a filter on to the skin, converted into heat and absorbed by the melanin in the hair follicle. The cells responsible for hair growth are destroyed. About six repeat visits are recommended.

Aculight is the newest treatment to use IPL. It works on all hair types and is fast (lower legs take 30 minutes; an upper lip just 10 seconds). Charged by time, a 15-minute session - the shortest available - costs pounds 100, but feedback is good. Selina, a 35- year-old TV researcher, had tried electrolysis, waxing, bleaching and plucking to get rid of the hair on her nipples and bikini line. After three Aculight sessions she reports that the hair has "virtually disappeared. The treatment didn't hurt at all on my nipples, but it was slightly painful on my bikini line."

Other IPL treatments have their pros and cons. Plasmalight is slightly more expensive (pounds 750 for a lower leg) but has its fans. EpiLight, launched nearly two years ago, is most effective on fair skin and dark hair: the melanin in dark skin deflects the heat of the laser and fair hair contains too little melanin. Jan Brown, 36, an accountant, had a few coarse hairs on her stomach. "I started getting ingrowing hairs from plucking, so I decided to try EpiLight. It was very quick - my stomach was treated in about 15 minutes, leaving it hairless . The pain was like a rubber band being flicked against my skin." EpiLight costs from pounds 450 for a complete course on an upper lip.