The impact of hair removal on the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of human axillary skin is not fully understood.

This study investigated the effect of different hair‐removal techniques on biophysical parameters and the concentrations of key inflammatory biomarkers in the axillae of female Thai subjects.

Axillary hair was removed by shaving, plucking or waxing.

Following a 2‐week washout phase without hair removal, subjects underwent visual assessment for erythema and skin dryness in one (randomized) axilla, then, hair was removed from the axilla by shaving, plucking or waxing according to each subject’s established habit.

Erythema and dryness were assessed again 30 min after hair removal, and buffer scrubs collected from depilated and non‐depilated axillae and analysed for inflammatory cytokines; after a further 48 h, erythema, dryness and post‐inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIHP) were assessed in the depilated axilla.

Biophysical assessments (skin hydration, barrier integrity, elasticity and roughness) were made in depilated and non‐depilated axillae.