It’s hard to imagine what the reactions must have been like when Dr. Benjamin Nair invented the world’s first depilatory cream back in 1972. It’s a familiar concept now, but the idea that you could slather some gunk on your skin, wait 25-30 minutes, wipe it off, and watch all the hair go with it probably seemed highly suspicious at the time. One might even use the term “complete bullshit.”
But that was 1972. People still thought cigarettes were kind of healthy and drank scotch in the office at lunchtime. Now, we’ve seen it all. We use actual lasers to remove body hair like it ain’t no thing. Depilatories are actually pretty dated. Yet somehow, a 24-second video of someone having their leg hair removed by way of a depilatory cream has 6.2 million Facebook users in awe. “This cream literally removes hair in SECONDS!” the caption reads.
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If this incredible innovation reminds you of something you’ve seen before, that’s because you have. It may have an unfamiliar brand name — and, if you click through to the product link provided, an incredibly sketchy countdown clock that wants you to believe that a) there are only two left in stock and b) that you have an hour to go before they disappear from the earth forever — but the product that’s racked up over 20,000 frantic comments is just your average depilatory in action. It’s Veet. It’s Nair. It’s literally any chemical depilatory formula ever. And the fact that millions of people are freaking out like they’ve never seen it before has us feeling like we’re in an episode of Black Mirror.
Jon Hamm should be popping out at any moment now — so it might be a good time to stock up on Nair anyway, just in case this whole dystopian future thing is for real. Nobody should be forced to face the apocalypse with hairy legs if they don't want to.