What's the cream or powder that removes hair called?

Question

I know there's a powder or cream that removes the hair (mainly from face) without any need to usage of blade. It's a chemical shaving. Now, I thought it is called "shaving cream" or "shaving powder", but according to Wikipedia these names refer to those powders or cream facilitate shaving so it's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the one that shaves without any further need to use blade.

Answer 1

The word you want is depilatory. Here's a defintion from M-W:

: an agent for removing hair, wool, or bristles

And the origin from Etymonline:

c. 1600, "having the property of removing hair from the skin," from French dépilatorie (adj.), from Latin depilatus "having one's hair plucked," from de- "completely" (see de-) + pilatus, past participle of pilare "deprive of hair," from pilus "hair" (see pile (n.3)). Earlier in same sense was Depilative. As a noun, "application used to remove hair without injuring the skin," from c. 1600, from French dépilatorie (n.).

In addition, should you choose to enter this word in a search engine, you will discover many advertisements for creams, lotions, and so on which accomplish this task with varying degrees of reputibility.

Answer 2

While, "depilatory" is the fancy, technical name for this, it's also often called just "hair removal cream". For instance, this site's headline: The 5 Best Hair Removal Creams

The powder form is also called "shaving powder", even though it's used instead of shaving. For instance, this product: Magic Shaving Powder Red ("Magic" is the brand name, not a suggestion that it works using supernatural means).

Answer 3

In the US, the brand name Nair is sometimes used as a generic term for this (especially the cream, and especially by women). Compare "Kleenex" used for any facial tissue. A couple of examples, as a verb and a noun:

[A different product] makes the hair grow back thinner softer and slower where i would need to nair before about once every 2 to 3 days pushing it at 3 i need to nair about once every 5 days with this. (Amazon review of other product)

Is nair/hair remover safe for repeated use?
. . . . Right now I use the CVS generic for nair with aloe and lanolin, is that safe to use every couple weeks (over my full torso and arms/legs, obvs avoiding crotch and face)? (Reddit thread)