Hair removal, also known as epilation or depilation, is the removal of body hair, and describes the methods used to achieve that result.

Hair typically grows all over the human body during and after puberty. Men tend to have more body hair than women. Both men and women have hair on the head, eyebrows, eyelashes, armpits, pubic region and legs; and men also have hair on their face, abdomen, back and chest. Hair does not generally grow on the palms of the hands, the lips, certain areas of the genital structure, or the soles of the feet.

Forms of hair removal are practised for a number of reasons, including cultural, sexual, medical and religious. Forms of hair removal have been practised in almost all human cultures. The methods used to remove hair have varied in different times and regions, but shaving is the most common method.

Each culture of human society has developed social norms relating to the presence or absence of body hair, which has changed from one time to another. Different standards can apply to males and females. People whose hair falls outside a culture's aesthetic standards may experience real or perceived social acceptance problems. For example, for women in several societies, exposure in public of body hair other than head hair, eyelashes and eyebrows is generally considered to be unaesthetic, undesirable and embarrassing.