Ever since I got a Smooth Away, I’ve been obsessed with arm hair.  You see, if there’s ever an open casting call for another remake of “Planet of the Apes,” I could just stop shaving the month before and I’d be in costume.  OK, slight exaggeration, but you get the point.

Smooth Away, for those of you who haven’t seen the infomercial or been in a CVS or Walgreens in the last year, is a gadget you use to buff away unwanted hair on just about any part of your body with something that is suspiciously similar to an ultra-fine grade of sandpaper.

One of the pictures on the packaging is of a woman happily buffing away her arm hair.  So I am now constantly – and hopefully surreptitiously – checking out people’s arms; women mostly, but nothing grabs your attention like a man without arm hair. On the subway. In the supermarket. At the beach. At the hair dresser. Browsing magazines.  Hope you don’t catch me.

I’m not the only one obsessed about this. The girls in the Beauty Dept. blog at Glamour.com related two anecdotes about the pressure to remove arm hair. Seems you aren’t allowed to live in L.A. with it. And feelings are strong. When it comes to arm hair, there’s no middle ground. For or against, people are passionate.

I think it falls somewhere in between. It works, to a degree. Although I didn’t use it on my arms, I did use it on my legs and face. I love it for my thighs, it leaves them silky smooth. Chin and lip are pretty good, but you have to be gentle to avoid irritation.

The Smooth Away website touts “easy, safe and painless” hair removal. And the safe and painless parts are true if you follow the directions, but it’s neither easy nor quick. And the hair on my legs grew back faster than it does after shaving. I don’t suggest trying it on coarse hair, like under your arms or the bikini area.

As for the arms … this arm-hair quarterback will pass. You’re on your own. Do you take it all off? How? Does Smooth Away work for you?