John Byrne addressed this sort of tangentially when talking about his termination from She-Hulk [edited to be more on point...]
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QUESTION:
I recently picked up Sensational She-Hulk #7, and I got to thinking.... Is this the basis of the disagreement with Bobbi Chase over the scene of Jen shaving her legs and breaking blades? (For the uninitiated, the story resolution in #7 has Shulkie undergoing an electrolysis treatment, which is specifically referred to as permanent, therefore there would be no leg hair to shave in the first place, let alone break razor blades against.)
ANSWER:
. . .
On top of this was the scene with She-Hulk shaving her legs. Now, let me state up front that I have an instant prejudice against this sort of scene. I just don't like 'em. Not sure why, just don't feel they are necessary to the development of the characters. However, in the context of this particular scene, the "development" was to show that Jen was an idiot. Sitting in the tub, shaving her leg, she immediately breaks the blade. So she grabs another razor, and breaks that on the first stroke. So she grabs another, and breaks that. And another. And another. The "punchline" is to see a huge pile of broken razors by the tub. My objection, of course, was that Jen would not do this (even if she needed to shave her legs, which arguably she did not). The first time she tried, the first time the razor broke, she'd get on the phone to her pal Reed Richards and say "Here's my problem..." Reed would have an Atomic Leg Shaving Apparatus (which, knowing Reed, would be big as a Volkswagen) delivered to her apartment within the hour! Problem solved.
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Source
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The meta answer is "depends on the writer" (and the influence tradition may have on him or her).
In-story, you have to address two questions: 1. How does Hulk default to a particular appearance?; 2. How does Hulk change that default appearance?
With respect to the default, I tend to like the "RSI" (The Matrix) type logic, that psychic element that has accounted for the variable size, strength, savagery, smarts, & shade of the Hulk over the years. You can argue that being clean shaven but with a mop of hair above is just what comes to Banner's subconscious mind and that Ross either thinks the same or- in years of hunting Hulk- has come to have the same image buried in his subconscious. We know that whether Banner shaves his head, puts a bullet in himself, or Ross wears a mustache... when they transform they will revert to the default (I've not read enough Hulk to know, but has anyone ever lost a limb before transforming?). So whatever hairstyle preference of Banner or Ross is just as irrelevant as any injury they might sustain.
But to change that we're in more murky territory. Our only data-points are the Maestro, Hulk off-spring in OMW, and She-Hulk shaving and infuriating Byrne. RSI could account for all three- Maestro either thinks himself evil or aged, the spawn of Hulk having their own RSI, and Jenn's RSI matches her perception of what womanhood ought to entail? But there are also other common factors. In all three cases, the hulk-type has been in their form for an extended period of time. Maestro doesn't revert back to Banner AFAIK, the spawn stays hulked up to survive the post-apocalyptic landscape, and Jenn was stuck as She-Hulk... so then the argument would be if you remain Hulk long enough, you can just grow hair and trim it. A final common factor is the external variance on their mutation. Maestro was dosed with radiation, the spawn was produced through reproduction, and Jenn through blood transfusion... these differences may account for their ability to grow hair. Additionally, it could be a combination of all three.
Honestly, though, I don't think the writers thought about it too much! ;-)
Edit: Seeing Versa's post below gives us a fourth data-point and removes the third possibility if normal Hulk grows a bears without any extra effects acting on him... and I would tend to think he would not be able to adjust his RSI that much on a whim... so the most likely answer- if trying to stay more consistent than the writers- is time spent staying as Hulk with off-panel shaving.
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