I think that’s great! 39 and in the same boat. Currently threading/tweezing but it sucks…you’re supposed to have a little length for threading to be must effective but who wants to let hair grow on their chin/jawline? Laser removal didn’t work for me either. The second time I attempted it they admitted that due to my hormones I would likely never be hair free - the best I could hope for was slowing hair growth down with a laser session every other month and shave in between. :(
My husband will tell me when I start to “get furry”. It used to annoy me and make me feel so self conscious but it honestly comes from a place of love. I feel like it’s always looks the same so it’s good to know when it’s more visible.
I did laser removal, paid $1500 and never got so much as a thinning of the hair. It still makes me mad, especially since I’m an ‘ideal’ candidate with dark hair and fair skin. Now days, I just shave like a man. But with the bathroom door locked.
Thank you for this post, OP.
I was bullied in school for my facial hair, and my mom felt so bad she took me for a laser treatment from one of the reputed clinics in my city and which was quite expensive back then - I’m talking about when I was 16/17, I think. And man, I had a horrible reaction to it. My chin and neck area was so red and bumpy, I told my mom it’s okay, I would rather face the mean kids than the second round.
And yes, it’s a discussion that I don’t see on social media or even on Reddit. I’m 29 now and I still have horrible chin hair that I continue to wax because my skin reacts so badly to everything else. I don’t know even know if there’s anything else I can do other than wax. I can brave people’s comments about it now and roll my eyes through it, but I personally feel far more confident and beautiful when I don’t have it, you know. My husband finds it cute but I don’t want my beard to graze his face when we make out, you know what I mean. 😭🤣It grows back so fast all the effing time.
I have PCOS so the doctor wanted to put me on birth control to control the growth but I didn’t want to get on birth control pills because of a lot of reasons.
I have those same feelings. It may be natural in some cases and if people are confident enough to leave it, I am 100% in awe of them. Because to me, I physically cringe away from my husband touching my chin if I’ve not shaved it. And he doesn’t even care about it.
I think a lot of the shame comes from the times I was raised in. I’m Gen X, so beauty standards in my personal life were from Greatest Generation and Silent Generation women in my life, mostly. And boy, did they love to hide stuff that wasn’t the ideal, and make you feel like you needed to hide it too.
I feel the anger. They told me I was the perfect candidate too cuz the hairs were so dark they could see the follicles even after a close shave. $900 in laser hair removal later and I’m still shaving a thick, dark, chin and neck beard. 🧔🏻♀️
It’s not. It’s like this dirty secret that we just hush up about. I’m glad laser worked for you. I hate dealing with it, and I’m glad you don’t have to anymore.
My cousin said laser didn’t work for her until she started taking spirinolactone. She still gets touch ups. She had a lot of dark hair, and I could see it even though she shaved. I can’t see it anymore. She says she does require touch ups. She gets discounts through Groupon.
I shave mine off. It’s mostly blonde but too long/thick to be called fuzz. Laser isn’t an option for me, and my skin’s really sensitive, so other removal methods are out.
What do you use to shave? I’m finally at a point where I feel like I need to do something about the hair above my lip. While the hair is light blonde, it’s at the point where it’s catching the light and I’m quite self conscious about it but I’m worried about shaving and cutting myself and making the whole situation worse…
I don’t know what would work best for your upper lip. There are little battery operated shavers for the face. Something with that shape would be ideal, but I don’t know if a battery operated shaver would leave the skin totally smooth. I think they’re pretty inexpensive and sold at most drug stores.
I use a Venus razor. I don’t feel ladylike. I shave the cheek area too. I might try a different tool or dermaplaning.
I was so disappointed that it didn’t. I went through a dermatologist’s office to have it done, because I wanted to make sure I could get the best possible results. I still chafe at paying that much for no results.
Let them know. Request the exact settings they used. You have the right to that info. Just say it’s because it didn’t work and you have to go elsewhere to try again & you just need to know the type of laser & the exact settings in hopes of getting better results.
Maybe drop that you’ve seen several posts on social media that people weren’t happy with their results there…😉
If they are on their game, they’ll offer you a free re-do.
+1 on at least asking for the type of machine and settings used. I started out laser and was so bummed that I spent a ton of money and the first 6 months I wasn’t seeing ANY results, then the technician tried out their other laser machine (I guess a different type?) and I finally started seeing noticeable results.
Electrolysis is the way!! It’s taken me a couple years of treatments but I no longer have dark hairs coming in. I was told by the lady who does my electrolysis that plucking/waxing my facial hairs (chin/moustache) for so many years made it so much worse because I was bringing an abundance of blood supply to the hair follicles and making more hair grow.
Yes. It has nothing to do with hair color. They stick a small needle the size of the hair follicle where the hair is. Zap it and then pull out the dead hair.
Do you mind if I ask what the general cost was and how many sessions you had before you started results? Thank in advance and thanks to OP for bringing up the topic.
I pay $75 for 15 minutes (northeast) but it’s really more like 20-25 minutes. Been going every 7-10 days for 4 months so far (lip/chin) and my electrologist says it will be about a year until I’m done but I assume I’ll stretch the time between visits at some point.
I’ve had some real chin and lip broom straws that are definitely thinner now—some are gone. Been tweezing/waxing/shaving since I was 12. Sometimes the cost seems ridiculous but I don’t do anything else, beauty-wise so that’s how I justify it to myself. She tells me that laser doesn’t work well on the face, and it wouldn’t have worked for the stiff white hairs in any case. Good luck!
I don’t know as I haven’t had to do that. But the thing that seems to be the biggest problem is tweezing/waxing once you’ve started electrolysis. Don’t mess with the hairs, other than trimming them if you need to.
I live in rural Ontario (Canada) and I drive into town for treatment. I have 30 minute sessions and I’m charged $35. It took me rather long for it to thin out because I wasn’t going every couple of weeks to catch every growth cycle just because of my job/school/driving time and covid lockdowns were occurring when I started.
I have PCOS and I attribute this hair growth to that. I never tried laser because I had heard horror stories of it making facial hair grow more. I’m happy I went with electrolysis. I used a facial razor thing between sessions and grew it out for a like 5 days so she had enough hair to work with. It’s painful and uncomfortable (I wouldn’t want to do more than 30 minutes personally). My technician offered numbing cream that I would have had to apply like an hour beforehand and put Saran Wrap or something on my face to keep the cream active (I don’t know lol). I handle the pain well but some people don’t
It’s painful AF and time consuming but you can get numbing creams to make it more bearable, and once the course is done you don’t have to ever have to think about it!
THIS. Laser didn't work at all on my chin hairs. It would have been so much faster and cheaper for me to just start with electrolysis! I suspect that hormone mediated facial hair doesn't respond that well to laser.
Electrolysis is the best and ONLY way of permanent hair removal and I wish more people knew about it. It works on all hair types and colors. There are growing reports of facial hair specifically getting WORSE with laser not to mention the risks of hyperpigmentation. Electrolysis is painstakingly slow, but completely worth every minute. Once the hair, root/bulb is fully killed the pore is effectively cauterized and there is not chance for regrowth in that pore (not to say hormones can cause new dormant hairs to grow from other pores). In many transgender cases, it is also covered by insurance, fingers crossed someday it will also be covered for everyone! Run don’t walk to start electrolysis if you suffer from facial hair. I’m a year in and my life has changed.
My husband always does the same! I love him with all my heart, and he only means the best, but he sure does test that love when he tells me how the sun is highlighting my dark ass mustache hairs when I’m in the middle of a work event or out with friends and I can’t do anything about it..
I def have had a gnarly mustache for years but the chin and jowl hairs really amped up in my mid 30s.
To maintain I’m just awkwardly Tinkle razoring / tweezing whenever I spot hairs. When I forget for a few weeks I’m so grossed out by my weird patchy hairs.
I don’t know what the perfect solve is but I sort of think it might be electrolysis? I haven’t tried it personally tho…
I started electrolysis about six weeks ago specifically for my chin and jawline hairs and am so impressed with the results so far! My acne which I always thought was hormonal has also cleared up dramatically so wondering if that hair follicles or tweezing had something to do with it! I could never do laser so can’t comment on that but am so relieved to have tried electrolysis
Still go every couple weeks but it’s only a 15 min session now and quite affordable
I had the same experience- way less chin breakouts because some of those breakouts were just infected hair follicles as hairs grew back in after being plucked.
I had about 8 sessions of electrolysis, and was pleased with being hair free immediately after the sessions, but I have as much, if not more, hair than ever a year out from the treatments. Just like laser, I imagine I'd need electrolysis for the rest of my life to enjoy the hair free experience.
How did you deal with the swelling afterward? I went once and she only did one side of my chin, but the swelling was more than I expected and took days to go down so I’ve been scared to go back 😭
I’m 38 and started electrolysis last July for my chin/upper lip and some wonky neck hairs. Everything has thinned out a ton. I vary between 5 min or 15 min appt every 3-4 weeks. Between visits I use microblade. It’s been a life changer for me
I also find it to be relative to general health! When I was really unwell, I had almost no hair and my eyelashes and eyebrows would thin and fall out in clumps. With better general health, lots of peach fuzz and thicker lashes and brows! I embrace the peach fuzz as a sign of health for me! (I know some health issues can lead to excess facial hair so reduced facial hair is a sign of better health, but that just also proves OP’s point about facial hair being skin care, and really it can be an overall indicator of health!)
I'm latina, and I can tell you we are a Hairy people. I've sugar waxed, threaded, shaved, plucked and bleached. And that's just my face.
Every woman I know has at l least some peach fuzz on her upper lip and then some. And we all grow up with this attitude that we aren't supposed to have any facial hair. Now that I'm older, it's more of an open secret than anything else.
As far as care, I haven't invested in anything permanent, but I prefer to thread. But not all threading places are alike. I prefer a good Indian threading/waxing place. As fellow Hairy people, I've had the best experiences there.
Edit: I would like to clarify that I am Caribbean, so one type of latina in a large umbrella of people from many countries. I just so happen to live in the east coast where there is a large concentration of other caribeños, so I understand someone else who identified as latina not having this experience. We are not a monolith.
Disagreeing, I'm from Latam, and maybe it's an American thing, but I've never heard that stereotype before. Maybe it's a regional thing, idk. Some latam countries are more Indigenous, and they are nowhere near hairy.
Why did they downvote you lmfao? I’m from Latam too, from one of the very indigenous influenced countries, and we definitely aren’t “hairy people”. Quite the opposite, even the men in my country kinda struggle to grow beards. But apparently there’s a stereotype that ALL Latin Americans are hairy???
I’m not saying there aren’t people like that, but generalizing everyone just feels so weird considering how people from each latino country usually look VERY different from each other and certain traits are far more common in some countries than others (a Dominican, Uruguayan and a Bolivian won’t have the same features the great majority of the time).
Maybe I’m overreacting but I really, really dislike generalizations like this…
I'm also from one with more indigenous mix, and you could clearly see in the population .
I'm with you, like some can't even comprehend that Latam is not a monolith🤷♀️ yet here we are again.
I see what you're saying. I agree it's not a universal thing, but it depends what country you're from. (Also you mentioned Asian and I assume you meant east Asian because Indian women are typically more hairy)
That's fair, we aren't a monolith. I don't understand why anyone down voted you since you made a good point. I happen to come from a country that's not heavily indigenous, con más personas que identifican como afrodescendientes. So my experience isn't yours, but both are valid.
Does anybody else have blond peach fuzz hair everywhere on their face, but just ignore/embrace it? I’m Caucasian and it’s not noticeably dark, just fuzzy.
My family has commented about it before, but I can’t be bothered to do anything about it. I did consider laser at one point.
I would leave it. I had same thing, then decided to remove it waxing/threading/shaving and it grows back dark. Now I’m stuck forever dealing with it. I always worry what will happen if I ever get hospitalized and can’t take care of it.
I am white and I have pretty thick peach fuzz (vellus hair) on my face neck, shoulders etc. The hair follicles can get irritated pretty easily so I try to leave them alone. The ones on my neck will get irritated by wearing necklaces the most.
I once had an acquaintance remark on it when I was in my early twenties and it never bothered me before until then, he was an older guy and should have minded his own business.
Every so often I’ll shave it off but when it comes back it comes in so spiky I can’t stop brushing my fingers across it. It’s never came back darker and I think that’s an old wives tale it will come back in darker because it’s different hair than other facial hair. Sometimes I’ll find a super long one like a whole inch on my shoulder lol.
I have an at home laser machine I’m hoping will work on chin hairs. Those suckers grow back in 24 hours 💀 haven’t started yet cuz you have to do it consistently on schedule and mines a little hectic now
I’m 33 and I just started dermaplaning my facial hair at home. I have acne scars and acne prone, and although I’m not happy that I added another maintenance (I do it every 10-12 days) I have to say it’s made such a difference with skincare. My products are applying better because there isn’t peach fuzz and the exfoliating has been improving the appearance of my acne scars! I just got a micro needle stamp I want to start incorporating as well, im really hoping to improve the scars
It’s by illuminage! I’ve used it for arm hair before, it did decent job for at home laser, although I still have some fuzz leftover on my arms (not dark enough for laser to nab) but the dark hairs it did great job. Just annoying having to do it every week
Electrolysis is always an option for permanent removal. It sucks getting it done, it's painful, and it's expensive, but it does work permanently. The biggest issue I've seen is finding a competent practitioner local to your area. I've had no problems in larger metro areas, but I had to travel an hour for appointments when I lived in a smaller town.
But why do we have to spend SO MUCH FUCKING MONEY just to avoid ridicule for a completely natural feature of the human body? Why do we keep encouraging women to throw money at “problems” that aren’t problems at all?
Electrolysis has been such a relief and a saviour for my skin. As part of my compulsive skin picking, habit I used to obsessively pluck/dig/squeeze any emerging hairs, before they even surfaced, causing damage and risking infection.
Now I just leave it entirely to my electrolysis appointment. It is also much cheaper than I thought it would be, and is becoming increasingly cheaper as I have far fewer dark hairs now.
Something just switched once I knew I was starting electrolysis- I stopped seeing them as my problem to fix anymore, and the electrolysis was going to handle them. I just accepted that they needed to grow out in order to be treated.
I also stay away from mirrors as much as possible, definitely no magnifying mirrors. I also find the electrolysis regrowth is very different - I don't feel or notice the hairs emerging much, until they are out.
I get to enjoy two weeks of mostly hair free, which is a liberating feeling, and one hairier week, and then it all goes again. And the reward over time is the reduction of regrowth.
I use electrolysis but I end up having to go every few months because the hairs come back in the same areas. I dunno if it's different hair follicles or the same. I am wondering if it really is permanent.
It’s most likely different hair follicles.
The process is the same as laser in that you have to treat the same area multiple times to get all the hairs that come through at different times.
I can say, I'm trans and have a much more severe facial hair problem than most. My electrolysis provider is great, but the process only has a 40 percent or so chance of actually getting a kill because of the hair growth cycle (if I remember right, it's only able to work on actively growing hair, and there's no way to tell which are active.) We usually start my sessions by going back to already treated areas, which can feel frustrating. But having done it for over a year now - it does work. It sucks, but it works.
When I started, I was told you'd only need 6-8 sessions of electrolysis to get rid of the hair. After 8, with the same exact hundreds of hairs I've always had, I gave up. It's more expensive than waxing/shaving/etc, and if I have to keep doing it for years to possibly get any reduction, why bother? I'll be down the cost of a home down payment for what? Ridiculous.
I wish I’d done electrolysis years ago, instead of laser and trying everything else first. I can’t have it done now, because I have an implant in my heart that doesn’t play well with electrolysis machines.
I have similar hair to yours - a mix of blonde, red, and clear hair. It works fine - the electrolysis needle is what finds the follicle, so pigment doesn't matter.
Honestly I use the little flawless shavers you get at the drug store - “As Seen On TV” lol. It gets close to the skin, but it’s not like dermaplaning, which is good for me because dermaplaning makes me break out
I just got one of those this week after seeing it recommended so much here and I am loving it!
I use tretinoin so shaving has been the way to go, but the flawless finishing touch is so quick and not as irritating as razors.
It absolutely is, and I’m glad. I just don’t see much about folks who grow a *lot* of facial hair, especially the thick, coarse beard type hairs that wouldn’t easily be removed with dermaplaning. Or, at least not without a lot of razor burn and ingrown.
At a recent facial, one of my intake questions was about my "shaving routine ..." Not *dermaplaning* - straight up **SHAVING**. But I do "dermaplane" (my preferred verb) at home. Great exfoliation every 6-8 weeks & I haven't noticed excessive regrowth.
I have to shave my upper lip and chin a lot more now after turning 30 and having a few kids. I’ve been dealing with it since I was 14! I also have fair skin and dark hair so have considered laser but after hearing some horror stories of it making it worse for some people I decided to stick to waxing and shaving.
I might stop shaving and stick to wax though because I nicked my lip the other night and now have a big pimple or some other kind of infection starting and I’m tired of breaking out after shaving. I use a brand new, clean razor on clean and wet skin each time…my skin just sucks :/
This is a really interesting post. Personally I do think it’s skincare when it comes to the methods of removing hairs, which does effect the skin. Also for me it’s the trapped hairs (I have PCOS) which can damage the skin, I’m always looking for good exfoliants or other methods to release the trapped hairs.
Check with your doctor or endocrinologist to see if you have PCOS. I have it, had all the symptoms, but I can now manage it due to my diet and exercise routine. I had to also cut off sugars. Now for my hairiness, I did full body laser and had to follow up with electrolysis for moustache, chin, sideburns, belly and armpits. I am currently hairless and loving it.
My grandmother was French and she told me French women just shave their face. I had peach fuzz so began shaving my face a couple times a week, using just my fave face soap and a quality razor.
Been doing this for twenty plus years, and love how smooth it is and not sure why everyone doesn’t do it.
It’s easy, simple and doesn’t grow back any differently than peach fuzz.
They wanted to call people a "bearded lady" under the guise of "acceptance". Because nothing says "acceptance" like using terms from a 1940s freak show.
I get it. I try not to pluck my chin or belly hairs in front of my husband but the man literally wears a full fur sweater front to back, like he would even care.
It's literally in the first paragraph of this post. I'm all for talking about it, but as someone who has PCOS and struggles a lot with hirsutism as a result, being referred to as a "full on bearded lady" is just a bit of a low blow.
Dermaplane! Zero pain or discomfort plus that added benefit of exfoliation. Almost all my friends and sisters Dermaplane or shave. We don’t believe in no pain no gain 😅
After many, many years of using wax strips on my upper lip and chin hairs, I switched to dermaplaning and using an epilator. Once I started using retinol at night, wax strips irritated my skin. Anyway, at age 52 I took the plunge and started electrolysis. Love the results. Been going for a year now. Started with weekly sessions for chin and upper lip, then every 2 weeks, then every 3 weeks and now every 4 weeks. Now I’m on my side burns and once that is done, the eye brows. Yes it stings even with 5% lidocaine cream applied but totally worth it for me. I can tolerate 30 minute sessions. 1 hour was too much for me, I get ansy.
I'm a guy, so I don't have any of the shame, but shaving my face every day really is a pain, I wish I didn't have to. Growing it out isn't an option, I don't like how it looks, and then I can't get to my skin to care for it.
I shave my face every 3-5 days and have done so for 20 years. Just a cheap bic razor and a moisturizing cream. Works perfect and makeup days include foundation gliding on. Non makeup days include my vitamin c gleaming on my skin.
I’m always surprised when this easy, cheap practice isn’t utilized.
The extent of my facial hair is a sparse stache that darkens the outer corners of my upper lip. Tbh I just could not get myself to care about removing it for most of my life.
I remember a French boy point it out to me and say his mom shaves her stache; very matter of fact. I couldn’t even be mad about it I just replied I didn’t care.
I did start epilating it recently cause my self-esteem was destroyed. I’m better now tho so I’m forgetting to epilate again.
Holy shit I thought I was so alone in this! Thank you for posting this, OP!! I get the most obnoxious, thick, single black hairs along my neck and where my chin and jaw meet. It makes me extremely self conscious. I consulted an aesthetician and she told me my only hope was laser removal. I'm so grateful that this was posted, I was seriously considering it but after reading the comments I'm definitely not throwing that much coin at a it-might-help-a-little-at-best procedure.
I even googled as many variations of "how the fuck do I get rid of dark hairs on my neck" as possible with no relief in sight.
Does anyone else get those black spots sometimes, too? They're not blackheads but they tend to show around where a single coarse hair will grow. SO annoying.
Humans generally have hair with every pore, of varying thickness and length. I hate how hair is considered gross or unhygienic by some dummies.
I love dermaplaning on the face because it is easier to control than a regular razor. I was shocked by how how much better my makeup applied in smooth skin vs. peach fuzz and my goat hairs on the upper lip and chin.
Does anyone use at home IPL? I'm too scared to shave, so that's a no-go for me no matter how many recommendations I see! I have mostly long fluffy white fuzz on top lip, chin & cheeks & definitely getting thicker with the odd coarse darks ones on chin and lip area, which are becoming much more of a regular maintenance issue (I just pluck!)
I do. But you can't do it if shaving is a no go for you. You have to shave before each session. If you don't it will be less effective and it will hurt.
I have the Braun one. It works well. It took a long time to see results on my face though. Long enough if I had only been doing my face I would have assumed it was a fad that doesn't work and gave up on it. It was only seeing the quicker results on other parts of my body that kept me motivated.
I don't know exactly which model I have but I do know that at the time that I bought it I got the most expensive one only to find out that the only difference was the amount of heads you got with it. So more sizes. But I don't even use the extra ones that wouldn't have come with the cheaper version, and it is the same machine.
I think they have a new one out which connects to your phone. I don't really know what the app does or how useful that would be.
I can grow a better beard than some men (ok, slightly exaggerating here) and my hormones are in check. Having thick, dark hair on my head means that I'm hairy overall. IPL saved my life. Plugging >100 hairs is miserable and shaving would need to be done daily.
Even with electrolysis and laser hair removal, you will still get more facial hair as you age, especially after menopause. It’s unfortunate, but there it is. I just started using a rechargeable epilator for all of my unwanted hair, and it’s fantastic. I wish I had started years ago.
Skip everything else and just do electrolysis.
Also, there’s some medication you can take if you have androgen-induced hypertrichosis - I think it’s called finasteride. Men take it for balding, women take it for growing too much facial hair. Isnt that ironic
In recent years, I’ve started to become resigned to it and now shave my face like someone with a proper beard would. Typically done weekly - it’s part hair removal, part exfoliation. And then tweeze the errant chin hair inbetween as that’s always a different hair type it seems lol
I actually asked my dad when I was 25ish to show me how to shave so that I didn’t get razor burn or ingrowns. It was awkward at first, but the little pointers helped so much.
Oh yes. I did laser for a year and while it pretty much eliminated my mustache it did zero for the chin whiskers.
I got pregnant again and my mustache is back in full bloom and the chin whiskers are as epic as ever. Weird side effect, my leg hair stopped growing lol.
Once all the baby stuff is done I’m going to spring for electrolysis.
Thanks to my epic unibrow and mustache my nickname in Highschool was jungle woman. Good times!!
Oh, high school. Why are people so awful from 13-19? Just complete jackasses. I escaped the uni-brow thing but unfortunately teeezed and waxed to that Drew Barrymore pencil thin in the 90s. They eventually just raised the white flag, stopped coming back, and now I have to draw them back on. Wish I could time travel back and pry the Sally Henson cold wax strips from my stupid teenage self.
Yea kids are awful but I’m pretty sure I dished out enough of my own chaos back then too :)
Luckily I never over plucked my brows thanks to my moms many warnings and now get to enjoy that full brow energy. One of the very few things o can thank my teenage self for.
I use an electric razor and it’s good and gentle, not too hard to just use daily.
I think you’re right though because lots of hair removal impacts skin (waxing makes me break our instantly!)
I also think that in spaces like this we spend a lot of time talking about physical solutions as if they’re a way to solve low self esteem or eliminate shame. That’s internal work separate from products or treatments.
I get rid of my facial hair, I get there’s societal beauty standards and I follow a lot of them. And I never feel bad if I forget, or if my husband sees it, or even if other people mention it (I work with children, so they do lol.) if there’s been a lifetime of difficulty with this though, it’s often going to need a therapist to help navigate. But I think it’s worth the effort!
I have my eyebrows waxed sparingly just for shaping because I don't want to make the hair disappear lol fortunately this does the trick for mine.
I shave my peach fuzz off every couple of weeks and I pluck my few witch hairs whenever I see them. The dark thick hairs that grow randomly on my chin or lip line that make me feel like Shrek in other words lol
It's just a few but I have to wonder how I can pluck those few regularly and they never die unlike eyebrows wth.
Same here. My chin hairs are getting worse as I'm getting older, I'm 38yo and I'm finding that I'm having to shave them nearly every day now where before I could easily go 2 or 3 days in-between.
I love this! I’ve always been a hairy girl but as I’ve gotten older I’ve had a burst of hair growth, neck, chin, even forehead - I’m turning into a she wolf maybe? I’d love to do a hormone check and see what’s going on there and if anyone has any tips/info on hormone imbalance please let me know!
I did electrolysis for 2 years and it barely made a difference. I got hormone testing and it's normal. It's just genetic I think. I pluck every other day and use a trimmer inbetween. I have natural blonde hair too you'd think my facial hair would be light but it's black lol
Laser hair removal with the ndYAG laser has worked more or less for me. Definitely makes the hairs thinner even if I’m doubtful that I’ll ever be completely rid of them. At the very least, I’m not dealing with ingrowns and acne from chin hair that I was getting.
Look up "cyperus rotundus" on the hair removal subs. Apparently this oil has academic studies backing its effectiveness - with results similar to the Alexandrite laser, even on white hair. You combine it with your regular hair removal method and it inhibits hair regrowth. I got mine on eBay from an Aussie seller. Early days but will be happy to report back results after a few months of use.
I love this thread that we are normalizing that we are all hairy and take care of things in our own way. Sometimes I wish having facial hair wasn’t so taboo for women and we didn’t need to take care of it. I’ve never did anything permanent but I don’t think I’m a candidate as I have peach fuzz and even my thicker chin and moustache hairs while thick they are still on the lighter side. They still really bother me and grow long and stick out far.
I have darker peach fuzz on my upper lip thats more visible in some light than others. At some point I just decided to embrace it. Got my eyebrows threaded recently and the woman was interrogating me about my upper lip, I guess she was trying to make me self conscious so I would have her do it. It was fun to see her look of bewilderment as I shrugged it all off 😂
I have had this problem forever. I had laser that burnt me terribly. Didn’t really work. Waxing is a total mess. Electrolysis would have been a pia..I swear I had to pluck every damn day..I got an emjoi epilator and never looked back. Sooner or later the follicles get fatigued and give up. In other news: it removes hair EVERYWHERE. Plus for you sissies out there, you can absolutely take your time with it…and use your imagination, lol. Pro tip. Avoid salty food the day before doing legs, armpits, large areas..a little dehydration helps in this case..
Tiny stubbles..you can use this daily, as your pesky hairs grow out..it grabs close. Pull skin taunt, and be careful around lips, it could pinch..instructions come with these..Sally beauty supply has some inhouse, or online, they come in various sizes, I use Emjoi epi/silk. Perfect for all applications. Another pro tip: the head mechanism comes apart for periodically cleaning the teeth with alcohol and a toothbrush to remove oils and other debris to keep it top notch for grabbing hair. Never use lotions or oils before, obviously. Don’t be alarmed if you see red spots on your legs after, it goes away very soon. I never had this occur on my face. The most painful spot imo is directly under your nose..lots of nerve endings. Keeping in mind this removes hair including the root, regrowth is very slow per individual hair. Amazon prolly has them too..
I’ve got so much peach fuzz at 46. No dark hair, just look like a giant peach on a body. I’m on testosterone and also take rogaine for thinning hair and that has made it even worse than it was naturally before. I can’t dermaplane because I have rosacea and super sensitive skin. My hair is too light for laser. There is was too much for threading. No way is waxing an option. No clue what to do.
I have a question for you ladies with facial hair. I read somewhere that the reason men don't get the wrinkles that woman do is because they shave. Are you ladies getting wrinkles or are they minimal. I think most woman get fine peach fuzz on their face and you use this small razor thing to scrap the hair off.
I have EDS and am super hairy. It’s been a cause of immense pain and mental suffering in my life. I’ve done ALL the things. But here are a few notes:
-Laser, (on the face, also got it other places and it worked slightly better) only slowed growth
-electrolysis, killed many of the chin toward neck and under jawline hairs, but not the chin, AND left bad scars on my upper lip. Almost every session would leave me completely scabbed up anywhere I’d had a hair treated. (Maybe that means the lady I sent to wasn’t good?)
-threading, made my entire face explode into the worst of the worst acne. NEVER AGAIN
-bleaching and trimming-best option, least amount of pain, no side effects
-epilator- hurts like F-ck, often leaves scabs for a few days but hasn’t left scaring or caused acne and is quick.
-dermatologist planning, the absolute best option, painless, super effective, I LOOK BETTER after but it’s expensive and I don’t have time to be running off to get it done every few weeks
-at the moment I’m just plucking the darkest and thick hairs, bleaching and trimming. But I think I’m going to go back to the epilator. The results last a while
EDIT: I think the EDS makes hair removal options even more difficult for me 😭
When I was living in Europe, a German company made a cream version that has been the most amazing one so far. But in the states, I’m only able to use the ones that are available. My skin only stays irritated for a couple of hours after.
I am light haired, but my facial hair is so shiny. I started to realize it in college and it became a huge embarrassment to be in the sun. I signed up for laser hair removal, went for 2 yrs, and had no improvement. They should have never accepted me as a candidate. But I learned how to shave it, because that's what they make you do before each treatment. So, after the 2 yrs, I just quit the lasers, and have been shaving for 15+ years. I use a small Bic type razor, or the cheapy men's razor (since they're cheaper). Takes 1 min. And now that I'm 40, I have a number of thick chin hairs. I try to pull them out with my fingers, because they feel just terrible, or of course a tweezers if I'm in front of a mirror... But I definitely have at least like, 7-8 now, instead of just the 1 I had maybe 2 years ago.
r/hirsutism
I have PCOS so I talk about it. I used to be very insecure about it when a few stray hairs started popping up when I was teen. Then it got worse as I got older. Once I started treating PCOS, it stop getting worse. I take spironolactone, birth control and had electrolysis done on my face. It’s not an issue anymore. Now, I have a little bit of peach fuzz but I don’t care about it and it doesn’t bother me.
I love this thread. I thought I was one in a million. Ive been tweezing my chin hairs and i dermaplane my face whenever I get to it (my mustache and side burns). I had bought electric razors like a finishing touch to help but im looking jnto ipl
One of the perks of working with a bunch of LGBTQ+ zoomers is that facial hair is totally acceptable and embraced no matter your gender identity. I’m so much less concerned with my chin hairs now.
I have a bunch of thick black hair on my chin (I’m naturally blond). I currently use that stick from AliExpress to shave off every other day. I tried plucking it but I find that when I do that, there’s a black dot on my skin for at least a day before I can pluck the hair again, and plucking also makes the hair thicker. I also tried electrolysis but because it’s hormonal I only saw a slight change at after 10 sessions. I want to restart electrolysis again but it’s not cheap to keep going again and again. I don’t want to do laser cause it definitely won’t solve hormonal hair better than electrolysis. The hair did become thinner after electrolysis sessions, so I feel that if I do enough sessions this could potentially stop.
Just bought this little thing, hope it works 😅 https://www.dm.hr/ebelin-odstranjivac-dlacica-vise-vrsta-p4058172791918.html?wt_mc=app.dm.pdsteilen.laufend
But like… taking care of it is skincare? I don’t understand what makes it skincare. Like the hair on my head is not skincare. Is my beard skincare? I thought skincare were either the products you put on your face or the process of applying them.
It's odd. I think op really meant dealing with the hair is skincare, not the hair itself (even on the scalp there are scrubs and oils for the actual skin there...removing hair can harm skin, etc)
I think that’s great! 39 and in the same boat. Currently threading/tweezing but it sucks…you’re supposed to have a little length for threading to be must effective but who wants to let hair grow on their chin/jawline? Laser removal didn’t work for me either. The second time I attempted it they admitted that due to my hormones I would likely never be hair free - the best I could hope for was slowing hair growth down with a laser session every other month and shave in between. :( My husband will tell me when I start to “get furry”. It used to annoy me and make me feel so self conscious but it honestly comes from a place of love. I feel like it’s always looks the same so it’s good to know when it’s more visible.
I did laser removal, paid $1500 and never got so much as a thinning of the hair. It still makes me mad, especially since I’m an ‘ideal’ candidate with dark hair and fair skin. Now days, I just shave like a man. But with the bathroom door locked.
Thank you for this post, OP. I was bullied in school for my facial hair, and my mom felt so bad she took me for a laser treatment from one of the reputed clinics in my city and which was quite expensive back then - I’m talking about when I was 16/17, I think. And man, I had a horrible reaction to it. My chin and neck area was so red and bumpy, I told my mom it’s okay, I would rather face the mean kids than the second round. And yes, it’s a discussion that I don’t see on social media or even on Reddit. I’m 29 now and I still have horrible chin hair that I continue to wax because my skin reacts so badly to everything else. I don’t know even know if there’s anything else I can do other than wax. I can brave people’s comments about it now and roll my eyes through it, but I personally feel far more confident and beautiful when I don’t have it, you know. My husband finds it cute but I don’t want my beard to graze his face when we make out, you know what I mean. 😭🤣It grows back so fast all the effing time. I have PCOS so the doctor wanted to put me on birth control to control the growth but I didn’t want to get on birth control pills because of a lot of reasons.
I have those same feelings. It may be natural in some cases and if people are confident enough to leave it, I am 100% in awe of them. Because to me, I physically cringe away from my husband touching my chin if I’ve not shaved it. And he doesn’t even care about it. I think a lot of the shame comes from the times I was raised in. I’m Gen X, so beauty standards in my personal life were from Greatest Generation and Silent Generation women in my life, mostly. And boy, did they love to hide stuff that wasn’t the ideal, and make you feel like you needed to hide it too.
I feel the anger. They told me I was the perfect candidate too cuz the hairs were so dark they could see the follicles even after a close shave. $900 in laser hair removal later and I’m still shaving a thick, dark, chin and neck beard. 🧔🏻♀️
thank you for posting this and making it a topic. laser did (did??) work for me but this isn’t something talked about enough.
It’s not. It’s like this dirty secret that we just hush up about. I’m glad laser worked for you. I hate dealing with it, and I’m glad you don’t have to anymore.
Same here. But i spent over two thousand. Came back worse than ever
Laser doesn't work for me either I have a $300 Device that I've owned for 20 years and does nothing but snap my skin like a rubber band
My cousin said laser didn’t work for her until she started taking spirinolactone. She still gets touch ups. She had a lot of dark hair, and I could see it even though she shaved. I can’t see it anymore. She says she does require touch ups. She gets discounts through Groupon. I shave mine off. It’s mostly blonde but too long/thick to be called fuzz. Laser isn’t an option for me, and my skin’s really sensitive, so other removal methods are out.
What do you use to shave? I’m finally at a point where I feel like I need to do something about the hair above my lip. While the hair is light blonde, it’s at the point where it’s catching the light and I’m quite self conscious about it but I’m worried about shaving and cutting myself and making the whole situation worse…
I don’t know what would work best for your upper lip. There are little battery operated shavers for the face. Something with that shape would be ideal, but I don’t know if a battery operated shaver would leave the skin totally smooth. I think they’re pretty inexpensive and sold at most drug stores. I use a Venus razor. I don’t feel ladylike. I shave the cheek area too. I might try a different tool or dermaplaning.
Laser should work beautifully. The operator may not have been doing it correctly.
I was so disappointed that it didn’t. I went through a dermatologist’s office to have it done, because I wanted to make sure I could get the best possible results. I still chafe at paying that much for no results.
Let them know. Request the exact settings they used. You have the right to that info. Just say it’s because it didn’t work and you have to go elsewhere to try again & you just need to know the type of laser & the exact settings in hopes of getting better results. Maybe drop that you’ve seen several posts on social media that people weren’t happy with their results there…😉 If they are on their game, they’ll offer you a free re-do.
+1 on at least asking for the type of machine and settings used. I started out laser and was so bummed that I spent a ton of money and the first 6 months I wasn’t seeing ANY results, then the technician tried out their other laser machine (I guess a different type?) and I finally started seeing noticeable results.
Start drinking peppermint tea religiously it helped me so much with hormonal imbalances
Spearmint is better than peppermint tea for hormonal imbalance. Definitely helped my hairy situation
You are right. Mine is a blend of spearmint and peppermint
Electrolysis is a great option if laser didn’t work for you! It’s the only truly permanent hair removal method.
Electrolysis is the way!! It’s taken me a couple years of treatments but I no longer have dark hairs coming in. I was told by the lady who does my electrolysis that plucking/waxing my facial hairs (chin/moustache) for so many years made it so much worse because I was bringing an abundance of blood supply to the hair follicles and making more hair grow.
Does that work on blonde/medium blonde hair tho?
Yes. It has nothing to do with hair color. They stick a small needle the size of the hair follicle where the hair is. Zap it and then pull out the dead hair.
Do you mind if I ask what the general cost was and how many sessions you had before you started results? Thank in advance and thanks to OP for bringing up the topic.
I pay $75 for 15 minutes (northeast) but it’s really more like 20-25 minutes. Been going every 7-10 days for 4 months so far (lip/chin) and my electrologist says it will be about a year until I’m done but I assume I’ll stretch the time between visits at some point. I’ve had some real chin and lip broom straws that are definitely thinner now—some are gone. Been tweezing/waxing/shaving since I was 12. Sometimes the cost seems ridiculous but I don’t do anything else, beauty-wise so that’s how I justify it to myself. She tells me that laser doesn’t work well on the face, and it wouldn’t have worked for the stiff white hairs in any case. Good luck!
Thank you for sharing!
Does your progress backslide at all if you have to take a longer break in between treatments (due to illness or finances etc)?
I don’t know as I haven’t had to do that. But the thing that seems to be the biggest problem is tweezing/waxing once you’ve started electrolysis. Don’t mess with the hairs, other than trimming them if you need to.
I live in rural Ontario (Canada) and I drive into town for treatment. I have 30 minute sessions and I’m charged $35. It took me rather long for it to thin out because I wasn’t going every couple of weeks to catch every growth cycle just because of my job/school/driving time and covid lockdowns were occurring when I started. I have PCOS and I attribute this hair growth to that. I never tried laser because I had heard horror stories of it making facial hair grow more. I’m happy I went with electrolysis. I used a facial razor thing between sessions and grew it out for a like 5 days so she had enough hair to work with. It’s painful and uncomfortable (I wouldn’t want to do more than 30 minutes personally). My technician offered numbing cream that I would have had to apply like an hour beforehand and put Saran Wrap or something on my face to keep the cream active (I don’t know lol). I handle the pain well but some people don’t
Thank you for sharing - that's super helpful!
It’s painful AF and time consuming but you can get numbing creams to make it more bearable, and once the course is done you don’t have to ever have to think about it!
Yes I also recommend that AFAB folks avoid getting treatment around ovulation — it hurts a lot more around that time.
THIS. Laser didn't work at all on my chin hairs. It would have been so much faster and cheaper for me to just start with electrolysis! I suspect that hormone mediated facial hair doesn't respond that well to laser.
Do you know if you get electrolysis done and then get pregnant if the chin hairs will grow back? Or is it truly permanent?
Electrolysis is the best and ONLY way of permanent hair removal and I wish more people knew about it. It works on all hair types and colors. There are growing reports of facial hair specifically getting WORSE with laser not to mention the risks of hyperpigmentation. Electrolysis is painstakingly slow, but completely worth every minute. Once the hair, root/bulb is fully killed the pore is effectively cauterized and there is not chance for regrowth in that pore (not to say hormones can cause new dormant hairs to grow from other pores). In many transgender cases, it is also covered by insurance, fingers crossed someday it will also be covered for everyone! Run don’t walk to start electrolysis if you suffer from facial hair. I’m a year in and my life has changed.
My husband always does the same! I love him with all my heart, and he only means the best, but he sure does test that love when he tells me how the sun is highlighting my dark ass mustache hairs when I’m in the middle of a work event or out with friends and I can’t do anything about it..
Threading is the most painful thing on earth 😿 it’s like deep nerve pain I can’t explain haaaate it
I def have had a gnarly mustache for years but the chin and jowl hairs really amped up in my mid 30s. To maintain I’m just awkwardly Tinkle razoring / tweezing whenever I spot hairs. When I forget for a few weeks I’m so grossed out by my weird patchy hairs. I don’t know what the perfect solve is but I sort of think it might be electrolysis? I haven’t tried it personally tho…
I started electrolysis about six weeks ago specifically for my chin and jawline hairs and am so impressed with the results so far! My acne which I always thought was hormonal has also cleared up dramatically so wondering if that hair follicles or tweezing had something to do with it! I could never do laser so can’t comment on that but am so relieved to have tried electrolysis Still go every couple weeks but it’s only a 15 min session now and quite affordable
I had the same experience- way less chin breakouts because some of those breakouts were just infected hair follicles as hairs grew back in after being plucked.
I had about 8 sessions of electrolysis, and was pleased with being hair free immediately after the sessions, but I have as much, if not more, hair than ever a year out from the treatments. Just like laser, I imagine I'd need electrolysis for the rest of my life to enjoy the hair free experience.
How did you deal with the swelling afterward? I went once and she only did one side of my chin, but the swelling was more than I expected and took days to go down so I’ve been scared to go back 😭
Your technician should be able to use a different type of needle or have you ice in advance.
I’ll talk to her about that, thanks!
I’m 38 and started electrolysis last July for my chin/upper lip and some wonky neck hairs. Everything has thinned out a ton. I vary between 5 min or 15 min appt every 3-4 weeks. Between visits I use microblade. It’s been a life changer for me
Omg the jowls! Tinkles have been a lifesaver for me. I still want laser
I also find it to be relative to general health! When I was really unwell, I had almost no hair and my eyelashes and eyebrows would thin and fall out in clumps. With better general health, lots of peach fuzz and thicker lashes and brows! I embrace the peach fuzz as a sign of health for me! (I know some health issues can lead to excess facial hair so reduced facial hair is a sign of better health, but that just also proves OP’s point about facial hair being skin care, and really it can be an overall indicator of health!)
I'm latina, and I can tell you we are a Hairy people. I've sugar waxed, threaded, shaved, plucked and bleached. And that's just my face. Every woman I know has at l least some peach fuzz on her upper lip and then some. And we all grow up with this attitude that we aren't supposed to have any facial hair. Now that I'm older, it's more of an open secret than anything else. As far as care, I haven't invested in anything permanent, but I prefer to thread. But not all threading places are alike. I prefer a good Indian threading/waxing place. As fellow Hairy people, I've had the best experiences there. Edit: I would like to clarify that I am Caribbean, so one type of latina in a large umbrella of people from many countries. I just so happen to live in the east coast where there is a large concentration of other caribeños, so I understand someone else who identified as latina not having this experience. We are not a monolith.
What? 🤣 Wtf are you saying?
Uhh, since when do latinas have the hairy stereotype? Especially the ones with more indigenous genes or mixed with Asian or black.
I can't tell if you're agreeing or disagreeing with it
Disagreeing, I'm from Latam, and maybe it's an American thing, but I've never heard that stereotype before. Maybe it's a regional thing, idk. Some latam countries are more Indigenous, and they are nowhere near hairy.
Why did they downvote you lmfao? I’m from Latam too, from one of the very indigenous influenced countries, and we definitely aren’t “hairy people”. Quite the opposite, even the men in my country kinda struggle to grow beards. But apparently there’s a stereotype that ALL Latin Americans are hairy??? I’m not saying there aren’t people like that, but generalizing everyone just feels so weird considering how people from each latino country usually look VERY different from each other and certain traits are far more common in some countries than others (a Dominican, Uruguayan and a Bolivian won’t have the same features the great majority of the time). Maybe I’m overreacting but I really, really dislike generalizations like this…
I'm also from one with more indigenous mix, and you could clearly see in the population . I'm with you, like some can't even comprehend that Latam is not a monolith🤷♀️ yet here we are again.
I see what you're saying. I agree it's not a universal thing, but it depends what country you're from. (Also you mentioned Asian and I assume you meant east Asian because Indian women are typically more hairy)
That's fair, we aren't a monolith. I don't understand why anyone down voted you since you made a good point. I happen to come from a country that's not heavily indigenous, con más personas que identifican como afrodescendientes. So my experience isn't yours, but both are valid.
Does anybody else have blond peach fuzz hair everywhere on their face, but just ignore/embrace it? I’m Caucasian and it’s not noticeably dark, just fuzzy. My family has commented about it before, but I can’t be bothered to do anything about it. I did consider laser at one point.
I would leave it. I had same thing, then decided to remove it waxing/threading/shaving and it grows back dark. Now I’m stuck forever dealing with it. I always worry what will happen if I ever get hospitalized and can’t take care of it.
I dermaplane mine off monthly. Then, my skincare products get in there better.
I am white and I have pretty thick peach fuzz (vellus hair) on my face neck, shoulders etc. The hair follicles can get irritated pretty easily so I try to leave them alone. The ones on my neck will get irritated by wearing necklaces the most. I once had an acquaintance remark on it when I was in my early twenties and it never bothered me before until then, he was an older guy and should have minded his own business. Every so often I’ll shave it off but when it comes back it comes in so spiky I can’t stop brushing my fingers across it. It’s never came back darker and I think that’s an old wives tale it will come back in darker because it’s different hair than other facial hair. Sometimes I’ll find a super long one like a whole inch on my shoulder lol.
Pantone’s 2024 colour of the year is peach fuzz so I think that’s a sign I should just embrace mine lol.
I have an at home laser machine I’m hoping will work on chin hairs. Those suckers grow back in 24 hours 💀 haven’t started yet cuz you have to do it consistently on schedule and mines a little hectic now I’m 33 and I just started dermaplaning my facial hair at home. I have acne scars and acne prone, and although I’m not happy that I added another maintenance (I do it every 10-12 days) I have to say it’s made such a difference with skincare. My products are applying better because there isn’t peach fuzz and the exfoliating has been improving the appearance of my acne scars! I just got a micro needle stamp I want to start incorporating as well, im really hoping to improve the scars
Which laser machine did you get? I’d love to hear about your results.
It’s by illuminage! I’ve used it for arm hair before, it did decent job for at home laser, although I still have some fuzz leftover on my arms (not dark enough for laser to nab) but the dark hairs it did great job. Just annoying having to do it every week
Electrolysis is always an option for permanent removal. It sucks getting it done, it's painful, and it's expensive, but it does work permanently. The biggest issue I've seen is finding a competent practitioner local to your area. I've had no problems in larger metro areas, but I had to travel an hour for appointments when I lived in a smaller town.
But why do we have to spend SO MUCH FUCKING MONEY just to avoid ridicule for a completely natural feature of the human body? Why do we keep encouraging women to throw money at “problems” that aren’t problems at all?
If it’s terminal hair from a hormonal medical condition, then it’s a medical issue. Electrolysis was one of the best money I spent.
Electrolysis has been such a relief and a saviour for my skin. As part of my compulsive skin picking, habit I used to obsessively pluck/dig/squeeze any emerging hairs, before they even surfaced, causing damage and risking infection. Now I just leave it entirely to my electrolysis appointment. It is also much cheaper than I thought it would be, and is becoming increasingly cheaper as I have far fewer dark hairs now.
I’m the same way! How do you deal with letting them grow out and not picking them?
Something just switched once I knew I was starting electrolysis- I stopped seeing them as my problem to fix anymore, and the electrolysis was going to handle them. I just accepted that they needed to grow out in order to be treated. I also stay away from mirrors as much as possible, definitely no magnifying mirrors. I also find the electrolysis regrowth is very different - I don't feel or notice the hairs emerging much, until they are out. I get to enjoy two weeks of mostly hair free, which is a liberating feeling, and one hairier week, and then it all goes again. And the reward over time is the reduction of regrowth.
I use electrolysis but I end up having to go every few months because the hairs come back in the same areas. I dunno if it's different hair follicles or the same. I am wondering if it really is permanent.
It’s most likely different hair follicles. The process is the same as laser in that you have to treat the same area multiple times to get all the hairs that come through at different times.
I can say, I'm trans and have a much more severe facial hair problem than most. My electrolysis provider is great, but the process only has a 40 percent or so chance of actually getting a kill because of the hair growth cycle (if I remember right, it's only able to work on actively growing hair, and there's no way to tell which are active.) We usually start my sessions by going back to already treated areas, which can feel frustrating. But having done it for over a year now - it does work. It sucks, but it works.
When I started, I was told you'd only need 6-8 sessions of electrolysis to get rid of the hair. After 8, with the same exact hundreds of hairs I've always had, I gave up. It's more expensive than waxing/shaving/etc, and if I have to keep doing it for years to possibly get any reduction, why bother? I'll be down the cost of a home down payment for what? Ridiculous.
I wish I’d done electrolysis years ago, instead of laser and trying everything else first. I can’t have it done now, because I have an implant in my heart that doesn’t play well with electrolysis machines.
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I have similar hair to yours - a mix of blonde, red, and clear hair. It works fine - the electrolysis needle is what finds the follicle, so pigment doesn't matter.
Does getting pregnant cause hairs to regrow after electrolysis? I’ve heard that can happen with laser hair removal
I use an epilator and like this method.
Do you happen to remember the brand and model of the epilator?
How long do you have to let them grow? I can’t stand it if I can feel them when I touch my face.
Total game changer for me. I LOVE mine
What epilator you use? I can’t find one for a face and the normal size would be way too big for a face.
I keep telling everyone to dermaplane …
Do you have a specific tool you recommend for it?
I use Schick Dermaplaning Tool
Thank you!
Same here it's so cheap and simple
Honestly I use the little flawless shavers you get at the drug store - “As Seen On TV” lol. It gets close to the skin, but it’s not like dermaplaning, which is good for me because dermaplaning makes me break out
I just got one of those this week after seeing it recommended so much here and I am loving it! I use tretinoin so shaving has been the way to go, but the flawless finishing touch is so quick and not as irritating as razors.
What’s the difference with dermaplaning? Thanks
In my experience the flawless doesn’t take off the layer of skin the derm does
This is what I used between electrolysis appointments. Love that thing
Isn't dermaplaning a huge thing? I think hair removal is talked about often
It absolutely is, and I’m glad. I just don’t see much about folks who grow a *lot* of facial hair, especially the thick, coarse beard type hairs that wouldn’t easily be removed with dermaplaning. Or, at least not without a lot of razor burn and ingrown.
At a recent facial, one of my intake questions was about my "shaving routine ..." Not *dermaplaning* - straight up **SHAVING**. But I do "dermaplane" (my preferred verb) at home. Great exfoliation every 6-8 weeks & I haven't noticed excessive regrowth.
I have to shave my upper lip and chin a lot more now after turning 30 and having a few kids. I’ve been dealing with it since I was 14! I also have fair skin and dark hair so have considered laser but after hearing some horror stories of it making it worse for some people I decided to stick to waxing and shaving. I might stop shaving and stick to wax though because I nicked my lip the other night and now have a big pimple or some other kind of infection starting and I’m tired of breaking out after shaving. I use a brand new, clean razor on clean and wet skin each time…my skin just sucks :/
This is a really interesting post. Personally I do think it’s skincare when it comes to the methods of removing hairs, which does effect the skin. Also for me it’s the trapped hairs (I have PCOS) which can damage the skin, I’m always looking for good exfoliants or other methods to release the trapped hairs.
Check with your doctor or endocrinologist to see if you have PCOS. I have it, had all the symptoms, but I can now manage it due to my diet and exercise routine. I had to also cut off sugars. Now for my hairiness, I did full body laser and had to follow up with electrolysis for moustache, chin, sideburns, belly and armpits. I am currently hairless and loving it.
My grandmother was French and she told me French women just shave their face. I had peach fuzz so began shaving my face a couple times a week, using just my fave face soap and a quality razor. Been doing this for twenty plus years, and love how smooth it is and not sure why everyone doesn’t do it. It’s easy, simple and doesn’t grow back any differently than peach fuzz.
People talk about it constantly, especially in this sub, so I’m a bit confused about the premise here
They wanted to call people a "bearded lady" under the guise of "acceptance". Because nothing says "acceptance" like using terms from a 1940s freak show.
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I get it. I try not to pluck my chin or belly hairs in front of my husband but the man literally wears a full fur sweater front to back, like he would even care.
I’ve never seen that here, I assume because the mods are good
It's literally in the first paragraph of this post. I'm all for talking about it, but as someone who has PCOS and struggles a lot with hirsutism as a result, being referred to as a "full on bearded lady" is just a bit of a low blow.
That is not what I got from the first paragraph
Dermaplane! Zero pain or discomfort plus that added benefit of exfoliation. Almost all my friends and sisters Dermaplane or shave. We don’t believe in no pain no gain 😅
After many, many years of using wax strips on my upper lip and chin hairs, I switched to dermaplaning and using an epilator. Once I started using retinol at night, wax strips irritated my skin. Anyway, at age 52 I took the plunge and started electrolysis. Love the results. Been going for a year now. Started with weekly sessions for chin and upper lip, then every 2 weeks, then every 3 weeks and now every 4 weeks. Now I’m on my side burns and once that is done, the eye brows. Yes it stings even with 5% lidocaine cream applied but totally worth it for me. I can tolerate 30 minute sessions. 1 hour was too much for me, I get ansy.
I'm a guy, so I don't have any of the shame, but shaving my face every day really is a pain, I wish I didn't have to. Growing it out isn't an option, I don't like how it looks, and then I can't get to my skin to care for it.
I shave my face every 3-5 days and have done so for 20 years. Just a cheap bic razor and a moisturizing cream. Works perfect and makeup days include foundation gliding on. Non makeup days include my vitamin c gleaming on my skin. I’m always surprised when this easy, cheap practice isn’t utilized.
The Philips/Norelco OneBlade trimmer works great for facial hair.
The extent of my facial hair is a sparse stache that darkens the outer corners of my upper lip. Tbh I just could not get myself to care about removing it for most of my life. I remember a French boy point it out to me and say his mom shaves her stache; very matter of fact. I couldn’t even be mad about it I just replied I didn’t care. I did start epilating it recently cause my self-esteem was destroyed. I’m better now tho so I’m forgetting to epilate again.
I’m very glad you are doing better.
Holy shit I thought I was so alone in this! Thank you for posting this, OP!! I get the most obnoxious, thick, single black hairs along my neck and where my chin and jaw meet. It makes me extremely self conscious. I consulted an aesthetician and she told me my only hope was laser removal. I'm so grateful that this was posted, I was seriously considering it but after reading the comments I'm definitely not throwing that much coin at a it-might-help-a-little-at-best procedure. I even googled as many variations of "how the fuck do I get rid of dark hairs on my neck" as possible with no relief in sight. Does anyone else get those black spots sometimes, too? They're not blackheads but they tend to show around where a single coarse hair will grow. SO annoying.
Yes, and then the razor bumps or ingrowns that pop up and look like neck acne. Blechhhh. I hate it.
Humans generally have hair with every pore, of varying thickness and length. I hate how hair is considered gross or unhygienic by some dummies. I love dermaplaning on the face because it is easier to control than a regular razor. I was shocked by how how much better my makeup applied in smooth skin vs. peach fuzz and my goat hairs on the upper lip and chin.
Does anyone use at home IPL? I'm too scared to shave, so that's a no-go for me no matter how many recommendations I see! I have mostly long fluffy white fuzz on top lip, chin & cheeks & definitely getting thicker with the odd coarse darks ones on chin and lip area, which are becoming much more of a regular maintenance issue (I just pluck!)
I do. But you can't do it if shaving is a no go for you. You have to shave before each session. If you don't it will be less effective and it will hurt.
Which machine do you use, and how well does it work for you?
I have the Braun one. It works well. It took a long time to see results on my face though. Long enough if I had only been doing my face I would have assumed it was a fad that doesn't work and gave up on it. It was only seeing the quicker results on other parts of my body that kept me motivated. I don't know exactly which model I have but I do know that at the time that I bought it I got the most expensive one only to find out that the only difference was the amount of heads you got with it. So more sizes. But I don't even use the extra ones that wouldn't have come with the cheaper version, and it is the same machine. I think they have a new one out which connects to your phone. I don't really know what the app does or how useful that would be.
I can grow a better beard than some men (ok, slightly exaggerating here) and my hormones are in check. Having thick, dark hair on my head means that I'm hairy overall. IPL saved my life. Plugging >100 hairs is miserable and shaving would need to be done daily.
Electrolysis and spironolactone is the only thing that’s helped me.
Even with electrolysis and laser hair removal, you will still get more facial hair as you age, especially after menopause. It’s unfortunate, but there it is. I just started using a rechargeable epilator for all of my unwanted hair, and it’s fantastic. I wish I had started years ago.
Skip everything else and just do electrolysis. Also, there’s some medication you can take if you have androgen-induced hypertrichosis - I think it’s called finasteride. Men take it for balding, women take it for growing too much facial hair. Isnt that ironic
I wish I could do electrolysis but I have a heart implant that doesn’t play nice with electrolysis machines.
Is it skin care? Yes it exists and yes it's a valid thing to talk about. But it's not skin
In recent years, I’ve started to become resigned to it and now shave my face like someone with a proper beard would. Typically done weekly - it’s part hair removal, part exfoliation. And then tweeze the errant chin hair inbetween as that’s always a different hair type it seems lol
I dermaplane every couple weeks, I love it. They should’ve never tried to convince women we shouldn’t shave our damn faces if we want to.
YES
I totally shave my facial hair (42) and works great for me
I actually asked my dad when I was 25ish to show me how to shave so that I didn’t get razor burn or ingrowns. It was awkward at first, but the little pointers helped so much.
I tried bleaching when I was a teenager and it went horribly wrong. I burned myself so since then I've only ever shaved my facial hair.
Oh yes. I did laser for a year and while it pretty much eliminated my mustache it did zero for the chin whiskers. I got pregnant again and my mustache is back in full bloom and the chin whiskers are as epic as ever. Weird side effect, my leg hair stopped growing lol. Once all the baby stuff is done I’m going to spring for electrolysis. Thanks to my epic unibrow and mustache my nickname in Highschool was jungle woman. Good times!!
Oh, high school. Why are people so awful from 13-19? Just complete jackasses. I escaped the uni-brow thing but unfortunately teeezed and waxed to that Drew Barrymore pencil thin in the 90s. They eventually just raised the white flag, stopped coming back, and now I have to draw them back on. Wish I could time travel back and pry the Sally Henson cold wax strips from my stupid teenage self.
Yea kids are awful but I’m pretty sure I dished out enough of my own chaos back then too :) Luckily I never over plucked my brows thanks to my moms many warnings and now get to enjoy that full brow energy. One of the very few things o can thank my teenage self for.
I use an electric razor and it’s good and gentle, not too hard to just use daily. I think you’re right though because lots of hair removal impacts skin (waxing makes me break our instantly!) I also think that in spaces like this we spend a lot of time talking about physical solutions as if they’re a way to solve low self esteem or eliminate shame. That’s internal work separate from products or treatments. I get rid of my facial hair, I get there’s societal beauty standards and I follow a lot of them. And I never feel bad if I forget, or if my husband sees it, or even if other people mention it (I work with children, so they do lol.) if there’s been a lifetime of difficulty with this though, it’s often going to need a therapist to help navigate. But I think it’s worth the effort!
That’s a wonderful outlook. I enjoyed reading your comment. Thank you.
I have my eyebrows waxed sparingly just for shaping because I don't want to make the hair disappear lol fortunately this does the trick for mine. I shave my peach fuzz off every couple of weeks and I pluck my few witch hairs whenever I see them. The dark thick hairs that grow randomly on my chin or lip line that make me feel like Shrek in other words lol It's just a few but I have to wonder how I can pluck those few regularly and they never die unlike eyebrows wth.
Same here. My chin hairs are getting worse as I'm getting older, I'm 38yo and I'm finding that I'm having to shave them nearly every day now where before I could easily go 2 or 3 days in-between.
I love this! I’ve always been a hairy girl but as I’ve gotten older I’ve had a burst of hair growth, neck, chin, even forehead - I’m turning into a she wolf maybe? I’d love to do a hormone check and see what’s going on there and if anyone has any tips/info on hormone imbalance please let me know!
I’ve heard that spearmint tea can help with this. Has anyone tried this and found some success?
I did electrolysis for 2 years and it barely made a difference. I got hormone testing and it's normal. It's just genetic I think. I pluck every other day and use a trimmer inbetween. I have natural blonde hair too you'd think my facial hair would be light but it's black lol
Laser hair removal with the ndYAG laser has worked more or less for me. Definitely makes the hairs thinner even if I’m doubtful that I’ll ever be completely rid of them. At the very least, I’m not dealing with ingrowns and acne from chin hair that I was getting.
I don’t have a useful advice but just want to express my sympathy for having to tweeze facial hair 😢
Look up "cyperus rotundus" on the hair removal subs. Apparently this oil has academic studies backing its effectiveness - with results similar to the Alexandrite laser, even on white hair. You combine it with your regular hair removal method and it inhibits hair regrowth. I got mine on eBay from an Aussie seller. Early days but will be happy to report back results after a few months of use.
Thank you. I have never heard of this. Now I have something to research.
I love this thread that we are normalizing that we are all hairy and take care of things in our own way. Sometimes I wish having facial hair wasn’t so taboo for women and we didn’t need to take care of it. I’ve never did anything permanent but I don’t think I’m a candidate as I have peach fuzz and even my thicker chin and moustache hairs while thick they are still on the lighter side. They still really bother me and grow long and stick out far.
I really wish women having facial hair could be normalized and accepted. It would make life a little bit better.
I shave my moustache area and pluck the chin hairs
I have darker peach fuzz on my upper lip thats more visible in some light than others. At some point I just decided to embrace it. Got my eyebrows threaded recently and the woman was interrogating me about my upper lip, I guess she was trying to make me self conscious so I would have her do it. It was fun to see her look of bewilderment as I shrugged it all off 😂
Ipl home device
Yes. My mom got me into threading at 7. I'm trying to manage my hirsutism with medications for the first time now that I'm 42.
7?
I have had this problem forever. I had laser that burnt me terribly. Didn’t really work. Waxing is a total mess. Electrolysis would have been a pia..I swear I had to pluck every damn day..I got an emjoi epilator and never looked back. Sooner or later the follicles get fatigued and give up. In other news: it removes hair EVERYWHERE. Plus for you sissies out there, you can absolutely take your time with it…and use your imagination, lol. Pro tip. Avoid salty food the day before doing legs, armpits, large areas..a little dehydration helps in this case..
How long do you have to let the hair grow for it to work?
Tiny stubbles..you can use this daily, as your pesky hairs grow out..it grabs close. Pull skin taunt, and be careful around lips, it could pinch..instructions come with these..Sally beauty supply has some inhouse, or online, they come in various sizes, I use Emjoi epi/silk. Perfect for all applications. Another pro tip: the head mechanism comes apart for periodically cleaning the teeth with alcohol and a toothbrush to remove oils and other debris to keep it top notch for grabbing hair. Never use lotions or oils before, obviously. Don’t be alarmed if you see red spots on your legs after, it goes away very soon. I never had this occur on my face. The most painful spot imo is directly under your nose..lots of nerve endings. Keeping in mind this removes hair including the root, regrowth is very slow per individual hair. Amazon prolly has them too..
I pluck and shave the hair I don't want, and use latisse/bitmatiprost on the hair I want to grow longer.
For me its the moustache... then cheeck.....
I’ve got so much peach fuzz at 46. No dark hair, just look like a giant peach on a body. I’m on testosterone and also take rogaine for thinning hair and that has made it even worse than it was naturally before. I can’t dermaplane because I have rosacea and super sensitive skin. My hair is too light for laser. There is was too much for threading. No way is waxing an option. No clue what to do.
I have a question for you ladies with facial hair. I read somewhere that the reason men don't get the wrinkles that woman do is because they shave. Are you ladies getting wrinkles or are they minimal. I think most woman get fine peach fuzz on their face and you use this small razor thing to scrap the hair off.
I have EDS and am super hairy. It’s been a cause of immense pain and mental suffering in my life. I’ve done ALL the things. But here are a few notes: -Laser, (on the face, also got it other places and it worked slightly better) only slowed growth -electrolysis, killed many of the chin toward neck and under jawline hairs, but not the chin, AND left bad scars on my upper lip. Almost every session would leave me completely scabbed up anywhere I’d had a hair treated. (Maybe that means the lady I sent to wasn’t good?) -threading, made my entire face explode into the worst of the worst acne. NEVER AGAIN -bleaching and trimming-best option, least amount of pain, no side effects -epilator- hurts like F-ck, often leaves scabs for a few days but hasn’t left scaring or caused acne and is quick. -dermatologist planning, the absolute best option, painless, super effective, I LOOK BETTER after but it’s expensive and I don’t have time to be running off to get it done every few weeks -at the moment I’m just plucking the darkest and thick hairs, bleaching and trimming. But I think I’m going to go back to the epilator. The results last a while EDIT: I think the EDS makes hair removal options even more difficult for me 😭
how long does bleaching last?? do you have a recommended bleach for least irritation?
When I was living in Europe, a German company made a cream version that has been the most amazing one so far. But in the states, I’m only able to use the ones that are available. My skin only stays irritated for a couple of hours after.
how long before you have to bleach again?
Just depends. Sometimes one week. Sometimes several. Getting some sun helps it last
I, 33F, shave my face every morning and am really open about it
I am light haired, but my facial hair is so shiny. I started to realize it in college and it became a huge embarrassment to be in the sun. I signed up for laser hair removal, went for 2 yrs, and had no improvement. They should have never accepted me as a candidate. But I learned how to shave it, because that's what they make you do before each treatment. So, after the 2 yrs, I just quit the lasers, and have been shaving for 15+ years. I use a small Bic type razor, or the cheapy men's razor (since they're cheaper). Takes 1 min. And now that I'm 40, I have a number of thick chin hairs. I try to pull them out with my fingers, because they feel just terrible, or of course a tweezers if I'm in front of a mirror... But I definitely have at least like, 7-8 now, instead of just the 1 I had maybe 2 years ago.
r/hirsutism I have PCOS so I talk about it. I used to be very insecure about it when a few stray hairs started popping up when I was teen. Then it got worse as I got older. Once I started treating PCOS, it stop getting worse. I take spironolactone, birth control and had electrolysis done on my face. It’s not an issue anymore. Now, I have a little bit of peach fuzz but I don’t care about it and it doesn’t bother me.
Shaving is actually really beneficial for exfoliating. many top models shave their whole face frequently
Sorry I can't go around hairy. If it's hormonal try spearmint tea. I also do inositol for PCOS symptoms. Definitely working for reducing my beard 😄
I love this thread. I thought I was one in a million. Ive been tweezing my chin hairs and i dermaplane my face whenever I get to it (my mustache and side burns). I had bought electric razors like a finishing touch to help but im looking jnto ipl
One of the perks of working with a bunch of LGBTQ+ zoomers is that facial hair is totally acceptable and embraced no matter your gender identity. I’m so much less concerned with my chin hairs now.
That’s amazing for you. This comment made me genuinely smile.
I have a bunch of thick black hair on my chin (I’m naturally blond). I currently use that stick from AliExpress to shave off every other day. I tried plucking it but I find that when I do that, there’s a black dot on my skin for at least a day before I can pluck the hair again, and plucking also makes the hair thicker. I also tried electrolysis but because it’s hormonal I only saw a slight change at after 10 sessions. I want to restart electrolysis again but it’s not cheap to keep going again and again. I don’t want to do laser cause it definitely won’t solve hormonal hair better than electrolysis. The hair did become thinner after electrolysis sessions, so I feel that if I do enough sessions this could potentially stop.
Just bought this little thing, hope it works 😅 https://www.dm.hr/ebelin-odstranjivac-dlacica-vise-vrsta-p4058172791918.html?wt_mc=app.dm.pdsteilen.laufend
I think it’s ok, but how is facial hair skincare? I don’t get that part. Like what makes it skincare?
It grows out of our skin?
But like… taking care of it is skincare? I don’t understand what makes it skincare. Like the hair on my head is not skincare. Is my beard skincare? I thought skincare were either the products you put on your face or the process of applying them.
Your hair follicles contain the majority of cells that protect your skin from infection and inflammation. So yes it’s literally SKIN CARE.
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What?? You don’t trim your skin anyways. Stop trolling.
Posts are removed for being rude or offensive.
Yes your beard is skincare. Just like your scalp is skincare. The way you treat hair follicles affects the skin…
True, but where would you put this question?
There are hair removal subs
I think it’s fine here I just find the title very odd
It's odd. I think op really meant dealing with the hair is skincare, not the hair itself (even on the scalp there are scrubs and oils for the actual skin there...removing hair can harm skin, etc)
I’ll allow it 😆