This week I wanted to do something a bit different. You might have seen from my original post that I struggle with a number of problems on my face, one of which is hair/peach fuzz.
Before I get into this – it’s really important for me to be clear that I do not think women should have to remove their facial hair. In fact, if possible, I recommend women don’t get into any hair removal, as it’s something you’ll have to keep up. But if your facial hair bothers you, or causes you any anxiety, then there are options for removing it, and that’s what I want to talk about.
I am lucky that facial hair isn’t a significant issue for me. My hairs are blonde, my ‘moustache’ is mostly only visible in the sunlight and my peach fuzz is pretty regular. The only reason this bothers me at all is because a) I started plucking some of the coarser hairs that come out of my chin and now they grow through more regularly and b) I noticed I was getting some darker (but not coarse) hairs coming through on my moustache.
I also found that, because I had a lot of hair on my top lip, my foundation would often coat those hairs and mix with them, making it look like I had ‘dark’ patches above my mouth. This is frustrating as I do need coverage there to even my skin-tone.
Now as unpleasant as these pictures are, this blog is about sharing everything – so here’s a couple of close ups to show you the sort of hair I’m dealing with. No matter how hard I tried, my phone camera couldn’t pick up the dark hairs in my moustache.
What methods could I use?
There are many ways to remove one’s facial hair. I have tried some and others I haven’t – so let me give you a quick run down of the options I’m aware of.
Waxing
Waxing removes hair from the root. The therapist covers your hairs in warm wax, and then uses a strip of material to adhere to the wax and hairs. They then pull the material off quickly to remove the hairs in one quick motion. You can do this at home, but those kits terrify me.
I have tried waxing many times, mostly on my chin on eyebrows. I have never waxed my top lip, partly because I thought it would be agonising, and partly because I have sensitive skin that doesn’t respond well to waxing. I often break out on my chin a few days after I get waxed, but the end result is largely good. I also find it hard to get the salon regularly due to my work schedule.
Results can last about 2-3 weeks before I start to get noticeable hair regrowth.
Plucking
Much like it says on the tin, plucking yours hairs involves using a pair of tweezers to target and remove individual hairs one at a time.
I use this on my eyebrows to shape them and catch odd hairs between appointments with my beauty therapist. I also use it to catch hairs on my chin that come through. It hurts a little – but this obviously isn’t a good method for removing all your facial hair. It would take hours and could be very sore on sensitive skin!
Threading
Threading is a method of hair removal in which unwanted hairs are plucked out by using a twisted cotton thread. So you could say this is like plucking, but much faster.
I have tried this method on my chin and eyebrows. I switched to this recently because I find my skin recovers quicker than it does with waxing. However, personally I find this more painful than waxing, mostly because you’re plucking out each individual hair and it takes a fair bit longer.
Results probably last 2 weeks-ish for me, but it can be longer depending how long your hair takes to regrow. Again, I’ve never been brave enough to try the moustache.
Hair removal creams
Once rubbed or sprayed onto the skin, hair removal creams break down the chemical bonds that hold the protein structure of your hair together. Once a depilatory dissolves the keratin, the hair becomes weak enough to fall loose from its follicle.
You’ve probably heard of Veet or Nair etc. I have used facial hair removal cream from Veet all over my face, and found it to be very effective. However! I also found that: a) it smelled SO bad, like pooey bad b) it felt like burning on my face and actually started to hurt quite badly c) it takes off EVERY SINGLE hair you have, making your face feel almost freakishly smooth.
The feeling of my skin burning definitely put me off using it again, and I found that my hair started to grow back within a few days. I tried an Avon sensitive version, which was better – but I used nearly the whole bottle just for one use! On the plus side, for a few days, my makeup looked amazing.
Shaving
Recently, facial shaving for women has found itself in the spotlight of the beauty world. You can find hundreds of articles out there saying that women shaving their faces is either a brilliant idea or a terrible idea.
It’s generally agreed that you shouldn’t use leg razors on your face, but instead a much smaller kind of facial razor. Beyond that, there are a range of arguments both ways. Let my summarise for you:
The supposed pros
- Shaving exfoliates your skin while you’re removing the hairs – this is often referred to as ‘dermaplaning’
- It removes your peach fuzz, which can make your complexion look duller and contribute to clogged pores
- It allows products you put on your skin to penetrate deeper and promotes ceullar turnover (Cosmo says this is why men always look younger than women, because they shave often)
- Apparently hair does not grow back thicker or more coarse. Dr Schultz from the same Cosmo article says: ‘That myth exists because people mistake the wispy feeling of their unshaven facial hair with the slightly blunt feeling they experience as their hair starts to grow back in as ‘thicker,’ and the new, not-yet-sun-bleached hair as ‘darker”.
- It doesn’t hurt
- Your makeup will look better and smoother.
The supposed cons
- As with many types of hair removal, this can cause ingrown hairs. However regular exfoliation should prevent this
- You have to do this fairly often for upkeep – probably 2 times a week-ish
- Some people DO feel like their hair grows back thicker/coarser
- Some people suffer from slight razor burn.
So it seems like this one is stacked in favour of the pros, and as I’m writing this, I wonder if I should try it again. I have tried this before a few times, but the reason I stopped was that I found my moustache hairs did come back very quickly and started to feel quite blunt when they did come back. When I put lipstick on, this sometimes showed on my top lip with a very slightly stubbly effect on the barrier right between my lip-line and my skin. I’m sure no one noticed, but it annoyed me!
Laser hair removal
According to Mayo Clinic, Laser hair removal is a medical procedure that uses a laser — an intense, pulsating beam of light — to remove unwanted hair. During laser hair removal, a laser beam passes through the skin to an individual hair follicle. The intense heat of the laser damages the hair follicle, which inhibits future hair growth.
I am no expert at all on this hair removal method. I looked into it once and was told it wouldn’t work for me as my hairs were too blonde. I believe this method is much more effective on dark hairs on pale skin.
This method doesn’t guarantee permanent results, but multiple treatment should help to prevent regrowth in the future. From what I understand, it is painful and quite expensive. If you’re interested in this method, I definitely suggest you do a good deal of research to find a reputable clinic and make sure it’s right for you.
Facial epilation
So now we get to the main point of this post. Wikipedia says that ‘An epilator is an electrical device used to remove hair by mechanically grasping multiple hairs simultaneously and pulling them out.’ I recently found out about this method for the face watching a YouTube video by Shaaanxo, who said how great it worked for her.
Having tried a lot of the above methods, I was interested in trying this to see if it could help with my moustache. I followed her recommendation on the epilator to buy (after some further research, which revealed it is a good one), and purchased the Braun Face Mini Epilator and Cleansing Brush 810. I’ve linked to AllBeauty.com as it was £40 instead of £70 (RRP), and this is where I bought mine.
Shanaaxo explained the process would be painful, and should be done on a day where you don’t have to wear makeup or go out. But she also said the results last a long time (4 – 6 weeks), leave her face super-smooth, and help her make her makeup go on like a dream.
So part 2 of this hair removal blog post will follow my journey with this hair removal method!
Other methods…
I am sure there are other methods of facial hair removal in addition to the ones I’ve listed above, like Sugaring, Electrolysis, or even pharmaceutical drugs that can help. This isn’t a definitive list but does cover some of the most commonly used methods.
Do you have any favourites? Or do you prefer to void removing your facial hair?
Totally addicted to base 