facial hair

[kikiliki]

Hi
I suffer from PCOS and have a hairy chin as a result. The hair is very thick. I tried electrolysis in my 20s but it didn't work - the hair was so thick that even applying current for extra time wasn't killing the root. I've bern told it's too light for lasers. I have a very strong reaction to the creams and have also had problems with waxing. Plus it's so thick that I can't leave it ing enough for waxing.

So, I shave every morning, but this leaves me with a bit of a shadow by the afternoon.

I am currently using mineral makeup but recently I've realised it's not covering it (any more? Maybe it never did and I've only just realised it.)

Can anyone suggest what I could try please, for better removal or coverage. It's becoming a bit of a problem.

Have you tried threading?

Do I need to let it grow quite long for that? I am in a client facing job and it's noticeable even after a day.

To me it seems very dark, so I was very surprised to be told it was too light for lasers.

You could try having it threading at the weekend of Friday evening depending on what days you work!

Have you enquired about laser in the past couple of years? I'm sure it's much better now and can work on light hair too

I have PCOS and get threaded every fortnight - any longer is a no no but it sounds like you might want to try weekly. The hairs don't need to be that long for threading to work.

I looked into lasering but was put off by the expense and the fact that it can't be guaranteed 100% permanently effective. A friend who forked out for it 3 years ago is having to have it done again. You might want to check with a different (reputable) clinic as to whether your hair really is too light.

I hope you find something that works for you - it is miserable. I got very down about it when I was combating it on my own at home. THreading has really helped.

Have you spoken to your dr about help for it? I did and they went out of their way to investigate and try different ways to stop or slow down the growth. I'm now using eflornithine cream (vaniqa) which, while it doesn't stop it completely, massively slows it down. I have to say that I would never shave though. I pluck mine. The cream has meant that instead of spending up to 30 mins plucking in the morning, it now takes me 2-3 mins!

I did try Vaniqa a few years ago and it aggravated my skin too much. I also didn't see much difference. I have considered going back to try again though.

It was boots that told me I couldn't get laser treatment.

I''ll look see if I cab get threading anywhere local and trywhen I'm off over Easter do no one can see me.

Grr autocorrect

Watching with interest. I spent 30 mins plucking my chin and upper lip yesterday and there are spikes again this morning. It's so depressing and making me embarrassed. I've got really thick dark hairs but tried laser and IPL a few years back but nothing worked and it was too expensive. I've tried Vaniqa too but it didn't seem to work either. My doctor doesn't take my worries seriously either. I just don't know what to do. I have panics about having to go to hospital for some reason and not being able to have my tweezers! Any more advice gratefully accepted.

Hi I have PCOS and have my whole face threaded every 2-3weeks it changed my life. Before I was a right hairy Mary. My advice is go for it! It costs me £20 for the whole face that includes chin, upper lip area, side burns, eye brows and forehead.

I have had a Philips lumea since Xmas and I'm really pleased with it so far. Not sure if it'll be permanent, but so far I'm having to shave less frequently than I had to before.

Oh I was going to ask about the Lumea! Are they ok for faces? How does it feel? Did it take a while to notice a difference? Are there fewer hairs, or just finer ones? Sorry for all the questions. Re threading, after 2-3 weeks, isn't there loads of hair growing back? I don't think I could leave it 2-3 days without having to do something!

Laser hair removal - expensive but totally worth it. No-one should put up with unwanted facial hair, it can really knock your confidence. I had it under my chin, and had four sessions at a Skin clinic. It cost £80 per session, each one was 4 weeks apart. The most important success factor for LHR is that you really need pale skin with dark hair - if you do, I can't recommend it highly enough (I also have PCOS).

Also, if your hair growth was like mine, I had to pluck out hairs every single morning. There was absolutely no way I could have left it 2 weeks! Threading removes hair at the root - laser hair removal will get rude of it permanently. I have also read that the hormonal imbalance in ladies with PCOS causes a change to the hair follicle, which means a different type of gaur grows - coarser, darker. That was definitely the case with me. Having been in your position, and knowing the horribleness of having to get up every morning to a new batch of hairs, my advice is to just bite the bullet and get rid of it once and fir all. I still remember the blind panic of going on a weekend break to Paris and realising I had forgotten my tweezers and having to find a Pharmacy ASAP! Also, i had spots and blemishes caused by the plucking and in growing hairs - totally awful.

Rude? Rid.

Wow the lumea isn't cheap is it? Is it as good as it sounds? Do you need goggles?

I

Saurus, is your hair totally gone now? I'm quite pale with brown hair, but my chin hair is thick and black and spiky and quite tough to pluck! Does that sound like you?

Warmer - unfortunately yes it sounds exactly like me. I had it for years before I got laser, as I thought that by eating low GI and exercising, it would go away. Then I read about PCOS permanently changing the hair follicle and thought enough is enough. My hairs were very thick and spiky, and more grew every day.

After the first treatment, I would say the hairs were reduced by about 50%, which was amazing! It's really satisfying as a few days after the treatment, the hairs start to fall out by the root - gross but good! Then they reduced further after the following 2nd and 3rd treatments. To be honest, 3 was probably enough, but I had 4 to be sure. The clinic tried to sell me a package of 8 treatments which I personally would not have needed, so be wary of that. I now, a year later, have the odd hair that I pluck out - maybe a couple each month. It has totally changed my life, and would really recommend it.

Thanks saurus did you use a chain or an independent for your treatment?

Hi Saurus, thanks for that. What type of laser was it, do you remember? I hear there are several types. Does it hurt? I think I'm definitely going to try it out. I'm feeling so low today with my stubbly chin. Don't like anyone, even DCs getting too close, let alone DH.

I had laser for the exact same reason and whilst it worked really well in bikini line and definitely softened armpits, it didn't work at all on lip or chin.

I think being hormonal it is very hard to combat.

It may work for you but it is an expensive mistake to make I fit doesn't

I went to Skin, it was completely fine. In terms of pain - totally manageable for me. It wasn't pleasant (and the smell and crackle of the burning hair was satisfying if a but disconcerting!), but it is over so quickly that utterly wasn't an issue. It took less than a minute each time. Sorry, I don't know what type of laser it was -I'm guessing the Skin chain use the same one at each clinic though. I don't think DH ever knew about the hair, as I was a master at covering it up/plucking. But I was also very jumpy about certain angles etc. Overall, a crap situation that went away by spending £320 over 3 months. I can't think why anyone wouldn't go for it (unless you're on the breadline of course).

misswimpy did it not work at all on your chin? Do you have pale skin/dark hair? What I would say is it may be worth trying one session initially - I had a lot of hair loss straight away, so that might be an indicator that if the same happens to you, it us likely to be successful.

One thing us that they say I may need to go back every year or so fur top up treatments - new hairs grow that may need to be treated. There us no sign of thus yet, but if I do, I would regard one if two treatments every year or two to be totally worth it. The freedom that comes with not constantly thinking about plucking/covering up/running my fingers over my chin to check for new hair growth is worth it completely.

Laser or ipl can kill hair follicles permanently but whilst you still have the hormone imbalance the extra androgen will tend to stimulate further hair growth.

I've found that the boots ipulse is good and cheaper in the long run than salon treatment.

I have this too, me and my sister have an agreement that if i'm ever hospitalised in a coma she will come in and pluck my facial hair every day!

With laser treatment do the hairs have to be really dark? At the minute I do a combination of plucking and bleaching, so I guess for laser treatment is have to wait for the bleached hair to grow out and go for a few days without plucking so I have a full beard??

This is what puts me off, would love to have it done, to not have to allow half an hour extra time for plucking every day would be amazing.