There are countless options now available to remove facial hair, such as plucking, shaving, epilation, sugaring, threading and waxing. Yet the only permanent options are electrolysis and laser hair removal. Over the years, women have started to turn to hair removal creams and derma-planing to try and achieve a smoother finish. Yet none of these offers a long-term solution for unwanted hair.
Facial hair is one of the fastest-growing areas of hair on the body. We carry around 3,500 follicles on the face alone, and typically 70% of those are in the anagen-growing phase at one time, which is why men and women alike feel like it’s an everyday struggle to maintain a hair-free face.
The problem with traditional methods is they are time-consuming, need to be carried out regularly and can leave a lot of irritation to the skin. Many women find that once they start shaving or plucking, they find more and more thicker or darker hair appearing in the area. Constant removal can cause stimulation of new hair growth by causing vellus hair that’s finer and shorter to change to terminal hairs, which are thicker and more noticeable.
When shaving, using a clean, sharp razor is important to reduce irritation; many of us fail to replace the blades often enough; this can drag over the skin and cause a shaving rash and not achieve a smooth finish.
Plucking, threading, epilation and waxing will snap a lot of the hairs and not remove the root; this leads to ingrown hairs and spots as the follicle becomes blunt and unable to grow above the skin, becoming infected although exfoliating can help with this. However, on such a sensitive area of the body, such as the face, prolonged use of these methods can lead to inflammation and, eventually, pigmentation issues. This includes hyperpigmentation- where the skin becomes darker in colour.
Dermaplaning works well for those women with a lot of vellus hair- this is the typical ‘peach fuzz’ that we all have on the face but can appear darker on some women. It lightens the appearance of the face by removing all of the hair as well as dead skin cells allowing new hair to grow through with less irritation, and is more thorough than a typical shave.
Electrolysis has been shown to work well on women with blonde, red, grey or white hairs on the face, particularly when there are only a few scattered dark hairs that need targeting individually. The results are permanent, suitable for all skin types, and will kill the hair in almost any growth phase. You would need to refrain from plucking between sessions, but you can trim the hairs if need be. Sessions would be conducted every 2-4 weeks, depending on the amount of hair growth. It’s time-consuming and can leave marks for up to a week after the session.
For larger amounts of facial hair, including the removal of upper lip hair, sideburns, chin/jaw and face, Pulse Light Clinic offer Alexandrite and NdYag laser treatments suitable for all skin types. These work very well if the hair has a darker pigment to it. Sessions are usually every four weeks, and the great news is you can shave or use hair removal creams between sessions. No plucking is allowed, as the root needs to be present at each session. The laser works by targeting the melanin in the hair follicle; the heat travels down the follicle destroying the root and its blood supply; when the hair is in the anagen-growing phase, the removal is permanent. What’s excellent is even the hairs that don’t die permanently at each session still fall out—leaving you smooth and hair free between sessions!
Laser hair removal for facial hair has other benefits, such as clearing ingrown hairs, pigmentation and bumps.
Women are almost hair free between sessions as the hair is shaved for the treatment, then falls out after one week, leaving your hair free for 2-3 weeks! The hair that isn’t killed can then be re-shaved right before the next session when it begins to reappear. After a few courses of laser, your skin will be noticeably smoother, brighter and improved in texture and, of course, have a considerable reduction in facial hair growth!
If you choose to undergo laser hair removal London treatment or electrolysis, you can find free consultations and skin tests for all skin types at several popular locations in London. Check your facial laser hair removal suitability and get a free estimation of how many sessions you’ll need.
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