Facial hair seems to be on ongoing problem and I tried electrolysis but had to stop owing to the cost becoming prohibitive while providing negligible results after an entire year of sessions. The constant shaving was a pain and I would happily use Sheila’s suggestion if I hadn’t come up with an alternative that has all but eliminated eliminated my “shadow”. Please note that my facial hair is 90% plus grey so laser was not a serious option for me, unfortunately.
Most of my male body hair has either stopped growing or changed to a vellus texture from the combination of HRT and waxing and that made me wonder why that happened on my body but not on my face? What was the difference? I had tried waxing my beard off and yes, it hurt but it was just like a slap and then it was over so nothing I couldn’t handle. (No beauty without pain, girls! 😏 )
My research uncovered a few things that I did not know about hair like the fact that the hair root is supplied via tiny blood vessels and the type of hair is determined by RNA. I also found out that the face has more estrogen receptors than breasts and thighs. As someone who uses topical estrogen cream rather than pills that gave me an idea.
If using HRT and waxing caused my body hair to become fine and vellus like why not try that on my facial hair? What did I have to lose? I decided that I would wax my face once a week when there was enough stubble for the hard wax to pull out the hairs. The evening before I would apply the HRT cream directly to my face and then again after cleaning up afterwards.
After 13 weeks there was a significant difference to the thickness of the hair follicles, they were much thinner than before. That was when I came across a sale for epilators and I wondered if that might be a less messy alternative to waxing. It is but it is slower because my facial hair grows in every direction of the compass. (There are always strays that need plucking regardless of whatever method is used.)
Now at 21 weeks the majority of by beard hairs are vellus-like in appearance and feel. They are fine and I can go an entire week with no “visible” facial hair. The roots are still long and the hairs can get quite long but they don’t feel like beard hairs anymore. Speaking of which there are still some thick hairs that haven’t yet become vellus-like but they are becoming sparser.
In summary I am far happier with my method than anything else I have tried. I still have a beard but it isn’t visible anymore and I am only aware of it if I touch my face.
Kind regards, Rowena 👩🦳
