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8 Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Facial Hair

From shaving to lasers, there are more choices than ever for both women and men


spinner image facial hair removal tools on pink background
Photo Collage: AARP (Source: Getty Images (4))

If you’re an older woman with dark hair growing on your upper lip, coarse white whiskers popping up on your chin and an increasingly visible crop of peach fuzz spreading across your cheeks, dermatologists have a name for you.

Normal.

“We’re mammals, and all mammals have hair,” says Sandra Johnson, M.D., a dermatologist in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Some of that hair gets heavier or more noticeable as we age, she says. “You’re not alone.”

These changes are largely driven by hormonal shifts. In women, less estrogen and more testosterone can produce extra facial hair, says Heather Rogers, M.D., a Seattle dermatologist. In men, long-term exposure to testosterone can produce longer nose and ear hair, according to Cleveland Clinic.

Some people may not mind these changes. But studies find about 40 percent of women have some unwanted facial hair. If you’re among them, you have more choices than ever for getting rid of it.

Here are some choices for women (ideas for men are in the box below).

1. Shaving

Face shaving is perfectly OK for women, Rogers says. Contrary to myth, she says, your facial hair won’t grow back thicker if you shave it, though the regrowth may feel more stubbly than with other methods.

The option has become more popular, she says, with the marketing of small electric facial hair trimmers for women. One advantage, she says, is that even “if your vision isn’t very good, it’s very easy to run that over your problem areas.”

 The downside, Johnson says, is that shaving can cause some irritation.

2. Dermaplaning

Another increasingly popular method, dermaplaning is “a fancy word for shaving” with a small version of a straight-edged razor, Rogers says. You can have it done as part of a professional facial or do it yourself at home with inexpensive, long-handled blades you can buy in drugstores or online. Home use is generally safe, Johnson says, but she likes to give her patients some training first.

Dermaplaning works on the upper lip and chin, Johnson says, and is especially effective for removing peach fuzz. It also removes some dead skin cells, so it’s an exfoliating treatment, too.

With any kind of shaving or dermaplaning, you need to avoid nicking any skin growths, Rogers says. Other risks include infection and skin discoloration, according to Cleveland Clinic. Because of such risks, some dermatologists discourage home treatments.

3. Waxing

You can temporarily remove hair with hot or cold wax, at a salon or at home. Results last several weeks, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

But women may find it less appealing as they age and their skin gets thinner, Rogers says. “If you have thin skin, the wax can rip off your skin as well as the hair,” she says, causing a lot of irritation. She advises patients to stop using skin products such as retinols and glycolic acid for three to five days before waxing to reduce that risk.

4. Depilatory creams

Creams, lotions and gels applied to the skin can dissolve hair, with results that last longer than shaving. But “if you’re going to use a chemical depilatory on your face, I would tell you to test it somewhere else first to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction,” Johnson says. Also, she notes, “the smell is offensive to many people.”

5. Plucking

You can pull or pluck hairs out in several ways: with tweezers, with a device called an epilator or with a method called threading, in which twisted threads are used to pull hairs from your eyebrows or other facial areas.

These methods can cause inflammation and ingrown hairs, Rogers says. Using old-fashioned tweezers probably gives you the most control with the least risk, she says.

If you want to try threading, find a skilled technician to do it for you, Johnson says. “We’ve seen some people get some pretty severe skin irritation” from doing it for themselves, she says.

6. Laser treatments

If you’re willing to put in the time and money, laser treatments can reduce hair growth permanently. The treatments are done by dermatologists, professionals they oversee or other operators, depending on state laws. Lasers work by targeting pigment in the hair follicle. With multiple treatments, “the hair strand becomes thinner until it is permanently destroyed,” says DiAnne Davis, M.D., a dermatologist in Dallas.

She says she generally recommends six to eight initial sessions, plus maintenance visits once or twice a year.

Costs will vary by location and provider, but the average is $582, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

An important caveat: Lasers can target dark hair but not light hair, meaning they won’t help with your peach fuzz or any other fair hairs, Rogers says.

It’s also important to be treated with “the particular laser that is best suited for your particular skin type and tone,” Davis says.

7. Home IPL devices

Another option is a home device that uses a technology called intense pulsed light (IPL). The devices, which are not lasers but use light in a similar way, “do seem to work, but not as well as laser hair removal,” Rogers says. She adds that it “really only works for dark hair and on lighter skin…. On darker skin, there’s a risk of your skin getting burned by the device.”

Devices from major brands cost about $200 to $600.

8. Electrolysis

Electrolysis, in which an electrical current is used to destroy hair follicles, “is the one true permanent way to remove hair,” Davis says. Like lasers, it requires several treatments; unlike lasers, it requires no maintenance visits and works on light hair, according to the dermatology academy.

But, with the popularity of lasers, electrolysis has become less popular and less widely available, Johnson says. A big reason, she says, is that “it takes a lot of time.” A typical laser treatment, she says, takes no more than an hour, but with electrolysis, “you really need to set aside the whole day.”

Costs vary widely, depending partly on how much hair is removed.

A final tip

After any kind of hair removal treatment, Rogers says, it’s important to baby your skin for at least a day or so. So, skip products with ingredients like retinol or glycolic acid, and “just follow up with a nice bland moisturizer.”

How Should Men Remove Unwanted Hair?

Men get unwanted hair around their faces and necks, too. Here’s what to do about some of the most common issues:

  • Ear hair: It’s normal for a man’s ear hair to get darker and longer with age, says dermatologist Heather Rogers, M.D. Barbers can trim it, but the best regular solution is often an attachment on an electric razor, she says. Epilator devices that pull out the hairs and hair removal creams also are options, says dermatologist Sandra Johnson, M.D.
  • Nose hair: The same epilator devices and shavers used for ear hair can often be used for the nose. The safest option, according to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, may be simply trimming the protruding hairs with cuticle or embroidery scissors
  • Scruffy necks: Some men who have trouble keeping their necks stubble-free get laser treatments to make their shaves easier, Rogers says.

 

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