Susan's Place Transgender Resources

So I just got an epilator and I started epilating my face and arms, legs soon. (What I did was a quick shave and then I ran the epilator over and over getting the strays and such, I felt a >-bleeped-< load of hairs coming out but it wasn't as bad as before I shaved.) I'm just curious will epilating for a long period of time will do to my hair, mainly my facial hair. Can it reduce it permanently? Will it affect future laser or electro? Is it worth the pain/hassle or should I shave?

Britney

Epilating your face is not a good idea. The epilator will twist the follicles and you risk ingrowing hairs developing. Your electrologist would have kittens if she knew what you have done.

Facial hair is best dealt with by electrolysis or laser (although there is no long term evidence that laser is permanent and white hairs still need electrolysis.

So please DON'T epilate your face, stick to the body bits.

Caroline x 

Quote from: carolinejeo on October 18, 2010, 03:43:28 AM
Britney

Epilating your face is not a good idea. The epilator will twist the follicles and you risk ingrowing hairs developing. Your electrologist would have kittens if she knew what you have done.

Facial hair is best dealt with by electrolysis or laser (although there is no long term evidence that laser is permanent and white hairs still need electrolysis.

So please DON'T epilate your face, stick to the body bits.

Caroline x

Damn haha. My friend told me she epilates her face so I didn't know. =/ Damn I really liked how smooth my face is and idk when I can get laser or electro. Thanks though!

I wonder if threading, perhaps the Slique threading system would be more gentle for temporary removal of facial hair??? Maybe not cause as much damage as someone epilating their face?? It seems less violent at least...

I tried epilating my face too, and it just hurt way too much for me to bother. I have, however, tweezed individual hairs myself with almost no pain. The problem with that is, you'd have to let the hairs grow long enough to grab with tweezers. I don't know if this is any safer than epilation, but it would certainly take a long time for me; so I just shave extra close with both a 5-blade razor, then clean-up with an electric for now until I can afford laser.

When I was a teen I would tweeze all my facial hair out it was almost and obsession until it was too much to control it became impossible (I would spend 6 hours tweezing my face)
I've gotten alot of electrolysis recently and I'm down about 80-90% of my facial hair but I'm unable to get any electro for the next few months due to time/distance/money limitations. And I've taken to the unwise habit of using an epilator on my face... before it was just too thick and would jam the epilator and was outragiously painful now it's certainly doable. Still hurts alot tho.

Although I do it I can't really recommend it as a wise course of action... I know for a fact my electrologist would have an episode if she knew... it badly warps the folicals and she's already complained about distortions and abbrent folicals from my teen years of plucking.

I dont' want to see it regrowing :( I want to have a hairless face for longer!

Britney your on HRT it will be of great benifit to epilate the body hair you don't like it, without T there regenerative process of those hairs will be impaired and you will good results. Before HRT not so much alot of ingrowns is my experience.
I had the full mat of chest hair now after epilating it for 7 months I only get a couple along my collar bone and a few dark ones down the center. The rest on my boobs have reverted to a slightly longer than normal Vellus blonde hair.

For pain I recommend Asprin... Another trick is to do it for 10-30 seconds in a region don't try to get all of them out, then wait 2 minutes your endorphines will kick in and it will be reasonably tolerable.

I might do that again. I tested a few spots of normal hair and it was beyond painful. I shaved everything and tried it on the regrowth but on my arm it didn't take anything out and it hurt me so bad. It might've been a crappy one. I might save up for a better one idk

Also, the hairs may not have been long enough so they ended up just being tugged. I too had a problem on my upper legs with nasty ingrowns, but that stopped shortly after starting HRT. Also, the discomfort becomes more tolerable with time. Start with your legs, they seem to hurt less than the arms or chest. Once you can tolerate the feeling, try other parts of your body. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and do it. I find I can epilate nearly my whole body now with little pain. :) it just takes time to get used to. Your skin grows accustomed to epilating, and after a few times there are less hairs coming in at the same time.

I actually tried it for a few days letting it get longer and longer. Just hurt worse and worse. I returned it and bought a No! No! Excited to try that out

wow!!

I think I read somewhere in the instructions that epilators are not for the face!!! (manufacturer recommendation!)

I've never tried it there!

I have used them in the legs, and tried a few times in the chest...
The legs are ok... but the chest just gets all red and irritated. I usually shave my chest, and I am doing laser on my legs.

I would not recommend epilators in the face... probably laser or electrolysis would be the best choices.. but they are expensive... (I saw another post about laser prices... where I go in the US, half legs is about 200 USD, I don't remember the price for the whole face... sorry!)

I would not reccoment epilators on your face but I will say that I have used them on my legs, and I have a friend that has been using 1 on her face for a couple years and it has really reduced her hair growth and she hasent had to do electro yet................

I can't even begin to imagine the pain that epilating my face would cause....eeessh. Gives me chills just thinking about it.

Me, I just pull them out one by one with tweezers. Next year, I'm hoping to able to afford electrolysis.

It was bad enough when I tried doing my underarms with the epilator. Of course, that was prior to HRT. HRT made a big difference, a huge difference, in the pain level, not to mention the amount of time it takes for the irritation to subside.

I'm getting laser on my face. I had a really fast growing beard.  So after about 7 treatments I've seen about 85% improvement. I'm still going every 6-8 weeks.  Hope to be done soon.  I also started the epilator on my "hairy ape" arms.  I epilate weekly.  It was very painful the first couple of times, but more tolerable since then.  They are definitely smoother after epilating.  I know the epilator may not prevent hair, but i'm hoping the arm hairs will get weaker / thinnner over time and look more like a natural fem arms.

I have used epilators for years and found them to ne great! A few things I have learned :
It hurts like heck the first time or if you wait too long to do it again. I think the hair root takes a bit to mature and lock itself in. You may want to wax first to make it easier then epilate when hairs start growing back.

A wet/dry eppilator let's you do underarms in the shower with some soap or shave gel which is less irritating. I suggest one with twin heads.

Have a second one that plugs in. A battery operated one doesn't run long enough to do EVERYWHERE and if one dies , you have a backup and you wont have to go through the painfull first time again if you aren't able to buy another immediately.

Do a quick shave after eppilating and it will help with ingrown hairs. A quick rubdown with witch hazel helps disinfect and close the pores that you just ripped the hair out of.

One last thing. Don't even think of doing this on your face! Lol

Ok, I just have to come in here with a counterpoint about facial epilation.  I have been doing it on and off for around a year, and was also told how it was 'so bad for the face', 'too painful', 'it'll mess up electro', and blah blah blah.  Me being myself though I don't listen, and it was (still is) *very* important for me to have a smooth clean face.

Now for the ingrown hairs, you just have to be sure to exfoliate very well about two days later, and exfoliate gently like every other day, when your waiting for the hairs to grow back. (you might be different but you'll figure out the routine) If you don't exfoliate properly you WILL get tons of ingrown hairs, so this is very important.  Personally I use a mixture of sugar salt and cider vinegar, but I'm sure any strong rough commercial exfoliate would be good as well.

For pain... It's really only VERY bad the first couple of times.  After almost a year of doing this myself the pain is still there, but it is perfectly tolerable and not a whole lot different from pulling hairs from the legs.  The hairs DO get weaker after being ripped out on such a consistent basis.  To ease the pain I have a few tips... First of all work in very small areas, kind of like making small quarter sized circles with your wrist.  The goal is to *not* grab a bunch of hairs all at once.  Grabbing too many hairs can pull on the skin and leave you with nasty red marks, and they hurt!  So make it a point to go slow, and not run through large patches of hair at a time, and your skin should be fine.  I do use fast circular motion, but moving slowly from area to area only catching a few hairs with the corner of the epilator at a time.  Trust me your skin will thank you if you take your time!

Now, I am personally prone to having some skin get roughed up around my mouth area, so I do use manual tweezing under my lip, and on my upper lip and around the sides of the mouth.  The fewer hairs that are being pulled out at a time the less chance you have of messing up your skin. (cant stress this enough)

When it comes to electrolysis, I've had a few sessions and haven't had any problems  =/  I can understand the logic behind why epilation may cause problems, but actual experience with it has shown me otherwise basically.  I AM NOT saying that I think you should continue down the face epilating path, I'm simply saying it didn't give ME any problems.

As far as 'permanant' hair removal I had/have patches on my cheeks that no longer grow hair.  Considering I have not had electro on my cheeks I can only assume hormones+consistent epilation was the cause.  I have also noticed thinning (finer gauged hairs) around the outside areas of my neck, and on my chin and around my mouth, but to be fair I have had electro on my upper/lower lip...  What I have had no change in whatsoever is hairs near the center of the neck and around the jawline (especially toward the center).

Well I hope I could help or offer some kind of perspective considering I have actually been doing this.  I actually thought of putting up a youtube video of face epilating to help anyone else who was considering, but at the risk of being burnt by people who are 'against' the idea, and someone possibly messing up and hurting themselves I haven't done it.  I just remember it was so frustrating for me to have to figure out the best way to epilate my face without any guidance or anything.  >.>

Please be careful though!  The red welts that can happen REALLY hurt  =(

I used an epilator regularly for a year to epilate my face, it hurt like hell each time but it did thin things down, last year I had a course of 6 laser treatments and while it's been largely successful on the sides of my face the front of the neck and the chin will most likely need electrolysis because of white hairs and a few stubborn dark hairs, I'm plucking the worst offenders away every day but there's always more the next day and epilation is starting to look awfully attractive again...

The native Americans used to tweeze facial hairs out using a certain type of shell.  They started when the boy was first showing facial hair and proceeded until it was all gone.

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
— Mark Twain

We've become a soft lot.  In the past, Indian boys, had to endure having every single hair on their face pulled out.  They also pierced their own ears.   Claire's wants £25-30 to pierce both ears.
Did you know that female beauty in certain African tribes is judged by the cleverness and the quality of the design cut into the back?  These designs are large and as painful as they are intricate.

Well I had never considered applying that thing to my face, but after reading this post thought why not. First for those of you who made it more than 1/4" before screaming and running for a shot of whiskey, BRAVO. Kinda curious what long term epilation does to hair follicles in general if anyone has an article to link thank you in advance. Well after facial epilation I would imagine someone can tolerate SRS minus anesthesia so thats a plus, lol. ;D

I wonder if people who are against the use of epilators on the face aren't perhaps the dupes of the electrolysis practitioners?    I don't doubt that electrolysis is highly effective in removing facial hair permanently.  What I do object to is the high price (measured in £000s) and the long time it takes.
Laser treatment sounds fine but does anyone know what the very long term effects of shining a laser on to the face are?   What happens if 20 years after laser treatment you have a very wrinkled face?*   What are the other long term effects that your technician isn't telling you about?  Or more scarily she doesn't know?   Anyone who knows anything about the history of medicine knows that in the past there have been some extraordinary beliefs and treatments.  These treatments have long since been utterly discredited but at the time they were often viewed with unshakeable confidence by their proponents and the public.  Anyone interested should read how Charles II was treated by Europe's best 'bleeding edge' physicians when he was dying in 1685.
    They shaved his hair off, raised a boil on his body and when this boil was burst they mixed the pus with wine and some pigeon excrement and rubbed the mixture onto the soles of the king's feet!   This was not even the most absurd treatment that Charles received from Europe's greatest medical minds.   The king's whole treatment from start to finish reads more like witchdoctory and quackery, rather than medical science.    Charles did not respond to this 'up-to-the-second' treatment and ungratefully slipped into a coma.   The doctors were so terrified at this that they fled the country and returned home without bothering to collect their fee!
On a personal note, when my mother was 5 or 6 years of age, she had her tonsils removed.  There was actually nothing wrong with her tonsils.  She had them removed because it was a medical fad at the time to remove childrens' tonsils.   Science is just as full of fads and fashions as any other facet of human behaviour.   However, as most people are not really aware of this they tend to take the pronouncements of science as gospel when they should adopt a careful and critical position.  I say to people who purport to know that epilators should not be used upon facial hair to provide their evidence.  Evidence if anecdotal should consist of several examples not just one.  Written evidence should follow accepted academic conventions.


* No pious comments like: ' I don't care if I look like a pickled walnut 20 years from now.  I will have a hair free face'.  I assure you that that if your face does look like a route map of the Rockies you WILL care.

What is the best epilator out there?

Quote from: carolinejeo on October 18, 2010, 03:43:28 AM
Britney

Epilating your face is not a good idea. The epilator will twist the follicles and you risk ingrowing hairs developing. Your electrologist would have kittens if she knew what you have done.

Facial hair is best dealt with by electrolysis or laser (although there is no long term evidence that laser is permanent and white hairs still need electrolysis.

So please DON'T epilate your face, stick to the body bits.

Caroline x

I unfortunately have to agree, speaking from my very own experience. Epilating produced only one result in my face, in the long run, ingrown hair, with NO reduction in re-growth what so ever.
So finally I am accepting electrolysis only, and some shaving in between.

YMMV, mine does not ...
Axélle

I just bought an epilator and did my legs a few days ago. It hurt like crazy and it took some time, because I have thick hair, but 4 days later, my legs are still smooth. I love it! But the epilator I have came with different attachments and it says it would work on the face. Though, it is a woman's epilator, so I could imagine it would work on the thinner and finer facial hair, I don't know if I'd try it on my facial hair (also thick). I fear for my skin.

Despite the importance of hair removal I consider it, along with psychotherapy to be one of the biggest waste of money for the average m2f.  Electrolysis is painful and expensive, eppilation is painful and not permanent, and laser treatments, while cheaper than electrolysis, isn't as effective.


There are now machines that can be used from the home to perform non-invasive "electrolysis" by using a conductive current to shock hair follicles with electricity, causing the salt water [NaCl(aq)] surrounding the follicle to turn into sodium hydroxide [NaOH] commonly known as lye.  Lye is toxic, a poison that in the proper amount can literally destroy the dermal papillae, cutting off blood-flow to the follicle causing hair to permanently stop growing.


These treatments don't cause immediate hairlessness, but if used properly will reduce hair by over half within three months......or much much quicker if you overuse it, but that comes with a risk of serious skin irritation.  I don't recommend doing that, although it's what I do.


These machines are rather cost effective, though they try to con you into buying a "conductive gel" without mentioning that hand lotion is a gel and is also conductive.......

Quote from: Oriah on August 03, 2012, 07:57:39 PM
Despite the importance of hair removal I consider it, along with psychotherapy to be one of the biggest waste of money for the average m2f.  Electrolysis is painful and expensive, eppilation is painful and not permanent, and laser treatments, while cheaper than electrolysis, isn't as effective.


There are now machines that can be used from the home to perform non-invasive "electrolysis" by using a conductive current to shock hair follicles with electricity, causing the salt water [NaCl(aq)] surrounding the follicle to turn into sodium hydroxide [NaOH] commonly known as lye.  Lye is toxic, a poison that in the proper amount can literally destroy the dermal papillae, cutting off blood-flow to the follicle causing hair to permanently stop growing.


These treatments don't cause immediate hairlessness, but if used properly will reduce hair by over half within three months......or much much quicker if you overuse it, but that comes with a risk of serious skin irritation.  I don't recommend doing that, although it's what I do.


These machines are rather cost effective, though they try to con you into buying a "conductive gel" without mentioning that hand lotion is a gel and is also conductive.......

I've considered buying one of these products. You aren't the first person that recommends it, I have personally met somebody who uses it and claims it works.

Quote from: Oriah on August 03, 2012, 07:57:39 PM
Despite the importance of hair removal I consider it, along with psychotherapy to be one of the biggest waste of money for the average m2f.  Electrolysis is painful and expensive, eppilation is painful and not permanent, and laser treatments, while cheaper than electrolysis, isn't as effective.


There are now machines that can be used from the home to perform non-invasive "electrolysis" by using a conductive current to shock hair follicles with electricity, causing the salt water [NaCl(aq)] surrounding the follicle to turn into sodium hydroxide [NaOH] commonly known as lye.  Lye is toxic, a poison that in the proper amount can literally destroy the dermal papillae, cutting off blood-flow to the follicle causing hair to permanently stop growing.


These treatments don't cause immediate hairlessness, but if used properly will reduce hair by over half within three months......or much much quicker if you overuse it, but that comes with a risk of serious skin irritation.  I don't recommend doing that, although it's what I do.


These machines are rather cost effective, though they try to con you into buying a "conductive gel" without mentioning that hand lotion is a gel and is also conductive.......

What is the name of this machine?

I stumbled upon this from somewhere within the depths of google, thought I'd share to add insight.

Recently bought an epilator with the specific intention of using on face first. It is a really good epilator too. Attached Image is the result of use on face for first time. (Note: this is 24hrs later) The circled areas are where I was able to epilate before I passed out from the sheer pain of every follicle of hair being plucked from my tiny pores. Yes, I passed out. Note: do not blow the hairs out of an epilator. You will get lightheaded in a heartbeat. A glass of water helped.

Without further story, the details:

Pain: it hurts. A lot. Like, a lot - a lot. Sometimes it is a kind of a nice pain, but while epilating, it is mostly just so unbearably painful. Endorphins would kick in, and I'd find the strength to continue, but it doesn't last nearly long enough.

After-pain: Oh Emm Gee!! Omg omg omg. I have never in my life experienced the type of pain I am feeling in my lower cheeks. EXTREME sensitivity to temperature change! What does this mean? . . . This means that when I feel a breeze against my skin, my pores try to contract. Normally, this doesn't sound bad, but there are literally 30pores that feel like I am being SHOCKED by an extremely powerful current of electricity. The pain is a shocking pain. Literally, it feels like I plugged in an exposed wire in the outlet and am holding the exposed end on my face. Once again, I have never felt this type of pain in my entire life.

Afterwards: I want to continue, and oh how I love the smoothe skin (it ALMOST makes it worth the pain), but tweezers are just going to have to do. I am no stranger to tweezers. I almost like he sight of pulling a hair slowly out with tweezers, doesn't effect me one bit. I could do it all day.

Love/Hate:
- I love the smooth skin!! So so much!!
- Hate the places where the top layers got ripped off my face.
- Hate Hate Hate the aftershocks of pain.
- Hate how this hurts! I never imagined such pain in my life!
- Hate the idea that I will have to do this again.
- Love the idea that it might weaken hair growth later.
- I loved seeing how many hairs get pulled everytime I opened the epilator to clean it. Oh how i loved the satisfaction of this. I am sure many other epilator users can attest to this.

I am not trans or anything, so HRT isn't for me.
I just genuinely hate facial hair on my face and wanted to share to inform of my experience. *shrugs*

Anyways, I'll bookmark this page and check back sometimes if anyone wants a follow-up or has a question or something.

Take care, and (for the record) I do NOT recommend epilating your face.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imagesup.net%2F%3Fdi%3D1314025539373&hash=420a9ad255b412db3e972b4d3cc2fe47cf23dede)

Thanks for posting this! I recently plucked my hairs one by one with high quality tweezers pulling in the direction of growth to avoid breaking the hair instead of ripping out the follicle. 99% of the hairs pulled had the full follicle down to the root for me. I only managed to complete my neck and some upper lip after spending 3-4 hours working on it. The pain was bearable, but it left red marks on my face for a couple of weeks. I can also attest to the shocks and pain in the treated areas. Once healed I'm left with about 50% growth still growing. Not sure if I can handle another round of it. In the end I think this method would work if one can get past the pain. I imagine it gets better after a couple of clearings.

Epilating your face is a good idea, but you should know that it involves a lot of pain, of course, depending on what type of hair you have on your face. For instance, if you are epilating your fuzz hair you will feel less pain rather when you epilate the coarse hair. Also, for a less painful experience, you can choose to buy a manual epilator, but it will take a while.