Waxing the face

[Hermosa_Tabby]

So I have come to the point that I really am tired of dealing with visible razorburn, makeup coming off due to sweat, and having to cake it on to simply go outside or even skype with someone. Being incredibly incredibly poor, electrology is not an option, I have a silknsensEpil that seems to reduce thinner hair, but doesn't even change the facial hair at all.

I talked to my doctor about waxing. She said that in some cases doctors prescribe pain killers for hair removal, but as I already self-inject my estrogen, do some of my own electrology and have had no issues with it, that she would possibly do some vials of lidocaine to inject just below the surface in my chin during waxing. She sympathizes with my extreme poverty and the lack of medical coverage for hair removal procedures.

She said to ask other transwomen about aftercare and just how to get about an anything unique with waxing the face with coarser hair while she does some research on her own. I would prefer first hand experiences.

Complications, redness duration, pain level after 4 hours or so, any affordable products that can prepare for before or after?

Thanks,

[Nicole]

The problem with waxing a male hair patten face is not just the hair is thicker, but its messier.

I would work out how much facial hair you get first.
I did it a few times, but because I started blockers early my hair wasn't thick.

There was a thread on here about 6 months back with a girl who waxed her face, it looked very painful.

[warlockmaker]

Many years ago I tried waxing my face unsuccessfully, so I did some research. Mens face have terminal hair which is quite thick and dense, women's face have vallus hairs, which are considerably less dense and are  fine hairs . In caucasians, these vallus hairs tend to be blonde. Waxing terminal hairs is very difficult due to their density - you can wax leg hairs which are very much less dense, and very painful. The face waxing because of the density and depth of the follicle,  will not remove all hairs so then the twesers come out. The face gets swollen from an agressive wax and ice must be applied. Then, come the ingrown hairs from waxing.Also, the myth that waxing destroys hair is NOT true, there are only two ways to do this and that is laser and electrolysis.  Wish I could be more positive on facial waxing.

[Lady Smith]

The worst part is leaving the hair to grow long enough so it can be waxed.  I waxed for around two years before I had my facial hair killed off with electro.  Yes it does hurt and sometimes my face would be covered with tiny blood spots afterwards, but if it's done right you won't need to do it again for around another month to six weeks.  If you're on spiro the hair does grow back noticeably more pale and the hair shaft will be not so thick.  After waxing I would apply an antiseptic cream to my face to prevent infection.

I never bothered with pain relief as my dysphoria over having hair on my face was strong enough to carry me through the process by virtue of sheer bloody mindedness over getting rid of it.  It's important that your skin is clean and dry and that you haven't used moisturiser for at least three days.  I used Veet wax which works well, - some other brands are not as good and don't give as good a result on strong facial hair.  Technique is everything as you need to get the hair out cleanly by the roots without breaking any and leaving them behind in your skin.  I didn't have any problems with ingrown hairs, but it can be a problem for some people.  Good technique goes a long way towards preventing ingrowns.

Any further questions you might have feel free to ask

[Hermosa_Tabby]

Yeah, my hair everywhere has been growing blonder once it's been yanked out. I was hoping going over it a few times would make it to where I could either:
A) Shave it and no longer get razorburn (like my legs or chest, which had razorburn, but now don't after some turned partway vellus from an epilator.)
B) Tweeze what grows out once a week or so.

I don't mind shaving. Needing makeup is making me not leave the house and making for unhealthy habit of not exercising or living my life at all. I can't just put on shoes and make a run to the store and constantly check to make sure my makeup isn't running when I sweat.  If I can make the hair just a shade or two lighter, it will barely show up unless it's longer.

[Ms Grace]

Having done this myself I wouldn't recommend it. You'll have a hair free face for a week before new hairs start appearing and constant plucking is the order of the day. I never tried waxing post transition to full time and I wouldn't want to either since you need to grow it for a few days if you want to wax it. It's not a permanent solution either. Other complications include ingrown hairs, infections and potentially making future electrolysis more difficult since waxing can apparently distort the follicle shaft.

[Lady Smith]

If you shave with blades instead of an electric shaver use moisturiser instead of soap and you'll find that your skin is less likely to get irritated.

[Lady Smith]

Having done this myself I wouldn't recommend it. You'll have a hair free face for a week before new hairs start appearing and constant plucking is the order of the day. I never tried waxing post transition to full time and I wouldn't want to either since you need to grow it for a few days if you want to wax it. It's not a permanent solution either. Other complications include ingrown hairs, infections and potentially making future electrolysis more difficult since waxing can apparently distort the follicle shaft.

My facial hair wasn't that thick and it grew fairly slowly so I suppose that's why waxing worked for me.  As soon as I completed my social worker training though and landed a job I had electro done because waxing my face was a confounded nuisance.

[Hermosa_Tabby]

I have peli multi-gemini. Woe is me. Not a damn trick in the book gets rid of irritation short of making the hairs more vellus. I have an epilator and can rip them out with that if they are weakened enough from a few times waxing/epilating with the lidocaine.

I am actually kinda worried about the neck hair a lil. My face barely grew anything ever except the chin (which is right where it shows when my makeup runs.)

[iKate]

No chance of laser?

[Hermosa_Tabby]

I can't seem to find any sort of job. I already had 10 sessions. It helped, but it's still there.

I managed to yank it out. It definitely looks better although the lidocaine was too localized to get good numbness everywhere. I still have hair, but it looks less black, which was the point in all this anyways.

[EmmaMcAllister]

Threading might be preferable to waxing, and it's something that you could teach yourself to do safely. I might be in this boat myself.

[KristinaM]

The worst part is leaving the hair to grow long enough so it can be waxed.

This is what I was thinking.  It takes me a week to grow 3-4mm of hair right now after shaving.  So I'd have to go around with visible facial hair for two weeks before I could get it waxed!