Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm thinking of waxing my beard.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

I know it isn't permanent, but I think it could be good for the interim, before starting another method of hair removal.

I've looked at waxes and found one that is for women's facial hair, but the instructions say 'Not for a Man's Beard'.

I've also found one that says it's for 'short coarse hair', but also comes with the above warning.

It's best to only shave if you are going to use laser or electrolysis in the future. The reason is waxing may distort the root making other forms of hair removal more difficult. There is nothing like a needle that hit's a side before it hits bottom - OUCH!! That can happen even in a normal hair because the direction of growth isn't clear. With a distorted root it would happen far more often.

Quote from: Veda on January 24, 2017, 03:57:05 PM
I'm thinking of waxing my beard.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

I know it isn't permanent, but I think it could be good for the interim, before starting another method of hair removal.

I've looked at waxes and found one that is for women's facial hair, but the instructions say 'Not for a Man's Beard'.

I've also found one that says it's for 'short coarse hair', but also comes with the above warning.

Oh my goodness, sweetie, don't ever do this!  You could cause significant damage to your epidermis trying to rip out whiskers.  Not to mention how painful it would be! Men's whiskers are considerably heftier than body hair, or a woman's facial hair, and have a larger protein sheath.  Ripping them out could cause significant scarring and result in ingrown hairs, which will be considerably more difficult to remove properly with electrolysis.

With kindness,

Terri

Thank you both.

I've been trying electrolysis, starting on my neck.  The gal I go to has been working on the same two inch swath for at least twelve one-hour sessions, and I keep getting regrowth.  It is thiner, but still noticeable and it is a bit frustrating that I have spent so much money with nothing to show for it.

I don't have a thick beard, just normal light to medium brown hair.

I can't recommend it.  Putting aside the pain, the ingrown hairs and the potential for scarring what you would be doing long term is the opposite of what you want.  Waxing and plucking can be like miracle-gro for hair.  It fills the bulb of the hair follicle with with blood and actually nourishes it instead of killing it and just makes it stronger.  Long term it could turn soft hair into piano wire.  At least according to my electrologist.

I've seen some YouTube videos of beards being waxed by those who know how and those that do not. One video that showed it done right ( without any blood) was from a barber shop in Turkey. On the other hand one done by a normal salon in the US had the guy bleeding all over the place.

I did get some plucking help for interim removal from my wife, but I had been treating my face with an IPL for several weeks. My growth is thinner now except for the greys that the IPL has no effect on. Basically the IPL did stop some of the growth but shedding was taking weeks. I think I will being seeing a salon laser treatment sooner rather than later to move clearing along faster.

Facial waxing is done by  cis females on vallus hair. I would not use it on terminal hairs on the face  unless there are just a few left from laser or electrolysis. It can cause scarring as the facial skin is much softer than legs, arms etc. where waxing can be done successfully.

0ne of the first treatments when I knew I would transition was to start facial laser and then electrolysis, It takes around 3 years and that is with a light to medium hair density.

Quote from: Veda on January 24, 2017, 06:13:52 PM
I've been trying electrolysis, starting on my neck. 

Are you sure this is the  best approach?  My electrologist (very, very experienced) has cleared my face first and is only now starting to work on the under-chin, under-jaw area and neck.  I like it that way. Now on days when I have to get electrolysis done and let my whiskers grow out for a couple of days, I can put a scarf around my neck to hide it somewhat.

I had over 40 hours of electrolysis on my face and I'm naturally not very hairy. I couldn't even grow a full beard if I wanted to. Needless to say it was a lot thinner after the electrolysis. After taking Spiro for 3 months I got my facial hair waxed. The worst part about it that first time was there were so many hairs she couldn't just pull it off in one quick shot. It took her multiple pulls to get each strip of wax off. After that each time was like usual waxing. one quick pull of each strip. I also didn't find it any worse then waxing any other part of my body.

If you do wax your face i would go to someone with lots of experience with waxing. If you have a lot of facial hair it may not be a good idea. I was told by my girl not to let anyone wax my fair with anything but a hard wax.

one last note I've now been taking estrogen for nearly 2 months and got my facial hair waxed a few day ago. It was incredibly painful. But everywhere was painful so much so that I didn't get everything done that I normally do. I'm guessing it's because of the changes in my skin.

I also didn't get any scarring and my hair was finer when it came back.

Quote from: Veda on January 24, 2017, 06:13:52 PM
Thank you both.

I've been trying electrolysis, starting on my neck.  The gal I go to has been working on the same two inch swath for at least twelve one-hour sessions, and I keep getting regrowth.  It is thiner, but still noticeable and it is a bit frustrating that I have spent so much money with nothing to show for it.

I don't have a thick beard, just normal light to medium brown hair.

You may need to visit another more experienced operator. I have been getting electrolysis for about eight sessions now and my jawline has been cleared. At best they can do between 250 - 300 hairs per agonizing hour.

I had considered going to a threading salon for facial hair removal because I've heard that it was a lot less painful then waxing. I, thankfully, shared the idea on a similar forum that I am a member of and was given an overwhelming NO as an answer if I should or not. Similar to the replies here, sadly pre-hormones, our hair is way too thick and follicles are way too sensitive to subject ourselves to these measures.  I'm glad you asked for opinions before doing anything, while there is always the chance that you might not have any issues, at least the first time, the long-term effect is way too high risk.