And please, no Conchita Wurst jokes. A good beard is not the same as ->-bleeped-<-ty hairs.
Back in February I waited as I barely could for three days, to have the electrologist tell me it was not enough growth. We did partial lasering, leaving the hairs ready for electro untouched, and I was told to come back in a few months, with at least five days of growth. This means that this sunday will be my last shave until Friday morning, when the appointment takes place. I had to delay it due to financial issues, and the situation has worsened. I may have had a T spike back in may that could be responsible for this.
I just don't know how to deal with this, and seeing a single hair in my face is pretty terrible. not counting the slow hairs that could not be removed last time, now I have serious fast growers, black and thick. No amount of makeup can cover them. In 24 hours they are between 1 and 2 mm, huge and manly. I think that starting on monday and until friday, I will go back to andro presentation. No push-up bra, makeup, baggy clothes again. The last thing I want is to attract attention over my face, and being full time is freaking horrible. I plan to leave my place only for grocery shopping
Any ideas on how to cope, please?
I imagine your hairs are fairly dark? Mine aren't so I can sort of get away with it beforehand, although my electrolysist only has me not shave a day beforehand - there's no way I could go five days beforehand, especially since I can't shave for three days afterwards. I basically don't show my face in public for a few days. I imagine that might not be an option for you. Sorry, I don't have anything useful to say I guess.
Quote from: Ms Grace on July 11, 2014, 05:50:29 AM
I imagine your hairs are fairly dark? Mine aren't so I can sort of get away with it beforehand, although my electrolysist only has me not shave a day beforehand - there's no way I could go five days beforehand, especially since I can't shave for three days afterwards. Sorry, I don't have anything useful to say I guess.
Morning, Grace. I had around 10 laser sessions before considering laser ineffective at this point. I don't have a bear shadow anymore and most of my face is clean, but I have the damned survivors, like kryptonian hairs. My hairs are divided into three different kinds:
- Transparent hair, fuzz like. Happens following the jaw bone. You can feel it, but it is not visible.
- slow growth hair, in the upper lip. It's the responsible for not having electro back in february. not a big deal since it can be covered with makeup
-
Fast, dark growers. THey are located at the sides of the mouth and follow line down to the chin, like having that ugly vertical moustache. Think of Hulk Hogan:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffrontporchdenver.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2012%2F08%2F111608_Hulk_Hogan_Wikimedia.jpeg&hash=c3e38a04b15b961d8238dab0498b8f7f8077e091)
These last ones are my real issue, since compared to the others, which really need five days, they get 1 mm or more of growth in 24 hours. If I go out by night, I need to shave again. I've been saving daily since march. Some days I try to stay at home to give my face a rest.
QuoteI basically don't show my face in public for a few days. I imagine that might not be an option for you.
I go crazy if I stay locked inside home. I am a home student and I have very irritant neighbours, so I need to get some time out, not mentioning grocery shopping. The last thing I want is that after moving to a new place while full time, to make people even more suspicious of me. I am in a stage where I don't pass (five minutes is enough to clock me and notice something is wrong), but where I don't attract any weird looks in the streets as before. Having facial hair again would make me lose my invisibility. That's why I'd rather go in andro mode during those days, and even change the supermarket I usually go to.
That is hard situation you're in.
Perhaps the best way is to save enough to have a lot cleared in one go, rather than a smaller section at a time and be fairly sure you have sufficient funds to have two such super sessions six weeks apart. That way you minimise the amount of time you need off.
Getting rid of the beard isn't fun.
It's sure not easy having to let the hairs grow out before electro work, I know all about it. For me with facial hair I just went out as a male, no other choice than to look like a freak woman with a beard. Good luck on getting them zapped away.
The good thing is that I won't be needing a lot of electro. I don't have beard shadow anymore (just a darker upper lip), my face sides and neck are clean, and what I have is... The final boss of hair removal. Wasn't for those damng strond dark hairs that reappeared, staying five days without shaving would be a piece of cake.
Upper lip is the toughest no doubt. FYI lots of women have facial hairs. Far more than most of us might think. Maybe your lady can zap away strong & kill em dead!!! Good luck.
I have mine lazered, and suffer the dark, thick, extremely obvious beard after a session, which lasts until the hairs shed (usually 10-14days for me). During that time, I feel horrible and don't even bother with makeup or even presenting. So I totally feel for you.
A close shave does not work for me, and I'm not a heavy makeup person, and only HEAVY foundation will solve that for me.
At least the time between sessions seem to be getting longer.
Electrolysis preparation, Day #03:
It's been 48 hours since I had my last shave on Sunday. The slow area that requires me to wait five days it's starting to appear, giving me an upper lip shadow again. But the worst par is the undamaged healthy loose hairs, already starting to make a goatee.
I don't want to leave the home until friday, meaning that a lot of "to do" stuff will have to be done during next week... Damn. Looking at the mirror is hard now, and touching my face ramps up my dysphoria.
And on top of everthing... my face itches. A lot.
I know your pain. No real advise I guess other than make sure the electro lady does a good job on the areas she is treating. It does work & it will be so nice to have clean areas soon. Good luck GF.
Preparation for electro, day #05
96 hours without shaving, 24 more to go. Things aren't going well. The hair has either stopped growing, or is doing it at a new low speed. It's an issue I already had before, sucking at growing a beard, but now it's even worse. Basically, most of the hair surrounding my face is ready to be "harvested", but the moustache, what I really wanted to zap, won't come out. It's just black dots. Some hairs are out, but not enough.
Last time they told 3 was not enough and I needed 5. Looks like this time they will tell me I need 10.
It is a hassle. Over the last 18 months the time that I have had to stop shaving has blown out from as little as 3 days prior to electro to 6 to 7 days prior to electro. This isn't that bad if I have achieved a full clearance prior to ceasing shaving, but where I have not had a full clearance, I trim the longer hairs to keep them from causing serious embarrassment.
Even more annoying is that I keep hoping that I will reach the end, but the hairs keep on coming, and every week I seem to need another 3 hours of electro. Very few black hairs left but if they look too untidy I try to work from home the day prior to electro and the day of electro, which is usually Friday, so that my face has the weekend to try to recover.
Aisla
And we are done. 50 minutes, and she won't work on me again until two weeks later. She has cleaned nearly all of my frontal part, and she had no issue zapping a lot of hair from the moustache....
The problem is that I am extra swollen now, and I can't put makeup. A bit of a problem since I had to go to the company offices.
You got through it, and with sanity intact! :)
To me, the swelling is worse than the actual pain of the procedure. Ice, anti inflammatory ex, and remember it's only temporary and another small hurdle.
I have had many of the same challenges. What worked best for me is scheduling electro every single week, so she can do full clearance every time (of all hairs long enough), and scheduling my appointment for Monday or Tuesday, so that two days of the long hair days are over a weekend. That is because I work Monday through Friday in a busy, well-lit office surrounded up close by people.
Two other things that help:
A tiny scissors. I can trim a fast grower with the scissors, so it will still be long enough for electro without the Hulk Hogan effect.
Attitude practice: I told my boss what I was doing when I started weekly electro, and she reminded me that there are many women with pronounced facial hair. As long as I am dressed professionally, there is nothing wrong with the pronounced facial hair to other people. It just affects my vanity. I don't let it affect my confidence or it would. It gets better over time. I've had to deal with it for two years, since my facial skin cannot tolerate laser, so I have had a lot of practice.
-Maddie
Reviewing the treatment, it's a different kind of pain. She started first with my right side, and since it wasn't as continuous as laser, it gave me so much needed recovery time between zaps. Best of all was not having to deal with the cold air blower and ice packs of electro. For somebody with a mild claustrophobia more related to asphyxia than confined spaces, that is not funny (specially when doing the upper lip). The problem came with the left side. Not only it has more hair, but... it's twice as sensitive as the right (Doing my left eyebrow sucks).At the 45 minute mark I could not stand laying there any moreand I needed to get out and jump. So not sure about how I will hold four days bed ridden after SRS.
I asked her to start with the upper lip, since it was my most complicated area to grow, and the she started working counterclockwise. Actually, the sides of the mouth felt more painful than the moustache.
Love the sense of humor in the whole thing. I had the same thing with my electro woman, she flippantly says its hard for me to see them so let it grow a week???@$%U(? madness. I drive 600 miles round trip every three weeks believe it or not and its been hell on time and money and now a week she wants?? I lie and give her four days and just grimmace and do it.
Plus in Alaska it doesn't get dark so there is never shadow time....
I think we make a bigger deal of it than it is as I ask friends and they are like I can't even see them. I just know by touching my face and can just know.
In a hundred years or so we'll look back and laugh about it....uh huh.
Quote from: StevieAK on July 20, 2014, 07:58:40 AM
Love the sense of humor in the whole thing. I had the same thing with my electro woman, she flippantly says its hard for me to see them so let it grow a week???@$%U(? madness. I drive 600 miles round trip every three weeks believe it or not and its been hell on time and money and now a week she wants?? I lie and give her four days and just grimmace and do it.
Plus in Alaska it doesn't get dark so there is never shadow time....
I think we make a bigger deal of it than it is as I ask friends and they are like I can't even see them. I just know by touching my face and can just know.
In a hundred years or so we'll look back and laugh about it....uh huh.
Hiya Stevie - I have a consult tomorrow afternoon for Laser at Solara. Any suggestions for or against?
My laser woman in fbx says they use the correct equipment. Try to get package price as they are expensive. They treated the boyfriend of a friend of mine who was very happy with their work. I'll call some ppl in a town get more info and call you. :)
I get my laser done in fairbanks, electro in a town. Appt on the 2nd of august for electro. I'll be there the 13,14,15 as well for work.
Quote from: StevieAK on July 25, 2014, 05:08:04 PM
My laser woman in fbx says they use the correct equipment. Try to get package price as they are expensive. They treated the boyfriend of a friend of mine who was very happy with their work. I'll call some ppl in a town get more info and call you. :)
I get my laser done in fairbanks, electro in a town. Appt on the 2nd of august for electro. I'll be there the 13,14,15 as well for work.
Apparently they don't do full face so they were kind of scrambling to decide how much to charge me for it. They told me $1500 for five sessions with two more free if they decide I need more.
I'll call amie here as she does my face and get back to you. I texted a friend in a town but she didn't reply yet.
Quote from: Wynternight on July 25, 2014, 05:18:29 PM
Apparently they don't do full face so they were kind of scrambling to decide how much to charge me for it. They told me $1500 for five sessions with two more free if they decide I need more.
No return from anch text but amie is 400 a full face treatment and is way under 2k for six in a package for price comparison. It works well on dark course hsir. Her num is 9074506245. She is a treasure to me and a dear friend. Have no qualms about calling her. Since I'm a fossil I have mostly white so electro I must.
Fwiw I use naytalia for electro in anch. I've tried four others and she is the best by far. Mid range pricing but I notice substantial reduction. 9077277190 is her number. Her Web site is art-blend. Very nice and trans friendly.
Quote from: StevieAK on July 25, 2014, 06:23:03 PM
No return from anch text but amie is 400 a full face treatment and is way under 2k for six in a package for price comparison. It works well on dark course hsir. Her num is 9074506245. She is a treasure to me and a dear friend. Have no qualms about calling her. Since I'm a fossil I have mostly white so electro I must.
Fwiw I use naytalia for electro in anch. I've tried four others and she is the best by far. Mid range pricing but I notice substantial reduction. 9077277190 is her number. Her Web site is art-blend. Very nice and trans friendly.
I'll call them both. Thank you!
If anyone finds a majic pill please let me know. I start back soon after a break while healing from plastic surgery. I'm sure not looking forward to the pain or dirty facial hairs in between zapping sessions.
Again, last shave until Friday, again.
As far as I can see, there is still hair in the zapped areas, but more transparent and far less obvious. There is still a whisker or two, some in the upper lip and still a few on the chin, but not enough to be extremely visible. Quite important, since this week that starts tomorrow won't allow me the saving grace of staying at home: I need to pick a lot of parcels and get over with the last name change updates (employment institute, bank, tax office, and water company).
Overall, I'm happier now, as I can go up to three days without saving, and most of the time I don't even need gel, just using the razor over wet skin to catch a few separate hairs.
Can't say the same for my legs, I did my fifth full legs laser session on Thursday and I still hurt a bit. Given the fact that I still was milk white, they used the full power of the machine, something usually reserved for winter and spring, when the tan has worn off.
You seem to be doing very well. There are always stray hairs to try & zap. Every woman has them. Good luck GF. I'm starting back soon. I love my electro lady but hate the pain.
Ugh. I don't get it. All the zones that were zapped have hair again, and even looks denser. For now I still can cover it it with concealer + liquid foundation, but by friday it's going to be pretty disgusting again. It feels as if we achieved nothing. One lovely first week and then back to the starting point, as it happened before with each laser session.
Second session took place five hours ago. Painful, far more painful that the first one.
Oddly, the hair growth rate has increased, so we have moved from five days to four. This is when things gets complicated since now I will be at the office. As far as I can tell. I can survive three to four days until the hair gets extremely visible.
I look as if I had kissed a beehive. Not in the mood for restocking on foundation until the swelling has gone..
It's a war of attrition and not one that happens quickly. Use neosporin as lotion and use stick concealer then liquid. Doing this keeps from putting makeup in follicles so healthier for recovery. Wash lightly with witch hazel reapply neosporin at night.
Best wishes
Stevie
Quote from: Julia (Apple-Whatever) on July 29, 2014, 07:35:54 AM
Ugh. I don't get it. All the zones that were zapped have hair again, and even looks denser. For now I still can cover it it with concealer + liquid foundation, but by friday it's going to be pretty disgusting again. It feels as if we achieved nothing. One lovely first week and then back to the starting point, as it happened before with each laser session.
Hey that happened to me after my 2nd session. The first one gave me a beautiful reduction, and after the 2nd one - it all came back denser than I started with. W.T.M.F.H.
Well, if you believe the theory that hair grows in cycles, I guess it may be that my 'next wave' just happened to be denser than the one before - and until I get them all, I guess I will see the shadow returning from time to time. Le sigh
Third session this thursday. I need to think about what to do from now. Right now is far more manageable, and two hourse per month is far too expensive since I want to start saving for SRS. Upper lip is somewhat clean, and now the chin is the worst offender. I hope not a lot grows this week, because this is an open office. No cubicles to hide in.
Julia
Good luck Thursday. I had to move mine to Friday afternoon or Saturday morning as my face is a mess after galvanic. You are doing really well with your laser - unfortunately while 7 treatments took out most of my dark hairs - the others have taken 140 hrs of galvanic and 66 hrs of blend - still counting! We think that we are 3 weeks from the end of this growth cycle and then it will be clean up as we are getting a full clearance now in each 3 hour session
Aisla
Session three completed. I will be taking a break until october.
Something did not go right this time. Despite having applied numbing cream, the pain was too much. usually I only feel the zaps, but today I've felt even the needle. halfway she stopped and put me the most powerful cream she had. She told me that tomorrow she was getting it done, and was getting scared seeing how I was suffering. Also, I was getting red and swollen extremely fast. This is something that also happened before to me with laser.
Maybe it was an issue with my skin not being restored. One hour before I had wiped my makeup, washed my face with an special-no harm soap and moisturised. Usually, I have several hours between my morning cleanup and the session.
So I won't be doing electro until october. I can only do either electrolysis or body laser each month. I planned on keeping with laser until being fully clean, but I realized that I have a time limit to fully clean my chest. Once I do the breast augmentation, it will be harder to move the razor, and probably more painful to do laser there.
Julia
I have had good days and bad days. Seems to relate to my hydration levels, the pain relief and the intensity used by the electrologist, but even when I use the same formula it can feel less comfortable.
If I can sleep for the first hour then I know I will be ok. The upper lip and lower lip, particularly under the nose or on the lip line certainly wakes me up. I had an upper lip lift a few years back and where there is a fine scar it is pretty uncomfortable. The electrologist says that this is due to difficulty in finding the follicle line and scarring.
I find numbing cream, applied an hour or so prior, covered in cellophane and a good painkiller and anti inflammatory works well. Needle entry isn't felt - just the 'tingling'! Alcohol helps me sleep but doesn't do much for the pain and shouldn't be mixed with any medication.
Aisla
I know the feeling again. I do not see my electro lady until Saturday & my hairs have already grown out. Feel like the bearded lady at the county fair.
My lady is going to NuFree all hairs, removal of all hairs on my face. She has done it before & it sure feels great to have a 100% smooth face for a while. It takes about 2 weeks before they start back then we do it again. Each time the hairs grow back less & less. We also do some electro on stubborn hairs.
Next session is tomorrow. I truly hate not being able to shave. :(
Talk about triggering.
Quote from: Wynternight on August 27, 2014, 12:02:40 AM
Next session is tomorrow. I truly hate not being able to shave. :(
Talk about triggering.
Good luck GF. I hate to shave my facial hairs & always have. I just wish I had done more with laser treatments when I was back in my early 20's, that was easy. Anyway good luck............., I feel your pain.
Quote from: FrancisAnn on August 27, 2014, 12:18:36 AM
Good luck GF. I hate to shave my facial hairs & always have. I just wish I had done more with laser treatments when I was back in my early 20's, that was easy. Anyway good luck............., I feel your pain.
My hair is too light for laser so I have to do it the old fashioned way. :'(
I know me too. Maybe the pain will not be too bad if your lady uses nice numbing cream. I've had 8 or 9 sessions & it's working some. I'm going to try with the Nufree procedure where she pulls out all hairs, then in 2 weeks she goes over my face again. Each time there are less hairs. She also zaps the tough hairs like my upper lip.......
Good luck GF.
When I did my electro I planned my full time date around 2 things. One was my facial surgery, but the other was whether or not I could go between electro sessions long enough. I was never a terribly hairy person, but I wanted to be at a point in electrolysis where I feel I could confidently be out, especially at work and get away with it under the bright office lights. Near my full time date I was doing electro like crazy in 4 hour marathon sessions, 3 times a week. I was doing blend, so it took about 10-15 seconds to do one hair so patience was required on my part :). I am guessing and will say that it took a good 100-125 hours of electro to get to a full clearing so that I could live full time.
When I initially went full time, I was able to cut my electro back but there were sessions when they couldn't get all of the hairs. So I still had to shave for a little while longer and I would shave before Monday and let them grow out until Saturday morning my next session. Fortunately it was sparse enough that it didn't show except when I got up close in the bathroom mirror. I can still remember the day when I realized that I no longer needed to shave ever again. It was a milestone day of achievement for me.
I too lived with some of the imperfections in my facial hair when I first went full time. Every hair that I would see was a reminder of who I was, not who I wanted to be. Just be patient, it takes a long time to get down to the fully clear part. In my case it took about 3 years of regular methodical treatment to be free from the burden of facial hair for good.
Thank you for your support and good for you. My lady is close by & she is nice so I'll continue with weekly visits all fall & winter to maybe clean up my face. I know it's a long process. I know you feel great with a smooth face.
Wow, I didn't read everything, but this is such a common thread. I've been doing a two or three hours a week of electrolysis for over a year, and still can't stand myself on the day I go into the clinic. Just plain sucks. Yesterday was my day, and I essentially locked the door to my office and did "important" engineering until I could flee.
I'm such a hypocrite about this. I tell everyone who will listen that acceptance and authenticity are essential to surviving transition, but I just detest myself on Tuesdays. It is more than the visual. I'm far enough along, that I'm not super obvious with a bit of foundation, but I think the tactile sensation when I touch my face is an even bigger trigger.
Makes me pretty useless here. I'm so wrapped up in myself that paying attention to others becomes nearly impossible. I really don't like this about myself. Not very Zen like at all. lol So, is this another learning experience? Am I to learn humility and patience through a couple mm of facial hair? Maybe, but only kicking and screaming.
Peace,
Julie
Quote from: MadelineB on July 18, 2014, 08:43:53 AM
scheduling my appointment for Monday or Tuesday, so that two days of the long hair days are over a weekend.
This.
And if you can get a bunch of sessions up-front to just blend-method clear your face,
do it! It makes the OP's dilemma
much easier to manage. Electrolycists tend to be busy in the springtime - winter/fall they may have more openings!
Have priorities, ex. I want the upper lip cleared, then the chin area, then the jawline, then the neck, then the sides of the face, etc. That helps you 'reserve' the area you're clearing so you can continue shaving other areas and just focus concealer/makeup on the growing area or whatever.
After areas start being cleared, your technician will start treating more different places per session. By this point you will already be noticing a difference in skin quality and it will be a lot easier.
Talk to your electrolycist! Get their input. If your growth isn't enough, you'll know from all the picking they have to do to access the hair shaft, and how many fewer hairs they will actually treat in that undergrown session.
Also re: laser, I hear many faces tolerate it poorly (the skin, not the hair response.)
Lamenting I can't do more electro until october...
Right now what remains of my facial hair is composed of nearly transparent sparse hairs. They aren't nearly visible, but they still piss me off. The sides still need work. Any ways, with these three sessions I've moved from shaving once (or even twice) every day to just two shaves per week, when I simply can't stand the feeling upon touching my face. I've plucked the last two dark hairs (again the sides of the mouth) since I won't be able to do it again in a long time.