A few years ago, I had my facial hair removed after multiple sessions of laser and electrolysis. Only a few isolated hair remain - plucking them out is not really a problem.

However, one thing concerns me: after one of the laser sessions, I was left with 5-o-clock shadow colored spots around my chin - you know the color, the greenish grey. The only difference between this session and the other is that I was instructed to shave, and I did so even if my skin was very irritated.

The spots are separate from each other, mosly on the left and right tip of my chin, no so much on the flat part.

There is no actual hair growth to explain these spots- I tried not plucking for more than 6 months on the whole chin to see if they were due to small hairs that may be growing. It was not the case.

Also, these spots are not going away with time- they are just staying where they are. I haven't had any treatment there for a long long time.

Waiting is not really going to help, so a few months ago, I took my courage in my hands, a needle and some antiseptic spray, and tried to "dig" one of these spots out.

To my surprise, there was something under the spot: like 1/4 millimeter of a very black thing (the exact color of my hair), under about 1mm of skin. It was surrounded in some small "ball" (like 1/2 millimeter) that I could break between my nails. I have no idea what that is.

Of course, now that it is properly healed, there is no longer a greenish grey spot there. The other grey spots remain. My face was not really ok, so I just thought I would live with that, but now that FFS is actually going to happen, I have been thinking about these spots.

To my best guess, it is as if a very small part of the dead hair had been left in the skin and "healed" under, in place, instead of being ejected away.

The weirdest thing is that it only happened around my chin, nowhere else on my face (maybe due to the hair implantation, or the way I shaved?)

I tried google, various sites about after laser effects, nothing. I asked a cosmetologist, I remember asking a dermatologist too, nothing. Yet none of their other patients were transwomen under antiandrogens.

I can't imagine doing that needle thing for each of the 20 other spots, and I can't believe I am the only one to suffer from these weird spots, so I'm asking to other girls with very black hair if after laser hair removal they did notice these "greenish grey" or "5-o-clock shadow" colored spots somewhere.

I had a heavy beard shadow (black hair) and when I started hrt it became this bluish shade and laser did turn it into what you're describing but since I continued to get those same areas treated, the weird shadow color went away. I still do have a slight shadow in certain areas but its super tiny so its not really noticeable. I found that exfoliating helped minimize that weird shadow color a bunch in between my laser sessions. All I've done is laser, no electrolysis. I hope this helps.

Quote from: charlotte15 on May 23, 2015, 04:14:57 PM
I can't imagine doing that needle thing for each of the 20 other spots...

Look... you know how to do it.  If you're happy with the outcome of the first one, you can just do it yourself.  That first one is much harder than the rest will be.  You could even do one a day for the next 3 weeks.

A GP could do it for you too, but they'll charge you dearly.

I get those spots and I've had laser a number of years ago. Its like it makes hair like stuff, but its not rooted and seems to not be strong enough to push through the skin. I just try to prick above it with a small needle after a hot shower to make sure the pore is open good and then gently squeeze it out. 

i've heard them referred to as "Pepper Spots". but yeah they are basically the old hair from a previous treatment that failed to shed properly. Exfoliating regularly is supposed to prevent them. I was also told that subsequent laser treatments should disintegrate them as well.

Well from one Charlotte to another...
Yes I have this issue on my upper lip - maybe 15 years after laser. It's pretty subtle but it bothers me. I'm going to have 3-4 laser sessions to see if that'll clear it. 

They are indeed pepperspots. I have a few. Just be careful digging them out you can cause pitting/scarring.

About a week after laser I try to pluck out as much as I can. This helps with preventing them.

A big problem I have is PIH which is where your skin produces more melanin where it is inflamed such as due to electrolysis or laser (or even plucking). It's just something I have to deal with until it's all done. I use hydroquinone to minimize it.

Charlotte (hello you ), Michelle, Kate, thanks a lot. It confirms my fears that it was due to the laser. At the moment I don't have any cash left to plan for laser treatments (only debt to repay for my FFS), but if laser can help, I will try to plan that for laser this winter.

At least, now I know the name of these things, "pepper spots", and that they're not just in my imagination!! Well, I kinda knew I wasn't crazy when I dug one out and finally saw the black thing, but if I had to tell a shrink I dug something out of my face, I think I could easily get the crazy label.

Digging one every day sound like a plan as the scar healed well, and I don't have so many of them, or the money for more laser at the moment. I just don't like needles and blood 

I wonder if chemical peels can get rid of them? I have never had any peel done.

I have heard some people report success using Retin-A  (tretenoin) for that and the hyper-pigmentation that can also occur.  I am reminded to always wear good sunscreen after laser to reduce problems.

Out damned spots!

I learned something to clear pores the other day which could possibly help you in some way take a hot shower so your pores open up then take white glue (in the states we have a brand called "Elmers" they most of us used in grade school) and rub it into your skin in the area where you want to clear the pores) and let it dry and once it drys start pealing it off (it should sort of come off in a sheet) which will take the stuff clogging your pores out (white, black heads and small hairs) the cool part with this is that its so cheep and it worked well when I tried it.   

Retin-A is not so expensive, I could try that too.

Emily, it's not like in the pores. Before I resolved myself to trying with a needle, squeezing really hard, or rubbing with a special defoliating sponge did not work.

It's like deep in the skin, about 1 mm deep, without any connection to the surface. It does not look black at all like a pore or the top of a hair, more like grey/greenish/blueish, as when I was shaving and had a 5 o clock shadow.

Quote from: charlotte15 on May 24, 2015, 02:07:53 PM
Digging one every day sound like a plan as the scar healed well, and I don't have so many of them, or the money for more laser at the moment. I just don't like needles and blood 

Some people find self-surgery is easier after a drink.  Don't do it drunk, or you'll butcher yourself... but it's a way to take the edge off.  Or, pour yourself a stiff one, and save it for after you've finished.

Well, it should shed, right? I have the same thing. I had 8 laser sessions and there's not really any hair growing anymore, just the occasional straddler that I pluck...  The shadow isn't really visible, only happens on my upper lip, and under specific lighting... still annoying, but yeah.

This might sound stupid, but I wonder if sweating might help any? Sweat produced in the sweat glands might cause those little pepperspots to move and eventually eject them? Also what about sun exposure and skin shedding... is it possible that would help?

I went to the beach today and as crazy as it might sound, I feel the "shadow" has improved? I don't normally sweat or exercise, but today I had plenty of exercise, my upper lip was moist from sweating and I also swam plenty... so, I don't know. Could that have helped or is my mind playing tricks on me? I realize it sounds ridiculous.

It's only been like 3 weeks since I had a free touch-up after my final laser session... I don't intend on going back since it feels like it'd feel like I'm flushing money down the drain past this point.

For the record, I have very pale skin, and dark hair. Don't think I'll be having electrolysis, the occasional straddler hair growing is not that big a problem, I can just pluck it.

Another theory I had, and this is something I just noticed recently... is that I have very light, almost transparent little hairs growing all around my face. These aren't visible, they're not even possible to pluck. The only way to see them is under bright light, at certain angles... Could it be that the root of these hairs is dark, or something? I've been considering waxing my upper lip just to see what happens, lol.

I know for sure that not all hair sheds. I had a little pepperspot in the corner of my upper lip weeks after a treatment, and I squeezed it (much like a pimple), and then it came out... if I hadn't squeezed it, it'd have probably just lingered there for another month... wonder if this shadow thing is a similar phenomena, just with hair trapped deeper under the skin. What you describe sure sounds like it, but yeah, wondering if sweating helps or not? If it doesn't, I'll just tan, then the shadow is gone... the only reason it's there is because I'm so pale...

I really like my pale tone. I use SPF50 to keep it. A tan makes me look not as nice to my eyes. So they show.

About the squeezing, I know exactly what you mean after a laser session, but it's in the weeks after the laser sesions. These spots I have, they have been there for years after the laser!

They're not coming out by themselves! I had to dig 1mm under my skin to get one. It's like a small part of a hair that decided to fossilize into place, yuck. I will try to add some pictures to explain what I mean. I could not start seeing them until a few month after laser, when everything that was going to shed finally did. I was waiting for them to shed too, thinking they might just take longer - they never did.