Hi,  my wife is ok with me starting facial hair removal.  As a bit of background, I intend to start a medical, non social transition in July.  I'm not starting a social transition until my children leave high school (about 8 yrs).  So I have time to come up with best plan.  I don't have a lot of facial hair and minimal white hairs.

I will probably have 6-8 sessions of IPL and then switch to electrolysis.  (I still need to discuss with my beauty therapist who has had some experience with trans women).  It is currently summer in Australia.  Should I hold off starting facial hair removal until I start HRT  (ie decrease my testosterone level) or does it not matter?  Should I wait until winter so I have less of a tan so IPL may work better?

I'm basically getting as much info as I can so I can justify the expense of the treatments.  I'll also discuss this with my therapist and GP.

thanks,
Alexia

Hi Alexia!

Mmm, well, geting electro before HRT usually means it will hurt less, some say a LOT less. That is reason enough, lol. It hurts me a lot, ugh...

I did IPL before laser before electro...

IPL did a lot, fast, and it was pretty inexpensive, about 5 sessions for the price of one laser treatment. Some say it isn't permanent, but it did clear a LOT of dark hairs for me. Yes, it is better to not have a tan or a burn, especially, but it will still work wonders on a lot of girls..

If I had it to do over, I would have done all my hair removal before HRT, in the same sequence, IPL, Laser, Electrolysis...

Good luck with your journey, and have a great summer down under. It is snowing again here in the north of North America. Ugh...

Missy

My advice is to start facial hair removal asap. It takes years to remove and for me after 3 1/2  years I still have a dozen white stragglers. I now go once every 3 months for electrolysis on these few left. Maybe 3 more sessions for a full clearance. As for pain, not much difference pre or post HRT

Hey, I've been doing laser for over a year and still have quite a few residual hairs; but my beard grew very thick! I definitely agree you should start as soon as possible, it can be a lenghty process. The first two times removed something like 70% of my facial hair so that was incredibly effective. Since then We've been poking away at the others and taking down any new hairs that wake to life, which seems to be the timeconsuming part of the whole thing.

Best of luck

Quote from: warlockmaker on February 01, 2017, 10:05:41 PM
My advice is to start facial hair removal asap. It takes years to remove and for me after 3 1/2  years I still have a dozen white stragglers. I now go once every 3 months for electrolysis on these few left. Maybe 3 more sessions for a full clearance. As for pain, not much difference pre or post HRT

I agree with warlockmaker, Starting on the facial hair is a big one. I am about 15 months into transition and have about 5-6 hours left for my first full clearance to be completed. I wrote a thread a few days ago and it ended up talking about trying to live with having to grow your beard out for Electrolysis...just a pain in the butt, sooner is better.

Liz

Sooner is definitely better.  I am early in HRT, and not yet socially transitioned.  I have just started electrolysis.

I dress and go out in public once a week for my support group meeting.  Plus I have several weekly events that I attend in boy mode.  Trying to find a schedule that accommodates being clean-shaven on group day, growing it out for three days for electrolysis, and minimizes the amount of explaining I have to do on other days is a pain in the butt.  It will be infinitely worse once I transition socially.  I have probably two years of electrolysis ahead of me, and I don't want to wait that long to come out publicly.

Another reality to consider is that for every hair you see on your face, there are two more follicles that are dormant. So, even after having one's face cleared completely, there are still two more entire beards waiting to awaken and be dealt with. My understanding is that a hair in the growth stage is present for only 10-12 weeks, and the remainder of the time, they are untreatable..

I have been at the point of full clearance several times, and it is always an amazingly wondrous thing, to be smooth and hair-free, but within weeks sleepers begin to awaken, and nubs appear, which turn into full-blown hairs, and back to the electrologist I go..

I have not been able to afford electro this last year much at all, so now I have a pretty sizable population of unwanted hairs, many of them dark, especially on my jawline and throat. These areas are especially painful to treat, as there are a LOT of nerves in both areas, and the hairs there tend to grow sideways, so electrologists tend to avoid those areas earlier in treatment in favor of working on cheeks and sideburns and the chin and mouth area. Nothing hurt me as bad as the thick hairs just beneath the nose, in the middle of my lips. The fine hairs right at the lip line were also real buggers, so yeah, these are also areas that need more work, even after over 100 hours of previous zapping...

Kissing boys that don't know my history can be very stressful when there are wiry things lurking about my puckered lips, lol..

Just a bit more info, and some other things to consider..

Missy

Thank you all for your informative posts.  I apologise for not responding quicker but unfortunately I only have 2 -3 hours a week where I can comfortably sit down and respond or write posts.  I think I agree with the consensus and start my hair removal asap.  Facial hair removal is one of my few regrets about not doing when I was young, single and with a good disposable income.  This is because it would have had little impact on other aspects of my life such as family.  Whereas even though I now realise it wouldn't have been as bad as I thought if I transitioned earlier I wouldn't have my kids.

As a follow up question, how quickly does the hair reduce so that a good shave and a bit of makeup covers up most of the facial hairs instead of doing heavier makeup (ie does the hair thin out quickly and then most of the time is clearing up the left overs?)  Too be honest I'd just  love to look in a mirror without the cringe.

Summer is bittersweet for me as I'm non social transitioning so my wife prefers me to not wax the legs during summer and also it will be harder hiding the effects of a medical transition.

hugs,
Alexia

Alexia,

I did Intense Pulsed Light treatments when I started, because it was relatively inexpensive, and very effective in reducing dark hairs immediately. The benefit was that it broke up the beard and mustache line almost right away, which made passing possible much sooner than otherwise. I did 6 treatments for about $125 total. It was a real bargain. Next I went on to laser, which was quite expensive, but also dealt with dark, thick hairs faster than electro would. I later found a very inexpensive laser place that was $100 a session for the first session, and $50 for follow-ups. Electro is the only way to get light or white hairs, and I am very blonde, so most of my hair is very fine and white, but easy to hide with a good shave and proper foundation. There are bumps and red marks to be covered after electro, too.

So, in short, IPL and laser made it possible for me to lose the blue shadow, but electro was needed to finish up. I hope this helps you!

MIssy

Quote from: alexia on February 05, 2017, 07:54:09 PMAs a follow up question, how quickly does the hair reduce so that a good shave and a bit of makeup covers up most of the facial hairs instead of doing heavier makeup (ie does the hair thin out quickly and then most of the time is clearing up the left overs?)  Too be honest I'd just  love to look in a mirror without the cringe.

Alexia,

I'm headed back to Dallas in about three weeks for my third full clearing, and I've been on E for a little over 4 months now, and my beard is getting much lighter in color and texture, allowing me to present reasonably after a shave with just a modicum of makeup.  Now, I'm probably not quite "passing," but it's certainly good enough for me to look in the mirror and feel pretty.  Please keep in mind that I'm pushing 57 and I had done some electrolysis before starting at E3K, mostly the dark hairs, so I was already getting fairly gray.  As always, YMMV. 

Erin

14 sessions of laser and about 30hrs hours(I think) of Electrolysis...I shave with an electric razor as the laser tends to make it difficult to get everything with a blade shave. I only have a couple of spots with clusters of 1/2doz black hairs and the rest is very patchy

One of the big keys to getting your money worth out of Electrolysis is to be able to lie still and not have your tech constantly having to stop for you. Ensure you have adequate pain control. Sitting there for 1.5 hrs continually moving and stretching your face slows the whole thing down tremendously and I would be surprised if your tech was able to work effectively if you are in pain. Especially towards the end of the session. She gets a huge amount done if I can lie still for the full hour...which up until recently I have not been able to do. That is why places like E3000 are able to clear your beard so quickly. They say 70-90hrs to clear the average beard...gone. It just shows the importance of making each session count.

Liz

Quote from: alexia on February 05, 2017, 07:54:09 PM
As a follow up question, how quickly does the hair reduce so that a good shave and a bit of makeup covers up most of the facial hairs instead of doing heavier makeup (ie does the hair thin out quickly and then most of the time is clearing up the left overs?)  Too be honest I'd just  love to look in a mirror without the cringe.

I am 2 weeks into HRT, and I have had 3 sessions of laser and one of electrolysis.  Since most of my facial hair is white (especially after laser), I don't have a lot of shadow to cover.  After a good shave, a bit of concealer and regular makeup does the job fairly well. 

However, after 7 hours, the growth is starting to show.  It doesn't show as colour, since the makeup is still doing its job and the hair is mostly colourless.  But it does show as texture.  My face starts to look like sandpaper.

Again thank you all for your responses.  It is comforting to know that a coarse of IPL treatments will remove most of the dark hairs so if and when I go out I can get by with a good shave and some makeup.  Since I don't intend to go full time any time soon I can get the electrolysis to clean up the rest before I do go full time.  Which will keep my wife and bank balance happy.

Alexia

Hi Alexia;
You should start Laser Hair removal as soon as possible.  I live in Victoria (on the Ocean) but once a month come into Melbourne for various Beauty Treatments. I now no longer have any black hairs on my face except a few stubborn ones just underneath my lower lip. Over the years from when I transitioned once before some 30 years ago I had a lot of Electrolysis, and am having more now to get rid of the white hairs, but I also have my upper lip and chin area waxed once a month. I can then go for about 10 days without shaving and even after shaving have no "blue shadow" because none of the black hairs are there any more. I just wish we had had IPL back in the 70's in the United Kingdom
Best
JudithLynn

Thank you JudithLynn I spoke with my beauty therapist and she recommended that I start end of April for best results so I am looking forward to start.

Alexia

The other thing to start is voice training.  That can take a very long time.

Hair removal can take 9-12 months too.  I'll be doing laser for about 30-35 weeks then electrolysis after that.

Hi,

I have had 3 laser in Mount Gambier (@$90 per session) at:

Fuss Wellness Spa and Fuss Wellness Advanced Skin Clinic @ Address: 4/26 James St, Mount Gambier SA 5290 

The girl has not asked any questions, likely because I gave her a letter from a dermatologist friend that stated I had infected hair follicles that required removal on my face.  I have spoken to her about removing all the hair as it was "odd" with bald/cleared patches and she has no issues with doing it. She is very non-judging and I have not seen anyone there question anything except "are you ok" or "take care and stay out of the sun".

I hope this helps

also I did 6 ipl before these three and honestly laser is the same price there as ipl and laser has cleared more in the first two sessions than all 6 ipl combined.

Quote from: alexia on February 13, 2017, 08:25:59 PM
Again thank you all for your responses.  It is comforting to know that a coarse of IPL treatments will remove most of the dark hairs so if and when I go out I can get by with a good shave and some makeup.  Since I don't intend to go full time any time soon I can get the electrolysis to clean up the rest before I do go full time.  Which will keep my wife and bank balance happy.

Alexia

IPL is not Laser and don't let them tell you it is. Laser treatments are significantly better.

With IPL it will go but it will also come straight back th4e moment you stop. Laser will kill the follicle completely, not in every case but far, far, better than IPL ever will. I have found IPL a waste of money and Laser  works.
Liz

Thank you for your comments Sarah and Elizabeth. 

I've made an appointment with Mandy at BeautyWorxMedispa on 4 Davison St Mt Gambier.  I've been seeing her for over a year for leg waxings and other beauty needs and most importantly she's comfortable with me being transgender.  She has had transgender clients in New Zealand where she previously worked.  However I will question her on the expected results and if I'm not happy it's nice to have a recommendation for another clinic in Mount Gambier. 

It's great that we have this forum as I don't have to walk into a situation blind. 

so thank you

OP,

Please, please, please avoid IPL. It will be money wasted. You need true laser. Even just a cursorary Google of "IPL vs laser' will provde enough conclusive links on the matter.

Start facial hair removal ASAP. Once the grey starts, only elecrolysis will be effective and that is a lengthy and extremely costly procedure (tens of thousands of pounds/dollars).