I was looking through some old pictures at my parents’ house on Easter Sunday and ooooh wee! — the upper lip-mustache-and-eyebrow sitch in some of my school pics was out of control.
The funny thing is I remember furry face being more socially accepted than it is today. As a teenager, I didn’t pluck or wax, and neither did any of my girlfriends. We weren’t complete werewolves, but we still managed to get dates, fur and all.
By a few years after high school, the hair thing had gone out of style, and women were doing all sorts of things to get smooth and hair-free.
I once had a creative roommate who’d bleach her upper lip hair (making it less obvious), and then cut the bleached hairs away with a scissors — this, to avoid the pain of waxing.
To smooth my ‘stache, I’ll usually wax my upper lip with either Sally Hansen’s Hair Remover Wax Strip Kit ($6) or Parisa Warm Wax ($12); to trim my brows, I’ll pluck with a Tweezerman, and then trim off any wayward hairs with a scissors.
It seems like most women go for plucking, waxing or threading…
How about you?
How do you remove excess facial hair?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
its so funny you should post this cause i was thinking of asking you the same question the other day since you always complain about being a hairy beast
I am a self proclaimed and confirmed hairy beast lol
after many years of waxing bleaching and other torturous methods for years- i splurged of laser hair removal on my face ( upper lip and some wacky areas on my chin) as i was getting older i guess my hormones were going buckwild and the fact i was trying out different birth control pills for years didnt help my cause these facial hairs were scary and and while they were sparse they were THICK! plucking would cause horrid bumps on my face it was that bad
the backstory – through my childhood being furry was never accepted – i was called every name in the book including chewbacca! lol i laugh now but it was traumatizing – i was a private school girl and was tormented cause i had to wear a skirt and knee socks and good ol mom didnt allow me to shave my legs till 8th grade (old school parents) UNFUN – one day i sneaked and shaved my legs and my arms BIG MISTAKE!
now i leave my arms in their slightly furry form lol – i realized that there are worse women out there and if they can hack it so can i – totally not worth the razor bumps lol – i am a stickler though for keeping my legs shaved at all times childhood trauma lol
the laser worked thankfully after 2 years of treatment
brows i get a waxing every couple of months at anastasia studio at sephora and i maintain at home with tweezers and a little scissor to trim long hairs in the brows! everywhere else on my face is now a non issue thank god!
I have my brows and upper lip waxed every so often (when I have the cash, lol). The rest of the time I maintain with tweezers. A few years ago, I tried Nair for face around the pesky upper lip area. Big mistake! It was super irritating, and then I had dry patches where I used the crap–and it stayed dry for about six months (this was long before I discovered Clinique moisturizer.)
I’m not super hairy but I’m Indian and my hair is jet black so it shows.
1) Legs: shave, more in the summer obviously than the frigid winter months.
2) Stomach: shave, but now I think I’ll try waxing it myself
3) Bikini area: I wax it myself because for the price and humiliation I would rather just do it on my own.
4) Nair upper lip, tweeze eyebrows. Yesterday I bleached my forehead and cheeks for the first time and I like it, I think I might keep it up.
Wow I said I wasn’t super hairy but I sure do a lot of hair maintenance now that I look at that list..
Has anyone noticed their top lip having a shadow to it even when it is completely hair free? I thought it was because I have just been tweezing and missed some hair but I naired yesterday and I still see a shadow.
I shave it off, yeah like a MAN, Muuhahahahaha!!!!
Seriously, I do. I found out that for me, its been the safest, most hassle free way of staying smooth. I dont trust wax, especially not after this so called “best lady in the business” left me with a whacking great bruise on my arm. I stopped bleaching, cos i really dont think all that chemical gunk was doing me much good. I paid a hefty sum for laser on my face. Big mistake. BIG. HUGE. It seemed to be going pretty well, until the sixth session when the “doctor” upped the power and left me with burn scars all over my face that took almost eight months to disappear, and I had to go crazy trying to find a thick enough concealer that would blend perfectly with most of my face and would stay on all day without smudging or melting. I’m not joking on this. I have photographs I took to document my recovery. To all u ladies reading this, if u go in for laser hair removal, dont let the technician use too strong a laser strength. Multiple sittings would be far better and less disastrous. Why didnt I sue the B__ch? She’s my colleague and friend’s elder sister.
Anyway, now I just use a trusty twin blade for everything from tash to toes. It wont increase hair growth, nor will it make hair thicker. I’ve been doing this for years on arms and legs and if any of that were true, I’d be a hairy chimpanzee by now 🙂
Great blog once again, Karen. I’m one of ur regular readers, just dont want to come out in the open with this horror story.
I too use those Sally Hansen’s waxing strips for my upper lip. But they don’t work for my chin hair .. yes I have chin hair. I usually have to tweeze those buggers away.
I’ve recently started threading my eyebrows and love it! (And by that I mean I have it done by a pro). My brows look better than ever. I got about once a month and then pluck the strays the pop up between visits.
As for the rest of it. I’m a plucker. Big time. I recently lost my favorite tweezers which I had for over a decade and went through a brief depression until I found Tweezerman. Now, I love my Tweezerman but they’re not as good as the previous one… boo.
I have been known to shave the peach fuzz on the side of my face on occassion. I’ve tried to wax it, but it’s too fine and I always feel sticky afterward, which I can’t stand. So, there you have it!
Hellz to the yeah! I used to wax my eyebrows by myself at home but ended up making some really costly mistakes. Now home waxing reserves to the upper lip area and I use the microwave wax from Sally’s beauty (the sensitive skin version.) It removes hair fabulously with minimal amount of pain. For eyebrows, I tweeze and trim. The Revlon tweezers are pretty good although I’m thinking of investing on a Tweezerman soon.
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i have a confession. when i started highschool i all of a sudden started growing hair on the sides of my face(think blonde curly sideburns) and it didn’t seem noticable until some jerk started to make fun of me for it behind my back. i tried waxing, but for some reason wax in that area no matter what irritates my skin, so i have to shave the sides of my face(too much plucking to do)!
for everything else like my eyebrows(i wax them when i can) and chin, i just tweeze.
Thanks Karen for blogging about this!
I have been using a line from Sally’s called Gigi for my hair removal needs. The cream hair remover for face is good coz its not as stinky as Nair and it comes with a conditioning balm to put on after.
YiKes!! painfull memories, i use creams to remove
my upper lip hair an for my eyebrows y just tweeze
away, for muy legs i shave as well for muy pits,
try’d one time waxing but it let me burn pretty
bad.
I use a (pretty pink) Tweezerman (with butterflies)to handle by bushy brows…then I kind of leave the rest untouched since my hair isn’t really obvious on my legs or arm…
As for bikini areas…I am too chicken to wear bikini that I always have a shorts (and a tank top) over it anyway…yeah, why do I even bother…
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LOL I still remmeber the days when bleaching was okay. I could never bring myelf to do it because on my brown skin, the blond stash would look worse than my regular color. Plus its a nightmare when you’re out in the sun. A lot women bleach their whole face as part of facials to make their skin look lighter. ITS SO NOT GOOD for the skin.
I wax and tweeze. Eyebrows , always get tweezed. The stash gets waxed or tweezed with an old not so sharp tweezer.
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LOL I still remember the days when bleaching was okay. I could never bring myself to do it because on my brown skin, the blond stash would look worse than my regular color. Plus its a nightmare when you’re out in the sun. A lot women bleach their whole face as part of facials to make their skin look lighter. ITS SO NOT GOOD for the skin.
I wax and tweeze. Eyebrows , always get tweezed. The stash gets waxed or tweezed with an old not so sharp tweezer.
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Threading…it’s the best!
Why can’t we go back to the middle school days, where peach fuzz and sideburns are okay. Well I still have my sideburns but for my peach fuzz, I Nair that stuff. It is just too expensive to wax because the hair grows back too damn fast. It’s either Nair-ing or plucking or those little razors that you find in the beauty aisle, I think those are for eyebrows. Why didn’t I get my Mom’s no body/facial hair whatsoever genes?
I get my eyebrows waxed and pluck inbetween sessions, and for my upper lip hair I use a hair removal cream for the face by acvon and it’s THE BEST! 😀 I love it!
And for legs, bikini ‘area’, armpits – I use my trusty venus!
I leave my hairy arms alone though, can’t be bothered 🙂
oops, avon not acvon! 😛
What a timely post! My sister (as esthetician) waxed what I call my goat-tee! (not that dramatic) I used to just bleach the hair above my lip and on my chin, but got tired of it and decided to wax 2 days ago. Now I have a whole bunch of bumps and white heads on my chin! I think I’m going back to bleaching.
For my brows, I usually pluck, I’ve never waxed them and am super picky about them, so the only person who touches these babies is me!
I like to wax my peach fuzz because it lasts longer and my skin feels smooth, not prickly. As for my brows I just pluck them with my cheap ass tweezer.
Well, I can tell you I had a very hairy upper lip (as everywhere else in my body, hah!) but I’d wax it once a month and it was allright. Sort of. Then my hormonal disorders gained control of it and for the past six months I had been waxing it once a week AND IT WASN’T ENOUGH! I also got a very scare “”beard”” on my chin and upper neck, you’d had to come close to notice (my boyfriend was the one who told me, actually, and he kept making jokes about it!!), so I went for laser hair removal. After 3 sessions my “beard” is already gone, but for my moustache is taking longer. Anyways, I’m on the 6th session now and after I have it it takes 3 weeks for my moustache to grow, and is just so weak that I shave and it doesn’t have the time to grow before the next session. Even if my hair never dissappears (you know, hormonal stuff), I will def. keep having laser monthly. It’s only 9.90 euros and it keeps me hair-free for a month, better than waxing (more painful, though!).
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I had the best tweezers ever, and I lost them. Now I use a tweezerman for my eyebrows. For my upper lip, chin & peach fuzz (along the jawline) I use the Bellabe facial hair remover. You can google it. I love it as it lets me remove a lot of hair at a time. It’s like tweezing as it’s plucking the hair from the roots, except a lot faster since it pulls a bunch up at a time. Sounds painful? Not to me. But if you are not used to it, then it may hurt. You can’t use this on the eyebrows. My skin is very thin bc of medications, so I can’t wax or use any chemical hair removers. So Bellabe is the best hair removal method for me.
I should wax my upper lip regularly but I don’t, my hairs although black are fairly fine & sparse so I can get away with some spot plucking. When I do wax my lip I use Parissa body sugar.
You know, we could make MILLIONS inventing some really good, non-embarassing hair removal products – if they worked. Think about it lol.
I use the tweeze method on face (yeah, chin and bit on upper lip) but one of those teeny razors for peach fuzz (maybe once a month) and I kind of have it down now.
The biggest pain is that I can get pimples where a hair is clogging skin on chin/eyebrow so you get a nasty looking red mark. I might try cream again.
i use hair removal cream for my ‘mustache’. i think i might switch to waxing though because it doesn’t work so well.
i dont do anything but im going to soon. im gonna do my eyebrows and give it form
I used to have the most beautiful eyebrows until I had severe burns from waxing in high school, they never grew back in those areas =(. Threading was painful and I found I was not pleased with the results (seemed like they didn’t have as much control). I now get my brows tweased and I love the results. Btw I think getting your brows done are a must, they can do so much for the face!
I shave everything else because my skin is too sensitive for waxing or nair. As for bleaching, I have a friend that bleaches the hair above her lip, I find it is so noticible but I have never told her I think shes better off with other methods. I think your roommate trimming hers after she bleaches it might be what makes it work for her, but just bleaching and leaving long blondish hairs on your face is quite noticible.
Hi Karen!
Thanks so much for posting this! Over the years (especially after working at a beauty salon), I’ve come to realize that I am definitely not the hairiest girl around, but I am still pretty self-conscious about it, particularly when it comes to my face. Eyebrows are easy enough, I just tweeze those on my own. As for upper lip hair, I’ve been going in between waxing or using a hair removal cream for the last couple years. I was never too satisfied with either of the methods because it would miss some spots and leave my upper lip red for hours. I shaved it for the first time last weekend and it was so simple and easy and painless! I just hope that there won’t be any unpleasant aftermath *crosses fingers* Anyone who has been shaving their mustache/face notice any thicker/courser hair coming back that I should be worried about?
Sometimes I like to use a bit of body wash lather above my upper lip and take a leg razor and just shave it off. I have to be careful, though, because I’ve cut myself a few times in the process! I’m very clumsy with sharp things. 😉
Sally Hansen Extra Strength All Over Smart Wax – the only thing I’ve found that is as good as a salon wax. Though, don’t try the bikini area yourself – you’ll be sorry, I learned the hard way…
Benefit Beauty Brow Bars, Bliss Poetic Wax & Tweezerman.
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I get my eyebows and upper lip waxed professionally every two weeks, but I maintain them by tweezing stray hairs in btw. my appts. I shave everywhere else.
I used to pluck my eyebrows using a tweezer but got quite lazy doing this. Then I discovered threading and I’ve been hooked ever since. It shapes the eyebrows well plus I can thread the facial hair off leaving me with silky smooth skin. Love it.
Usually I pluck. I have this huge love for plucking. Makes me happy when its time to clean my brows 🙂
But when I get lazy, I take care of my upper lip with careful self-threading.
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amy: yeah, I’ve noticed the hair does come in thicker/darker on the upper lip after shaving.. I only started doing it as a last resort because hair removal cream was leaving the skin red, itchy and irritated for days… not worth it imo. tweezing didnt go so well either, very painful in that area (not to mention will make you sneeze your head off). waxing seemed to leave big red bumps that looked similar to acne! ugh. so, yeah- shaving was a last resort. I notice if I just make sure I use a new(er) sharp razor every time, it’s quick painless and get pretty good results. only drawback- it doesnt last long! it’s kinda embarrassing to admit it- but I will! great post Karen. If anyone has any other (non traditional) suggestions, I would like to hear them.
I usually get my eyebrows threaded ,upper lip threaded or waxed once a month and pluck of stray hairs in between ,arms and legs armpits waxed for sure ,cant live without that and bikini line my old venus.I am suddenly noticing more facil hair than before (donno y) and have am using home made remedies like gram flour n oil ,wheat flour n oil n water and make lil balls n rub over face ,does help lil bit …….
I wax and then pluck to maintain.
In a pinch, I shave.
It a misconception that waxing inhibits new hair growth.
my hair growth is intolerable at this point. I wax my upper lip at least once a week and that’s not enough. I swear it’s stretchingu my skin. I also have a shadow there and don’t know where to start with getting rid of it. Ideas? And can anyone recommend laser hair removal spots in toronto? Tested and true? I’m terrified of scarring my face.