I don't have the funds for electrolysis. My facial hair makes me feel nasty, but I don't have the strength to shave every day. Tbh, even if I do, I still have visible shadow on my face. :(
Before i started laser, i had to shave twice a day to not break down completely. I don't get too much dysphoria from shaving itself, but it's there. I've found that it helps a lot when i don't view myself while shaving and only use a (magnifying) mirror to check for remaining stubble. I discovered a few years prior to my transition that i can shave "blind" without problems and have been doing it ever since.
For me the sight doesn't make an issue, it's the time it takes and the sensations. The hair on my chin where shadow always remains is super thick and painful to shave. And again, steals time from my limited life. :(((((
I haven't shaved in like 2 months or someshit, I wear a mask or a Kuffyeh when going outside and I avoid taking pictures and looking at mirrors.
Personally I see it a part of the morning routine. I am not a fan of my facial hair at all, so for me it's brush your teeth, comb your hair on your head, shave the hair on your face, go face the day.
It's honestly just a habit building sort of thing. I hate it how time consuming it is, but I hate my D-tier facial hair even more.
IPL helped a lot for me, but now the gray hairs are pulling some survivorship bias bullshit. It did thin out the follicles on my upper lip to the point where I no longer have perma-shadow, though. That took maybe 5-6 weeks with a home handheld unit.
How expensive was the home unit? I am so scared to spend the money, since I may go homeless, but fml, do I wish I didn't feel so fucking deformed. :////
Idk if this is still an option but I got it done professionally on Groupon for like 100 bucks for 10 sessions
I sprang for the $300 USD Braun one because I wanted swappable/detachable heads (so I'm not zapping my face with the same head I use on my junk) and the adjustable intensity (so I am not zap-frying the aforementioned junk). YMMV, but some of the cheaper units on Amazon should be OK as long as they're listed as safe for facial use. With those, you should definitely use it with cooling gel and light-filtering glasses. If you have darker hair, you should have pretty good results.
On the other hand, if money's too tight to risk ~$100 USD on an alphabet soup-brand IPL, just trying wax and/or an epilator should be a huge improvement. I had also tried a depilatory cream -- think it was Nad's -- but it didn't do much for me besides leave chemical burns.
Once or twice per week for 6 weeks or so. Using it every day would probably cause skin damage, because it's pretty intense and leaves what feels like a mild sunburn for about 12 hours afterward.
Yes, but it's hard to say how much of it is permanent. It definitely thins out the follicles, though -- like I said, my upper lip went from having a permanent gray shadow to actually looking like hew-mon (
) skin again. I guess the disclaimer is that I have fairly pale skin and dark hair.Give it a couple of weeks, and if there are any patches that are particularly stubborn, it should be safe to zap every other day. The Braun is weak enough that you might be able to get away with not using cooling gel, but it's pretty harsh on your skin without the gel when you still have a lot of stubble trying to come in.
Nope; it was honestly pretty early on. Less than two months in, and I was on Climara patches at the time, so it was still a pretty low E dose back at the beginning. I don't remember hair growth slowing significantly until I switched to gel around the 3 month mark.
Maybe I should start using my IPL machine again, then, that I just hadn't been using it for long enough...
Yeah, I still have to go over my upper lip about once every 2-3 weeks, for what it's worth.
How much stubble can you tolerate? Because an electric shaver is so much faster and more convenient, but it won't cut as close as a razor. But the difference is only like an hour's worth of stubble growth so it doesn't make a difference by mid day.
How fucking quick does your facial hair grow?? Holy shit, I shave with a razor and only start getting stubbles on the evening of the next day.
Not even fast compared to most other men I know. The 5 o'clock shadow is a common term for a reason.
I have really sensitive skin and really stiff, wiry hair that sucks to shave, and even when I do its still pretty visible under my skin. I find that every other day works best without being too upsetting.
Same (for the sensitive skin). I cannot even shave most of my body without turning into a minefield of red dots all over me. :|
A nice electric razor goes a long way. $60 towards one of the waterproof electric Philips razors that comes with the blade attachments. If you're shaving all your facial hair off, you don't even need the blade attachments just get like the electric one-blade one. Takes five minutes in the shower every like 2 days, personally, but I have never been able to grow a full beard reliably (although that is probably because I wind up hating the look of it 2 weeks in and shaving it back to like 0.5mm) so ymmv
waterproof electric Philips razors
Like which one? My current electric razor is breaking down after like 10 years and I really don't know what to get
I've had this $20 Philips Norelco Multigroom since like 2018 and it is still going strong. It isn't completely waterproof - but I take it into the shower with me & leave it next to the sink and haven't had it break from getting wet thus-far.
I bought the OneBlade too, originally just as a travel razor but honestly the actual waterproofing & pivoting blade makes it worth it so these days the Multigroom has been relegated to pube trimmer
Amazon links just FYI
There's also the option of using an epilator or waxing which pulls the hair out from the root so it lasts longer, but it's painful and may require letting it grow out more than you'd like to get a grip.
My hair is too thick. Epilator hurts a lot but fails to pull out most of the hair and takes literal hours, and doesn't even really slow down the hair growth for me. I am the lost link between humans and sasquatchs, but happen to be very femboy adjacent.
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I can relate but I can't really help
It's basically like: cheap, painless, long-lasting - choose two.
I was thinking of laser hair removal, though I guess it can be painful too. I've never tried it.
Simple, I don't most of the time. I gotta work on that instead of just doing it on occasions.
i would recommend makeup, honestly. shaving then makeup gives me a solid 8 hours or so
got myself a 7 layer razor, with my already bad hair growth it keeps me baby smooth for 1,5 days
Just have to. If I don't I feel like real shit. See if you can do laser maybe? That can help. Also I have heard that the tria4x can eliminate facial hair but beware it is quite painful. They can be had for about 100 dollars on ebay
Yeah I have a tria, and used it to get rid of probably 70% of my facial hair. Im getting Electrolysis for the rest. It hurts a lot, and is a very slow process, but it will work. I don't know if it's completely permanent, but doing like one refresh every couple months isn't so bad.
