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. :(

  • Findom_DeLuise [she/her, they/them]
    ·
    9 months ago

    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.

      • Findom_DeLuise [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        9 months ago

        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.

      • kristina [she/her]
        ·
        9 months ago

        Idk if this is still an option but I got it done professionally on Groupon for like 100 bucks for 10 sessions

      • Findom_DeLuise [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        9 months ago

        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.

              • Findom_DeLuise [she/her, they/them]
                ·
                9 months ago

                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 (quark) 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.

      • Findom_DeLuise [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        9 months ago

        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.