GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

this isn't really meant to be a question, more of an open-ended statement open for discussion/suggestions, so, yea...

obviously, i've tried keeping up on shaving, but the stubble felt hideous. so, i tried waxing... because i figured, women do it all the time, so, it can't be all that bad... and, it hurt like hell, lol... so i didn't try that again. then i tried tweezing, and, although it was doing the same thing as waxing, and it did take FOREVER, it was awesome! it didn't hurt near as much as waxing, it lasted for at least a couple weeks+ and the normal face cleansing deal was incredibly nice!

so, i sorta found my notch pre-electrolysis, so i was just kinda wondering if anyone else has found neater ways to remove the facial hair other than taking half of a day or anything?

I used an epilator for several years on my face. It was great. Reduced the hair, got rid of some completely but required letting the hair grow out sufficiently for the epilator to grab the little buggers. That became impractical so then I then went to laser.

Erinn, please just keep in mind that it is a very rare (or non-existent?) trans-woman who doesn't wish she started permanent facial hair removal earlier. If there is any way possible for you to being laser or electro now, I think you'd be glad you did!

I think you're very brave for having tried waxing! I think Deena's brave for using an epilator! I tried that on my legs for a while and even there ouch ouch ouch.... not to mention I swear the thing was yanking out bits of skin. If I were to do anything non-permanent, other than shaving, I'd do what you did... plucking, each and every last one, by hand.

soo... deena and cassie, any idea of the average or what you payed for laser? and how was it?

Hi there. I had laser hair removel done 2 yrs ago in 2 main areas. I bought a package of 15 treatments where 3 areas were done at 5 each area. First was under eyes to neck second was neck to under breast and the third area was spider veins on my legs. Gone but I was never very hairy. I had a Bikini wax job(ouch!) twice and laser there twice after which was much easier. The cost for the 15 package was $1600. The laser down below and around back was single visits. I am thinking of SRS again even thou almost bankrupt.
I agree hair removel is a must early on! With love Teryll

While we are on this topic, I met this idiotic trans-woman whom doesnt think electro is necessary. I admit I once was this (young & stupid) idiotic and shared this viewpoint. I don't really like her, I feel bad for her though, shes a burned out older gal a vet. whom seems like she might never fully transition.

I admit with some of the older girls, like this. scare me, and to some degree, I do ok, and don't have nearly as many issues with harassment, as some of the well nastyer ones that prehaps, should re think transition.

I've tried all from waxing to tweezing to an epilator and now am getting ready to go to my 8th laser appointment after I get done typing this. So far the only thing that has worked is the laser. When you tweeze or epilate you are just going to spur more hair growth, so you will end up with more facial hair. I paid my laser center $1442.00 for 6 treatments with a 2 year guarantee. I'm now in the 2 year free stage and most of my facial hair is gone. Another thing that I recommend is getting on HRT because that will slow down the hair growth.

so... noting the two-year guarantee you mentioned, does that mean that laser hair removal isn't permanent? or is that on the basis of, if they missed any hairs, they'd do a touch-up or something?

They will continue treatment for two years or until all hair is gone. It's suppose to be permanent but I can't answer that question yet. Give it time and I'll let you know.

I did alot of research on this, and the best understanding I found was like so:

Ultimately, permanent means you killed the hair follicle. Anything which does not do this (shaving, waxing, etc.) is short term/cosmetic.

Electrolysis does this by inserting a wire, and electrocuting the follicle. Electrolysis may not work (per follicle) if the follicle is dormant, or if the wire is not inserted properly (doesn't reach the follicle) or if the voltage is not sufficient. Surface scarring may result from over-voltage or improper insertion. But most people have a vague idea how electrolysis works, yes?

Laser still has to kill the follicle to be effective. It does this by exciting (adding energy to) the molecules in the hair. Assuming the follicle is non-dormant, the hair is attached to the follicle and energy added to the hair will be transferred to the follicle. If enough energy is applied, the follicle dies. Laser applies this energy through emission of stimulated electrons in a wide beam through the skin. These electrons will interact with pigment molecules. This is why laser hair removal works best on people with fair skin and dark hair. If you have dark skin, the laser will warm your skin, possible never reaching the hair. If you have light hair, the laser won't excite the hair enough. Beyond that, the same ideas behind the problems with electrolysis apply. If not enough energy is applied to the hair, you may damage the hair currently growing but not kill the follicle. If too much energy is applied, you can damage the skin (and possibly still not kill the follicle, depending on pigment contrasts).

Laser and electrolysis have the same limitation of only being able to kill active follicles, so a proper plan of repeated visits is appropriate. This was excellently covered at tsroadmap but I can't find the exact text, at the moment.

Finally, it's normal for a few new hairs to pop up from time to time as you grow older. This happens to genetic women as well. Depending on how many hairs and how much they bother you, you can tweeze them or hunt them down more permanently.

I think the current best advice (and I believe I'm paraphrasing info elsewhere on the forums) is to do several months of laser treatments, then switch to electrolysis once laser has killed the majority of the hairs it can. Both require a skilled practitioner. How effective laser can be is actually a question best asked of a dermatologist. (They have charts!) Electrolysis will be as good as your electrologist.