By Cali
I like to write about our love/hate relationship with hair. I have hair where I don’t want it and no hair where I want it. However, I want to limit today’s discussion to how we deal with facial hair: beard, brows, ears and nose. I have included ears and nose because as we age, we tend to grow hair on or in those places.
I started shaving at about 11 years old. In junior high school I had a mustache and sideburns. In college those turned into massive “chomps” of the 70’s (youngsters can look it up). Instead of a ‘denial beard’ I had ‘denial chomps’. Once I went to a Halloween Party as a 9-month pregnant-bearded lady. After my first wife and I split, I shaved it all off, a clean restart. It took me a while to adjust to my new look.
Back to the topic. What to do with our facial hair. We have several methods to deal with it: pluck (thread), shave, wax, laser, or chemical (Nair, etc.)
Brows. For years women plucked their brows into skinny lines. Now the more common thing is to wax them and to make them stand out. In a photo posted on this site, Kandi shaved them off and then drew them in – they will grow back.
I take a drug (eye drops) for my eyes whose side effect is longer thick eyelashes and longer brows. My eyelashes and eyebrows will grab each other, so I have a brow-waxing package and get them done every 2 – 3 months. Sometimes they will ‘enhance’ (draw in hairs and pencil) the brows.
What do you with your brows? Do you shape them yourself or get them done professionally? Do you enhance them?
Ears and Nose. These are the facts of life, as you age hair will grow in your ears and in your nose. Earrings with ear hair is not a pretty picture. And nose hair with lipstick (lippy) isn’t pretty either.
I don’t have hairy ears (yet) but do have nose hairs. I pluck these by hand.
What do you do? Do you wear headphones to mask the hair in your ears?
Beard – Mustache. Many of us have worn the denial beard or in my case the denial chomps. I shave BUT after almost half a century of shaving, I am tired of shaving. Instead of a 5 o’clock shadow, I get a 3 o’clock shadow. So going out all day in girl mood is not an option without a shave break. Many have beard hide make-up foundation, I don’t.
I look at Kandi, and I plan to follow her lead. It is clear that she laser the hair on her face off. How else can she spend the entire day as Kandi. [Editorial comment: because I am old and most of the beard is grey, which is not removable by laser. I also color correct pretty well when doing my makeup. The two combine to allow me a longer time out before I turn into a pumpkin.] I know she posted about using the NOOD. I have purchased an at-home laser hair removal device but have yet to use it. I just need to find the right time. I know there are men that have their faces waxed to define their facial hair, so I image some might do it for the full face. (I’ve been told it can be very painful.) I also know there are chemical methods that some people use.
What do you do to your face so to not appear as a bearded lady? Do you plan to change this in the future?
Remember beauty can be painful. Stay pretty.
7 Responses
Cali,
It is a painful fact that most of us have hair where we prefer not to have it and places we would give anything for it to grow .
OK facial hair first , the first point is those on hormones tell me it solves some but not all beard growth . I buy Gillette disposables , I usually find I can get 3-4 days use before they begin to drag but then i keep them to take care of my hands and chest . For a while I tried shaving twice a day , it may give a smoother look but it’s relaced by the redness . I found a good quality concealer does a good enough job to last all day under my makeup , I always use foundation on top and finish with powder .
A GG friend gave me a good tip with eyebrows , she used a brow comb/brush lifting the hairs with the comb and then cut the long ends off with scissors , that still has to combine with plucking to shape them . My daughter gave me a gift of eye care items and found the thin wax works great to keep brows in shape , as you must have gathered I do my own brows .
Now we come to ear and nasal hair , for me there’s only one route and that’s tweezers , I sometimes feel nasal hair must be the quickest growing hair on our bodies , which means a daily check on them. Ear hair is a little trickier as you can’t see exactly what you’re plucking , I do check it regularly because it also makes my hearing aids fit and work better .
Every six weeks I book in at a ladies hairstylist , I always go as Teresa but and simply pop my wig off and place it on it’s stand while she trims my male hair , call it vanity if you like but I can’t bring myself to shave my head as I admit I have to be grandpa a couple of times a year .
While you don’t mention other body parts I do a total body shave every morning , I don’t see it as a chore but I have to set aside the time it takes in my schedule but as it’s everyday it doesn’t take very long .
As for the future , one of my concerns is sustaining it with increasing age but no way will I ever be a bearded lady .
Teresa,
I don’t have the time to completely shave each day and I HATE stubble, it just makes me itch. I get my legs waxed and a bikini wax whenever I want to. I get a 12-pack of services for the discount. I have to tape (KT tape) my legs regularly, and hair interfers with the action of the tape. I been getting my legs waxed for almost 10 years now, and most of my lower legs has no hair. One day the hair will be completely gone from my legs. I have only had 5 bikini waxing, but I can already tell that the hair on my butt has thinned out.
I would like to get to the point where I don’t have to shave my face, especially the hair around my lips. I think shaving just makes it grow back thicker. I have the laser, just haven’t had the time to use it. But I will. I want to be able to just put on a little foundation, some concealer around the eyes with shadow and mascara, pop on a wig and go.
Cali,
I had to go through most brands of razor before I found the combination that works and it isn’t always the most expensive . For my legs I use a sesitive skin three bladed one , I admit from new they do cause some irritation but I’ve found they actually get better with use after three or four weeks they shave just as smooth but with no irritation . Not forgetting to moisturise your legs after .
I forgot to mention I use Loreal day and night cream on my face everyday , choosing the right product does reduce redness and also fills pores along with reducing wrinkles . YES girls they do actually work .
To take up Lisa’s point , I know couple of post op TSs who still have to shave even after other facial treatments .
Who said becoming a women was easy but it’s so much fun trying !!!
Cali, I am somewhat fortunate in that my facial hair does not grow quickly. I can shave my beard/mustache in the morning and look fine through the next 24-36 hours. I also use a trimmer attachment to tame the nose and ear hair that grows. The one area that requires work is my brows, but in the opposite direction: I have almost no visible hairs there. So I’ve tried many different products to get a look that I’m happy with. The latest thing that is working for me is a brow pomade by Anastasia Beverly Hills. It’s more expensive, but a little goes a long way as I don’t get out much.
Hi Tina.
My eyebrows are also thinning out along the outside plus I have a scare in one brow. My eyedrops’ side effect is longer, thicker lashes and faster growing eyebrows. Sometimes when I get a brow waxing, I will ask and other times the technician will ask if I want the brows ‘enhanced’, but not always. I like to watch as she draws in hairs, defines the brows, and adds shadow. I am learning.
I create a ‘spa’ day about once or twice a year where I book a legs – bikini – brows waxing appointment and then get my monthly mani/pedi. It helps me be me.
Cali
Cali,
What Teresa says about hormones is true. It has reduced the hair growth on my entire body. I still shave my face every day, but I’m good for 24 hours after a shave. I drafted a piece for Kandi that I never asked her to publish about getting rid of my facial hair. Suffice to say there are tons of thousands of facial hairs, and they are very tenacious little buggers, so hormones has been the only sure-fire technique for me.
I was lucky enough to have a full head of hair when I started on hormones almost 3 years ago. The hormones have helped me to keep the hair that I have and it’s much thicker now.
I go to a salon to have my eyebrows dyed about every three months. She shapes them at the same time (threading). They look great. I don’t have to worry about ear hair, But I do trim my nose hairs with a nose hair trimmer about every two weeks.
With the hormones, I only have to shave my body about once every three weeks, And then it is really just my lower legs and lower arms, which, for some reason will get little hairs coming out. I have had other friends on hormones with a similar experience.
As an aside, I never had the denial beard, but I did have a denial mustache until I was 35. There was a crucial moment when I realized I needed to shave it off if I was going to go out in public and I desperately wanted to do that.
Thank you for your post. We all have to deal with the hair issue to some extent.
Lisa
Thank you Lisa,
With all the medical issues I have been through and I will deal with the rest of my life, hormones is not an avenue for me. But I am glad you have had such good results. I’m jealous, I wish I still had hair. My hair started to depart in my teens when I picked up a bug in the far east one summer and it did a number on me for 9 months. The months of antibiotics started the process. I went clean shaven at 30. It took a while to see a different face in the mirrow after 20 years.
Cali