Ot: Facial Hair

[My5Mouseketeers]

I feel a little weird asking this question and my daughter would KILL me if she knew I was posting, but you people usually seem to have great advice.

My 14 year old daughter is getting a "mustache", nothing horrible, but it is getting a little noticeable. I am blonde and "pasty" white as my children lovingly call me. My mother-in-law is from Puerto Rico, so my children all tan great and have dark, thick hair.

I have never really had to deal with the mustache thing Should she bleach it? wax it? electrolysis? I don't know what to tell her. I would hate to make a bad decision that she would have to deal with for the rest of her life (e.g. shave it - which I KNOW is a wrong solution)

Advice please!

TIA,

Sandy

 

[SeansMom]

Look up PCOS and hirsutism. You don't want to miss this if that is what is going on.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I feel a little weird asking this question and my daughter would KILL me if she knew I was posting, but you people usually seem to have great advice.

My 14 year old daughter is getting a "mustache", nothing horrible, but it is getting a little noticeable. I am blonde and "pasty" white as my children lovingly call me. My mother-in-law is from Puerto Rico, so my children all tan great and have dark, thick hair.

I have never really had to deal with the mustache thing Should she bleach it? wax it? electrolysis? I don't know what to tell her. I would hate to make a bad decision that she would have to deal with for the rest of her life (e.g. shave it - which I KNOW is a wrong solution)

Advice please!

TIA,

Sandy

My DD12 is very dark. I have had to take her in for her eyebrows and upper lip to be waxed for over a year now. It was painful but not as painful as getting teased. She seems very happy with the results and fewer hairs grow back each time

 

[Mathfailure]

My daughter's hair is brown black, and her upper lip does get a 'shadow', so when it began to bother her I had it waxed. Usually she also has her eyebrows done at the same time.

A small thing that goes a long way in her self esteem. She becomes quite self conscious.

The lip does hurt more than eyebrows, but worth it to not be teased or selfcouscious.

 

[Mathfailure]

Looks like two mom's had the same experience!

 

[Halle]

DD did electrolysis and later (21 years old) laser. I recommend laser. More money but longer lasting results.

 

[shan136]

As an adult, I started waxing my eye and lip area and now 15 years later find it to be one of my most relaxing beauty rituals.

My nieces are starting to go through puberty and we were discussing with their mom having them go in to get waxed. There is such a stigma against female facial hair that a small "mustache" could become embarrassing to her. I think there is nothing wrong with taking her to get waxed, and is preferable to her possibly taking matters into her own hands and shaving it.

 

[lauramae76]

I had laser treatments done, about 6 of them. It was on the upper lip. I wish I did this 10 years ago. Good luck.

 

[Eeyore1928]

I bought one of those little purple hair removers from Wal mart. It is basically a very fine sand paper and it actually works. I think it was $7 total. The little purple thing is rubber and it comes with several refills of the pink "sand paper". I love mine. I am very pale with dark hair....it works wonders and no pain. Waxing hurts...plus adds up quickly. This thing has been a life saver!

 

[mrsklamc]

Yes, please check into PCOS just in case. It would have made a world of difference for me to have known sooner.

 

[iwrbnd]

Look up PCOS and hirsutism. You don't want to miss this if that is what is going on.

I agree! They can treat this with Spironolactone.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

I strongly suggest bleaching & only reccommend waxing if bleaching doesn't get the desired results.

Jolen (long e like jo-lean) bleach is my product of choice but there are others on the market as well (ex. Sally Hansen).

Waxing can become expensive, is uncomfortable, can be inconvenient & since she is an adolescent, the hair may grow back quicker than say an adult.

I'm an Italian woman with black hair & light olive skin. Been bleaching since I was an older teen (after about two years of waxing).

 

[Psychodisney]

I've been doing the bleach thing with my DD11 for the past 6 months. She was getting made fun of and now feels much better. She plucks he own "unibrow". I'll take her to get her eyebrows waxed when she's ready...but she doesn't want to go yet.

 

[pintamino]

I agree! They can treat this with Spironolactone.

I third this! Better to know... it's becoming more common. Wish I had known earlier

We have some Greek heritage in our family and my mom uses bleach.

 

[JenLanDisney]

I'm of Portuguese descent and I've been dealing with facial hair since about 10 years old!

Here's the best product I've found: Sally Hansen Wax Strips
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1ZY9NYXTJKCXP0FX51E0

You can also get it at WalMart.
1 - Wash the area to be waxed.
2 - Rub a wax strip between your hands to warm it
3 - Cut the wax strip to desired size
4 - Pull it apart (you get 2 sides to each strip)
5 - Apply and rub in direction of hair growth
6 - Pull off quickly in opposite direction of hair growth - Works great every time. I do it BEFORE not after a shower when your pores are open. Open pores lead to acne when waxing.

WRT the jolene bleach. You have to mix it. If you put too much powder, you can burn the skin.

 

[Sagginit]

i vote for waxing. skin there is sensetive and you need to be careful. bleaching just makes the hair blonde, so then you have a blonde mustache and if the hair gets thicker she may find that to be worse. waxing damages the hair follicle and hair gets paler and thinner with time.

 

[Eeyore1928]

When I was younger I did bleach...but then everyone could still see the hair..it was just blond. Then I waxed...ouch...$$$$$$$$$$$ hair grows back at a different rate all over lip area...like I said I really like the purple hair remover at wal mart...rub in a circular motion then switch directions...done! No chemical burns and no waiting for the redness to go away! Cheap Cheap Cheap!!!

 

[Miz Diz]

I say don't wax. I'm surprised someone said that waxing weakens the hair and it gets thinner. I have found the opposite from waxing eyebrows - it strengthens the hair follicles and grows thicker. I used Jolen to bleach when I was a teenager. I later got electrolysis. I would recommend laser, though. Electrolysis is a long process because they can only remove 1 hair at a time.

 

[apnep]

like I said I really like the purple hair remover at wal mart...rub in a circular motion then switch directions...done! No chemical burns and no waiting for the redness to go away! Cheap Cheap Cheap!!!

What is the name of this purple thing?? I want to try it!

Ang

 

[EMom]

ACK! A Indian friend of DD10's has a very noticeable moustache and has since about age 8. It's only getting thicker and darker. Way past peach fuzz. A few months ago, we noticed the area above her lip was raw and red. It look awful, but we only saw her from a distance and figured she had chapped lips. A lot of kids lick their lips and then get all red on their lips and above that, so we thought that's what it was. But it stayed that way and it was blood red. Since DD sometimes gets terribly chapped lips, we told her to tell her friend to try Aquaphor for hers because we have had luck with that. DD said she didn't think the lips were chapped, just the area above it.

So we got a closer look and the hair was gone. I think her mom had used some sort of chemical (Nair?) to remove the hair. It had worked but had burned the crap out of her skin. It lasted a few weeks and finally faded away. As it faded, the hair came back, but it all came back in at once, so it looked like stubble or something....You couldn't miss it.

DH and I feel bad for the kid. If she's got that much dark facial hair at her age, it's bound to get worse. If it was my kid, I'd do laser or something. There is no tactful way for me to bring this up to the mom. We are not close enough for that. She's very frugal and I don't see her parting with the money lasering would cost. But geez, I hope they don't Nair (or whatever) that kid again.