Kay’s Question:
I know it’s an old wives’ tale that shaving makes your hair grow in faster and thicker but I’m beginning to think that waxing is the new wives’ tale. I have been waxing my legs for years and have yet to see hair grow in thinner or take longer to grow back in. Is there any relationship between waxing and less hair growth?
The Right Brain Waxes Poetic:
I wish we could give you a definitive answer here but there seems to be a bit of scientific controversy in Wax-land. While everyone agrees that waxing is an effective method of epilation, they disagree on whether it makes the regrowth better or worse!
Some sources, like Onlinesurgery.com say that waxing causes repeated damage to the hair follicles that may result in permanent reduction of unwanted hair. But other research, like this article from the Symposium of Adolescent Gynecology and Endocrinology discusses the possibility that waxing actually has the reverse affect: that it can trigger hair to change from the vellus type (fine thin hair) to the terminal type (scalp and beard hair).
The only consistent data appears to be that the results vary depending on the person and the location of the body hair. Leg hair may become more fine with time while lip and eyebrow hair may grow thicker. Everyone has their opinion but apparently there’s no definitive answer in the scientific community.
The Brains Bottom Line:
We’d love to hear from our loyal Beauty Braniacs on this subject: what’s your experience with hair regrowth after waxing? In the meantime, Kay, heed these words of caution: wisely watch what you wax!
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I stupidly let a lady in Chicago wax my extire face. I had light blond peach fuzz on it, not noticable at all. She said it would be a good “exfoliant” or something. I have always had my lip, chin and eyebrows done, so I thought, what could this hurt? Well, in my experience the hair grew back more, faster, and at odd angles. It has yet to get darker (thank goodness). But I do now have to go and have it removed twice a month because of how it grows. I never had this problem before. We are all different, just don’t ever wax anything on your face unless you MUST. I am not greek, or asian, but am a fair skinned irish gal with what used to be blonde unnoticable hair, and now it grows like I have the ancestry of a greek goddess—and not in a good way!!
I am considering trying vaniqa, but even it has side effects. I also switched from waxing to threading (easier on my skin).
Wish me luck, I couldn’t be more depressed about it, I don’t even go out anymore.
Oh, I do have many greek friends who feel they MUST wax their entire faces, again, they have that dark, thick hair. Mine was never an issue until this. Now it’s insane!
Daisy thanks for your post, I was here doing research on waxing because I was considering waxing my face. I wax my eyebrows and sometimes shave my thin lip hair and tweeze my chin if any unusual hair grows there. I have light hair on my face and have been contemplating waxing, now due to your post I am definitely not doing it:)
Thanks, hope it works out for you
hello,
i have hair growth on my face so i do laser treatment on my face.but when i do before my hair r fine after laser it grow fast n thik.i look ugly.so i suggest pls dont do a laser treatment.its really bad n painful for life time.pls live a natural live.i just wish i get a parmenent solution later but ther is no hope 4 me.now i feel bad n try to be natural.i hope hormonal changes are affected so i take a harmonal treatment to remove my face hair.one hope is there.if any one give me proper advive for that i m thank ful for them if any body knows so pls give me solution for life time.yes waxing is also bad pls dont do that.if poss then do a threading only.its really painful but not bad.
hello,
i have hair growth on my face so i do laser treatment on my face.but when i do before my hair r fine after laser it grow fast n thik.i look ugly.so i suggest pls dont do a laser treatment.its really bad n painful for life time.pls live a natural live.i just wish i get a parmenent solution later but ther is no hope 4 me.now i feel bad n try to be natural.i hope hormonal changes are affected so i take a harmonal treatment to remove my face hair.one hope is there.if any one give me proper advice for that i m thank ful for them if any body knows so pls give me solution for life time.yes waxing is also bad pls dont do that.if poss then do a threading only.its really painful but not bad.
that is soo true, never wax a hair further more, i had very very fine hairs on my neck this womend recommended laser i had 8 treatments guess what, the hair grow darker coarser and more noticiebale never ever use laser its no way perment those who say it is,will experience more growth after they stop their treatment, i really hate my neck it feels like a man, i have electroylsis now and its so far not bad cant tell you as yet, but it did kill one of the haor root and never grow back in 3 years now,,
i wish they can find a solution for us, i wish if i was dead and not even here, i hate it
I feel the same way I want to die.
I’m 14 and I guess I don’t respect myself enough to not tamper with my face all the time. 9 months ago I trimmed all of my facial hair with nail scissors now it looks fuzzier than ever.. plus I cut my side burns (they didn’t even exsist before) for months straight. I feel like it’s going to get worse. It’s not cool because of my age it’s not like I have the kind of money for electrolysis
and it’s holding me back
I don’t go out anymore either
Yes waxing of the face is not a good idea, we had a patient a few days ago who is darker skinned, and had a facial wax 2 years ago, this damaged her skin a lot and the result is dark bruises under her eyes which look like melamin.
Also skin laser is not advised because it thins the skin, and if you are in the sun or UV this can cause even more marks and melamin damage.
When you have hair on the face, try and leave it be, or consider a bleach (not toxic or too strong) this will be much better than removing hair at the root.
good luck and god bless
I didn’t have much air on my face , at least i didn’t see them as they were blondish.., just had some around my side burns and upper lips area. I was ok with them until i heard from my friend that she wasn’t happy with her facial hair and that was looking for some solution to get rid of them. I think thats when i started noticing mine as well. she was bleaching her facial hair, so i did the same but started to notice it even more afterwards, it seemed to get longer ..i tried a few electrolysis and the lady who was doing the treatment did adv that bleaching feeds the hair so the hair grows longer…i stopped bleaching ..after 3 session i also stopped the electrolysis as i heard that one of my friend tried laser on her legs, arms , upper lips and was very pleased with the result. i immediately book an appointment with Shadi Danin clinic in Hove. I wanted a full face treatment as it was cheaper than doing the areas separately and she said that as i didn’t have so much hair she would give me some discount as well..she adv that i would need 6 treatments but after 3rd i would see the difference. but that didn’t happen. before the first treatment she shaved ALL my face and under chin area..i didn’t know she would do that so i was very shocked..she did the same before each treatment…my hair got even more and darker…when i start asking why my hair wasn’t getting less after the 3rd-4th treatment, she said i have hormone issues. I did have a test at my gp and the results were all clear, didn’t show any issue..
hair on my face is terrible now, its darker, stronger and more noticeable…i have it everywhere including under my chin, on my cheeks, side of my eyes etc….also its more on the left then right which makes it look funnier and more noticeable.. (i recently read an article about laser treatment , it said you should never do laser around your eyes, eye brows etc but Shadi Danin did it. she did it between and above my eye brows…i didn’t know it was dangerous then but she never said it was either) ..i am so upset now, i wish i never ever tried laser on my face, i don’t know what to do next , i am so self conscious and find it embarrassing to sit so close up with people ..i wax it now temporarily till find a better solution 
((
after around 10 treatment, i also asked if the shaving was the reason for the hair to grow darker and stronger but she said shaving never makes hair grow darker or stronger.. i am not sure if i believe that because it definitely does if i shave my legs..
i now wish that i never tried laser
any advise?
Hi there, really interesting reading the posts. a, I so feel for you, and everyone else. It’s not easy being in that situation without $$. I am so grateful my Mum pays for me to have electrolysis on my upper lip (I am fair haired, but my upper lip had become a bit dark). My friend uses (and has for a long time) depilatory cream, but as soon as she has the cash, she will move to electrolysis. I suggest you try this? Although that is only based on her experience.. I really encourage any of you though, to try electrolysis if you can access enough $$. If it means going without coffees or other luxuries, it’s so worth it!! It may take several sessions to really see a difference – and the more you have tried shaving or waxing, the longer it will take to remove – but the results will be worth it. Oh, it is somewhat painful, but nothing unbearable. I encourage you all to try it though, if you haven’t already. From what I know, it’s the best option available.
I hate it I have a beard I shaved my face and use nair on it later it grew back like a man beard now I suffer from hair bumps that’s very unattractive. I do not make eye contact with people because of it. As a result, I have no social life what so ever I have tried everything waxing and laser treatment (it helped the hair bumps but you need to continue treatment throughtout your life to see results) I’m sick of it can anyone help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To wax or not to wax ? that is the question. My Electrolysist told me that not all hairs are the same.
Hair suitable for waxing or plucking – legs, arms, underarms, eyebrows and bikini line.
Hairs that that should NEVER be plucked because they are caused by hormonal changes – are hair on your top lip, chin, breasts.
Trust me, THESE WILL GROW THICKER IF YOU WAX OR PLUCK THEM because they are caused by hormones.
They should be dealt with by an electrolysist. If you get a new hair on your chin or lip, see an electrolysist immediately. The hair follicle should die 1 or 2 applications. Plucking that hair will result in it taking twice as many applications to remove, i.e instead of 1 or 2 electrolysis treatments, it will take 3 or 4. Electrolysis is painful, but I take Panadol before I go and apply a numbing cream. But it is well worth it, no more moustache or beard for me !
p.s I didn’t read all the posts when I wrote the first message, but basically any new hairs that pop up are probably hormonal, regardless of what part of the body they grow (neck, chest..). Electrolysis treatments have to be maintained until the hair does not grow back again. Some people give up treatment because they think the hair should not grow back after 1 or 2 treatments. It all depends on how thick your hair is naturally and whether you have plucked the hormonal hairs before. Plucking will result in the hair roots growing thicker and strong. I have been seeing my electrolysist every 3-4 weeks for a year to remove hair on my lip and chin that I used to wax. I have never been happier as I know the results (80 % permanent removal with just a few stubborn hairs growing back thinner and thinner) will be permanent.
Hi .. after reading about some of the terrible facial hair problems that many of you have I had to put this up. You must see your doctor for a prescription of course. I hope this can help. Google it for more information.. and good luck to all.
Hair Removal with ‘Vaniqa’
Vaniqa is a prescription-only topical cream that has been FDA-approved for reducing and inhibiting the growth of unwanted facial hair. The active ingredient in Vaniqa is eflornithine hydrochloride, which has been used to treat African sleeping sickness and certain cancers. Vaniqa works by inhibiting an enzyme that is needed for cell reproduction and other cell functions necessary for hair growth. Vaniqa is applied twice a day to areas of unwanted facial hair. Noticeable results are usually observed after 4-8 weeks of therapy. Application must be continued for as long as inhibition of hair growth is desired. Vaniqa continues to reduce facial hair growth for up to 8 weeks after discontinuing treatment.
Well, Im a very hairy woman. Im 20 and I have chin hair, side burn hair and if I were to let it grow I would look like a man.
I just sugar wax it off, it works for me. Before I would pluck it out or I would use an epilator but I got very fed up with having to deal with it every day so I just decided to wax it. I mean, its not like it would make a difference if it would grow back faster right, when I pluck it out I have it again the next day and if I use the epilator I got it again back the next day. I dont have the money to do electro so what else can be worst right?
Lucky me I already know how thick my hair can grow since Ive been removing it from my face for the past 7 years.
I have clients ask all the time if waxing will make their hair stop growing eventually, and i never know what to tell people, except that I’ve had some people say that it does and some people say it makes it worse.
Hi everyone, i decided 2 send a message 2 those of you who have spoken about having problems with facial hair. My advice is to buy a skin lightening cream. I would have said 2 buy the facial bleaches sold at the shops but i don’t know a lot about them and some of them could be either too toxic or too strong, and you might not be too sure about them because of course the manufacturer won’t tell you that their bleach is very toxic would they? If you speak to people, they might say a particular make or product worked for them but would it work for you or simply worsen your situation? You never know because everyone’s different and if you take the risk it might not really turn out right. I’ve heard people speak about lasers, shaving, waxing and electrolysis but all of these are either too expensive, worsening to the situation, too painful or very disadvantageous in other ways. People hardly talk about skin lighteners maybe because they believe it would take time, it actually wouldn’t although you have to get enough information on the product and make sure it’s original and not fake so as to avoid worsening the situation but believe me it’s a lot hassle free and what it simply does is lighten the colour of the hair for those have dark hairs, if you’re light in complexion and the hair is light as well, no one would notice. So i recommend a normal skin lightening body cream. I’m sure this would help and i’m happy to answer questions. Hope this helps
I have spent so much money on electrolysis and laser treatments(thousands of dollars over the years) with horrible results. I now do waxing from time to time. I’d rather just do that. To save money, I use wax strips and do it myself. I only go to the salon for an eyebrow wax which I can’t do myself. Electrolysis is good for a small area or one or two hairs, but I wouldn’t waste my $ on a large area. I got so many regrowths both with electrolysis and everything came back with laser. If I have to do waxing the rest of my life, I will. If waxing eventually damages the follice, better yet. Plus, when I wax my lip or face, it hurts less than the ladies doing it at the salon for some reason. Whether you do it yourself or have the salon do it, you get the same results. It doesn’t grow back any faster if you do it yourself.
don’t,wax, pluck,use nair,etc…if you want an inexpensive way to get rid off unwanted hair do sugaring. its like waxing but less painful and all natural. it smells good too and leaves your skin super soft. hair grows back thinner and lighter and takes longer to grow back.very easy to make at home just go to this website for the recipe http://www.beauty-fitness-savvy.com/sugaring-hair-removal.html make sure to follow all the directions since the sugaring mix has to be made on point in order to be effective.make sure you purchase a candy thermometer which can be as cheap as $4 at walmart.
otherwise you can try threading…although its pretty painful but usually lasts long.but sugaring works for me… i do it myself and save $100 a month =)
Thought it was just me–waxing made my chin hair proliferate wildly. My electrologists have always told me just what the brains mentioned, that it may stimulate the follicles in some areas, and possibly have different effects depending on the location. The only part of my experience that doesn’t fit is that my upper lip hair did seem to get finer–but that could be because I burned the area so much with the hot wax lol…
Sarah and Pallavi…
You guys need to take an english or writing class. Do you guys review what you say before you send it? It’s painful to read and is hard to believe what you are saying do to the lack of intelligence.
A very unproductive final post Style. Both Sarah and Pallavi posted helpful and insightful comments and I am grateful to hear about their experiences.
As for English writing classes, you might need to consider enrolling in one yourself, check your English grammar, “saying do to the lack of intelligence” that phrase doesn’t make sense. If you haven’t anything to contribute, don’t type.
Comments like yours are painfully annoying.
Hey everybody! For all you that don’t like the dark hair on your face, I suggest you go to local CVS/Walgreens and buy creme bleach. basically what is does is lighten you hair wherever you put the product. I personally like the brand, “jolen bleach”, it costs about $5.00 and lasts me 1+ years. All you do is mix the powder and creme as instructed and put it on the desired area for about 10 minutes. I use it once a month on my upper lip and side burns. I am italian and it makes my hair super blonde and very unnoticeable. i don’t mind having peach fuzz on my face as long as it is blonde peach fuzz. I highly recommend this product. You can also buy the generic brands which are more reasonable.
I have horrible dark thick hairs on my chin. I have tried waxing, treading, tweezing and even did about 8 treatments of laser on my face.
Nothing worked permanently. I only ended up spending a lot of money, and sometimes my skin was bruised.
I recently started doing ELECTROLYSIS. And I highly recommend it.
I have had 3 treatments on my chin and i already see a difference.
My hair is thinner and is now beginning to grow back slowly, much much slower than before.
I get red right after the treatments but it is worth it since I am already seeing a difference.
I have struggled with this facial hair for way too long and I understand how each of you feel.
Pls if you have the opportunity, try electrolysis. This is the only permanent solution.
Oh and make sure if you start, pls check that they are using clean needles and are experienced.
fuck u, hairy bitch..i am greek!
Im 14 and after reading these posts im thinking about bleaching my facial hair. Any side effects?
Hello to all. I have dark hair on my upper lip, sideburn and chin. Unfortunately I don’t have the money to try electrosis. I’ve been thinking about waxing or sugaring but I feel a little nervous about it because I don’t know if it’ll make it worse or not.
I love Style’s comment from July 19, which I just noticed. Not sure if she’s referring to me or another Sarah who commented. Regardless, the best part of her comment is “…and is hard to believe what you are saying do (sic) to the lack of intelligence.” I’d like to offer style an edit. How about: “And, in view of your lack of intelligence, I find it hard to believe what you are saying.” Style, just in case you’re still out there, I’m there for you.
Sarah
Hi Vixy,
I’m no expert. Everyone seems to react differently. It made it worse for me, though. I’ve been told by electrologists that shaving is actually the best option because it won’t risk stimulating the follicle the way plucking or waxing would do, but I don’t know if there is scientific data to support that.
Interesting. It’s hard just because of the fact that every method has different results on people. You won’t really know until you have tried it. I’m usually afraid to try anything and lately i’ve been feeling really down about the whole situation :/. I know getting rid of it will help boost my confidence. Guess i’ll have to figure out the best method for me.
Vixy,
It definitely didn’t make my chin hair worse all at once, so you can safely try waxing and then see how you react. If you notice an increase in the number of hairs or they start getting really hard to yank out over time, then you can decide to change plan. In my case, it was pretty unmistakeable at a certain point, so I knew I had to stop waxing and look for something more permanent. So don’t worry if you just “think” you see more hairs, it will become clear to you–if and when it ever becomes an issue. But yeah, you can’t just go around with hair that makes you feel uncomfortable, so do whatever is in your budget! By the way, I can’t recommend this for safety reasons (it’s pretty easy to burn yourself), but I cooked up my own hot wax at home that I bought at the drug store. It comes in little disposable tubs. If you do try it, be absolutely sure to follow all instructions, double boil the tub of wax inside a saucepan of water, and let it cool long enough before you pat it on your skin. That said, it isn’t technically hard to do. To my mind, it’s not a technique that requires a lot of skill other than being safety conscious. The only advantage of doing it yourself, other than the cost savings of not paying for the service, is that it’s kind of psychologically easier to rip off your own wax strip (kind of like ripping off a band-aid) versus having someone else rip it off you…Best of luck!
P.S. If you do it yourself, though–be really careful with the sideburn area. That’s the one area I might prefer a professional to do just because of the risk of accidentally getting the wax on other hairs you don’t want to yank.
I am a stylist who does waxing, and I often get this question. First, I would NEVER wax unless necessary. If it’s fine and laying down easily LEAVE IT ALONE. If it’s dark and/or coarse, by all means get rid of it. Waxing can make hair grow back faster because sometimes blood circulation is encouraged, therefore encouraging growth. Ideally, regular waxing traumatizes the the bullb until it grows back finer and eventually (we hope)not at all. This is why a botched eyebrow wax can permanently distort your natural brow. Also factors contributing to facial hair are hormones and medications (especially thyroid and statins).
P.P.S. sorry so many of these…I just wanted to add, what I said about the sideburns goes for pretty much any area except for the chin and upper lip. Those are the only areas I did at home. Bikini area, for example–leave it to the pros. And definitely don’t do eyebrows yourself, that does require great skill.
Now–about the wax. The first product I used was great and it was called zip wax. Apparently it’s been around forever and people really like it. But turns out, it isn’t the one that comes in a disposable tub, so if after all these warnings, you decide the do-it-yourself approach, you might need to invest in a wax warmer (which isn’t too much money, about the same as a blow dryer). The kind of zip wax you’d probably want are the blocks of wax, not the tube (the tube doesn’t require a double boiler, but it can break open too easily and burn you).
Poppiefresh–we crossed in the ether/mail…I hadn’t read your post when I added my comment.
And good point poppiefresh, do check with your doctor just to be sure there isn’t a medical reason!
Even my eyebrow shaping professional (not sure what official name to call her, I believe it would be cosmetologist?) doesn’t wax that area because it’s so easy to botch with wax; she prefers tweezing because you have more control.
So if it’s hormonal it could make it worse if you get rid of it ?
No, I think it’s just that if you have an unusual amount of coarse dark hair, and it turns out to be hormonal (as far as I know this isn’t likely, but it can be) then you might require hormonal treatment. But I don’t think it would say anything one way or another about making it worse if you remove it. It’s just that if it was hormonal, getting treated could make the job much easier. The best way to know if there’s anything medical is to check with your general physician or gynecologist. They can look at where you have excess hair and if they think it seems likely to be hormonal, they can do further tests. In my case, my doctor looked at the location and amount of excess hair that I had and told me I didn’t have the type of pattern that you would see with a hormonal issue. If it isn’t hormonal or some other medical problem, they call it “idiopathic hirsutism,” which I think roughly translates as “excess hair that just happens” or “ordinary hairiness” lol (usually genetics).
I have some clients whose excess facial hair is caused by hormones, and basically all you can do is continue regular waxings and hope it goes away. Sorry, I don’t have any miracle solutions. Also, I would be leery about futzing with your hormone levels just because you’ve got unwanted facial hair. BTW–either an esthetician or a cosmetologist can do waxing. Estheticians specialize in facial and whole-body skin care, while cosmetologist are licensed to do skin (most facial), nails, and primarily hair.
Right, you wouldn’t want to futz solely because of the hair. What I meant was that you’d futz is if you truly had a hormonal condition that had medical complications, e.g., polycystic ovary syndrome. I could be wrong, but I thought sometimes the treatment for those conditions also helped a bit with the hair (as a side benefit).
I think (and again I could be wrong) all excess hair is hormonal, it’s just that with idiopathic hirsutism, it’s the hair follicles being oversensitive to normal levels of hormone (not considered a medical, but a cosmetic issue), and with something like PCOS (a medical issue), the hormones are actually abnormal, if that makes any sense.
I had gone to the Doctors and they told me I could have pcos. But since I didn’t go see my pcp they said they couldn’t run tests on me. I think they put you on a pill birth control though, and I’m already on a type of birth control. But I feel like they don’t take it seriously so I feel like its a time waste.
I sued crotex hair removal cream and it stopped growth of unwanted hair permanently.
I Used crotex hair removal cream and it stopped growth of unwanted hair permanently. Dint realize typo in previous reply. Its a great product. Now i have smooth skin and no need to wax.
I started waxing my stash myself at home about a year ago and noticed it takes longer for the hairs to grow back and they used to be really dark hairs. Now it’s been about a month since I last waxed and my hairs have grown back but I noticed they grew in a lot lighter and a lot less noticeable….but I’m still gonna wax it.
i wish i could find a true solution for this
i wish i could find a true solution for this….
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