Facial Hair Removal After Going F/T

[AlyssaJ]

I got a very helpful piece of advice from a trans sister. She was urging me to get started on facial hair removal (Laser or Electrolysis) as soon as possible. Her reasoning was that much of her facial hair, more than she realized, was gray hairs and needed electrolysis. She ended up going full time before she knew this so had to deal with allowing her facial hair to grow out for electrolysis while she was living full time female.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? If so I'm curious how you handled it. As I'm putting together a rough transition plan (both timeline and financial planning) I'm trying to account for this. I'm trying to set a goal date for when I will go full-time but this facial hair removal subject is a big component of that.

(Yes I do realize any plan and any goal dates I set are going to almost assuredly change repeatedly, but it helps me to at least have it all laid out in a way that I can visualize it)

[Kaitlyn Michele]

it is a never ending nightmare if you don't handle it correctly..
you need to get on it and stay on it...

i deal with years into transition...shaving....hairs came back after long dormant periods... all because i didnt stay on it... i did over 300 hrs now and i am still doing it...

plus as you age many of your black hairs are going gray..meaning they are black on the outside but the roots are gray and those wont respond as well to laser either..

living with the hair growth is a personal thing and sometimes you just have to do it....alll experiences are different...some have had much less electrolysis and much quicker results than i did..

also with laser you can actually stimulate growth, and sometimes hairs come back later ...

[Pat]

I use two techniques -- first is to go to a place that does full-face at once, so at least I only have to grow it out occasionally, not every week to get a tiny amount treated. The two places I know of that do it are Electrology 3000 near Dallas TX and Precision Hair Removal and Skin Care near Chicago. Basically, you get two electrologists putting in an 8-hour day in one go while your face is full of lidocaine. At Electrology 3000 they do the facial shots as they go and the shots hurt (especially in the lips,) but the electrolysis doesn't. The place in Chicago puts you into "twilight sleep" while they do the face injections all at once then let you come to as they do the work. The twilight sleep idea is pretty appealing to me, but I haven't tried them yet -- next time I do an electrolysis run, I plan to go there. If you can follow their schedule, you'd get treatments every six weeks or so. I go irregularly as I can afford it.

Technique two is to accept that I'm in transition. It's hard. Facial hair (on me) creeps me out. I use the following as a mantra:

274266

[jentay1367]

Add to all this that once your on hrt and you're at normal female levels, Electro becomes nearly untenable. I'm going up to Chicago for a mass clearing in early April. I'll give a report in this thread when I get back. Can't wait! Oh, who am I kidding....of course I can...ugghh!!!

[Janelle_C]

I started with Lazer right before I went full time. It was a way to clear my entire face in one visit of all my dark hairs. It's a lot less painful than electrolysis, at least for me it was. I didn't start electrolysis until about two years later do to the expense. I was very fortunate that my insurance covers it now. I've been going for about a year now. At first it was twice a week 2 hours each, now it's once a week and I don't shave anymore.
It was very hard for me to go a couple of days with out shaving, I was very self-conscious. What made it a little better was having about 85% of my dark hairs gone. I was very surprised how many white and gray hairs I had left. It's been hard and very painful, but I'm very committed to removing the hair. I don't know if I could go as often as I did if my insurance didn't pay for it.
If I could of afforded it is would have done it before. I wish you all the best it a hard journey but one I've never have regretted for one minute. It did how ever take me 52 years to start it.
Janelle ❤

[Mirya]

I have jet black hair, no gray hairs, and very light skin tone - a perfect candidate for laser hair removal. Unlike electrolysis, you're supposed to go into a laser session with a clean shave, so it's pretty easy to be full-time while still getting laser done. After 1.5 years of laser treatments, I have no facial hair, and it doesn't seem to be growing back. To give you an idea of my skin tone, I use MAC Cosmetics' Matchmaster SPF 15 foundation in shade 1.5 (just one shade darker than the lightest shade possible).

If you're also a good candidate for laser, I recommend going to a medical clinic with medical grade equipment. I go to a place that even has a M.D. on staff. Unfortunately there are too many stories of people who go to a spa and end up getting poor results, scarring, or worse - having their hairs turn white as a result of the treatment (and then you're forced to do electrolysis after having wasted time and money and pain).

[AlyssaJ]

Precision Hair Removal and Skin Care near Chicago.

I had heard of E3000 before but Dallas is a long way for me to go every month and a half. However, I had not heard of this place in Chicago, I'm going to have to check them out. I would much rather go the route of a full clearing each time try to go through the drawn out process. Thanks for the info on that Jennie!!


Add to all this that once your on hrt and you're at normal female levels, Electro becomes nearly untenable.

Can you expand on this? How does HRT affect it?


I have jet black hair, no gray hairs, and very light skin tone - a perfect candidate for laser hair removal. Unlike electrolysis, you're supposed to go into a laser session with a clean shave, so it's pretty easy to be full-time while still getting laser done.

I too am a really good candidate. Very dark hair, pretty light skinned overall. I've been considering laser first and then electrolysis just to get the hairs that laser fails to knock off. That's actually part of why I asked this. I realize gray hairs will be easier to hide as they grow out than my normal black hairs but still think I want to get this fully done before I go full time. So I gotta start working on the financial and timing aspects. I'm really hoping that by the time I'm 8-12 months into HRT I can go full time. Of course much of that depends on how well the hormones do their job in my almost 40 year old body.

[AllieSF]

I am over 4 years into facial hair removal by electrology, the blend method. I am down to about 1 hour every 4 weeks with a trim at about week two because those stragglers tend to grow very long. I have also heard of a full face removal electrology at a center in Phoenix, Arizona where a few of my friends went. Beides how long it takes, it is also very expensive. I think that I could have had GRS and some FFS for what I have invested so far! Doing the facial hair over time allows you to space out the costs over a longer period of time, which is also good for you home finances. Good luck, start yesterday and don't stop!

[jentay1367]

I had heard of E3000 before but Dallas is a long way for me to go every month and a half. However, I had not heard of this place in Chicago, I'm going to have to check them out. I would much rather go the route of a full clearing each time try to go through the drawn out process. Thanks for the info on that Jennie!!



Can you expand on this? How does HRT affect it?




I too am a really good candidate. Very dark hair, pretty light skinned overall. I've been considering laser first and then electrolysis just to get the hairs that laser fails to knock off. That's actually part of why I asked this. I realize gray hairs will be easier to hide as they grow out than my normal black hairs but still think I want to get this fully done before I go full time. So I gotta start working on the financial and timing aspects. I'm really hoping that by the time I'm 8-12 months into HRT I can go full time. Of course much of that depends on how well the hormones do their job in my almost 40 year old body.

Beats me, Lisa...but I've heard it expressed by many people and now I can substantiate it to be 100 percent true. My skin and nerves pain threshold just flat out took a powder. Add to that, the inflammation was worse as well as healing being slower. I was doing 4 hour sessions over two days back to back every single week...so there's that. Might have been pushing the envelope.
It's terribly frustrating for those that have thick facial hair. It all just seems to come back over and over again. I have 88 hours in and am nowhere near being finished. Can't even see it on the horizon. I'm going in for mass clearings for good reason. I was told if you follow through (every 6 weeks) it can cut your time to finish in half.This is my new plan. Cuz' frankly, I don't see me being able to do it the conventional way any longer. When I had a guys endo system, it was an absolute breeze. Not so anymore. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Add to that, a 23 hour clearing is $3300.00 dollars and I was told to expect more than half of it will be back. It's relentless and $$$$ and it sucks. I simply had no clue that this would be one of the hardest most time consuming portions of my transition ) :

[Heidi Stevens]

A lot of good advice here, Lisa! In my case, I did laser treatments to remove nearly all my dark facial hair. I was already 57 when I started, so I had about 20% that was gray and didn't go away. So if you don't have much gray, try the laser first. Since I'm not going full time right now I've put electrolysis on hold to remove the laser hold outs. However my HRT has made the gray ones finer and softer. They also, once shaved, don't show thru even light makeup. They also take about two days to grow back, so I'm not as worried getting them removed. Good luck on what ever methods you chose.

[Kate T]

I would agree get the dark hairs with laser. It will make dealing with the 2 day growth of greys that little bit easier.

I did most of my laser prior to transition. About 8 sessions. Have had 2 or 3 top ups since going FT. I tried electro for a while but poor access to a good electrologist has meant that honestly I just shave daily and as Pat pointed out, get over it. I still HATE the fact that my face has hair and if I could do it simply and reliably (I got a lot of bruising and scarring from electrologist) then I would jump at it. Get as much done as you can before transition I would advise but don't delay transition just because you haven't finished your electro.

[Lauri K]

Well, my thoughts are that holding off going full time is a good plan, others may feel different and that is fine but the hair is the most telling sign by far no matter how well you dress.

The days leading up to the elctro appointments make you feel less than a woman, just seeing the hair, and dreading going anywhere, going into isolation.

By this time tomorrow I will be at 103 hours, but I finally see that when this is all over with it will be so worth it.

If you are having adverse reactions from electro I can share some advice, ask your tech to use insulated probes they make a HUGE difference or at least it did for me

I hope with another 40 to 80 hours I will be done, if I get done with less than 200 hours I will be a happy girl

[grace7777]

I have done laser and a lot of my facial hair is gone. I am looking at doing electrolysis in May, since my health plan Will cover it after 6 months on HRT. I am thinking maybe I will have to do an hour or 2. This will be right before I go full-time.

[Kate T]

Yeah, I thought a few hours would be all I would need to.

NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!!!

Most girls that I have heard from or spoken to talk about 10's and 100's of hours of electro. I would say that seems about right. After 10+ hours I would say I would need at least another 20+ hours probably closer to 50+ more hours. It's worth it but just be ready for the fact it is not going to magically whisk away hairs in an afternoon.

[Peta_T]

there is only one bit of info I can add to all the above. (I've had laser and am finishing off with the needle)

Your top lip is flat out gonna HURT.... I mean BIG TIME HURT. Tears streaming down cheeks hurt.

Laser, is BAM x 3 and then done till next time. Needle you will feel every single one of the little blighters.

It's to the point now where I use a topical lidocane cream just on the top lip, even then I still don't look forward to it. Most chemists in Oz sell it over the counter, not sure about the US but I'd suggest you ask.

NOTE: you will look weird walking into the salon with a lump of cling wrap wrapped over your mouth, but let me tell ya. Every little bit helps.

[Jeri Ann]

Hey Lisa,

You absolutely need to take care of the facial hair before transitioning. You didn't mention if you were doing HRT yet, but that will be a huge factor. I am so glad that I completed electrolysis thirty five years ago.
HRT will change your skin big time. My skin is so sensitive now from HRT that I can't imagine what laser or electrolysis would be like.

Jeri

[Vickie_CDTV]

Look for an electrologist with the best vision equipment possible (ideally, a microscope.) The better their vision equipment, the less growth you have to have for the hair to be treated. I have done it with as little as 36 hours of growth (slow going, not ideal, but doable if necessary.) If you work M-F, try and find one that will work on weekends (shave Friday, and have ~2 1/2 days of growth by Sun afternoon.)

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Hairs have growth cycles... you only really get rid of hairs that are in growth cycles... hair keeps getting pushed out but underneath its dying and regenerating over and over..
growth cycles vary within a range... 6 weeks is a common rule of thumb but we are all different and so is every hair...

at any given time, 30-40% of your hair is a growth cycle... there is no good way to tell that i know of to identify which hairs are in growth phase...

laser works, but as life goes on you may find hairs growing back...maybe only enough to pluck but they come back..its happening to me right now...at 54 yrs old...10 yrs hrt.. laser is not permanent...the hairs i lasered in 2005-2007 are coming back.... black hairs ... 3 years ago it was manageable and i lived with touch up shaving... but its more and more...and now im stuck getting electro again 3x a week... it should take about 20 sessions in two blocks of ten....

[AlyssaJ]

I'm not on HRT yet, but have my initial consultation two weeks from today. I do plan to go laser first as I think that will be a cheaper and somewhat less painful route to go. Even already, I've been using my home IPL on my face (and yeah it does hurt quite a bit). While it hasn't cleared anything yet it at least has caused the hairs to come in finer. I'm hopeful that it's at least causing enough trauma to the follicles that once a the laser hits them they'll die off easier.

On the costs side, I'm preparing myself. The TS & TG Road Map mentions Electrolysis as the single biggest expense that most of us will face. They talk about spending upwards of $20,000 on hair removal. So I'm trying to reduce that number but also plan financially in case I need to spend that much. Spending it over time is of course far more realistic. They do mention prioritizing your face first (for obvious reasons) and getting started as early as possible before going full-time.

Lots of great info here, I really appreciate everyone's thoughtful and helpful responses.

[Mirya]

I recommend stopping the home IPL laser immediately. You're just going through unnecessary pain and time/money for nothing. And if it's causing your hairs to come in finer, it's actually making things worse.

Laser hair removal works best on thick, coarse hairs. That's because those hairs have more pigment to absorb the laser's energy. And more energy conducted down to the follicle will be more effective in killing it. That's also why it's better to start laser hair removal before HRT. Once you're on HRT, your terminal hairs start becoming vellus hairs, and as a result laser becomes less effective.

[jentay1367]

I absolutely agree with Em. You're just exacerbating things. Those things are useless:sad:

[Kaitlyn Michele]

I third that motion..

its not just a waste but everything you do that is not permanent (plucking included) that damages the channel where the follicle is will result in a risk that electrolysis is more difficult...

[Suzanne F]

I did laser prior to HRT. I cleared as much dark hair as possible. I then began electrolysis. Most of my remaining hair was grey. I also had genital clearing for SRS. It took me three people bfore I found the expert. The experience with a newer machine and someone with the best magnifying equipment is so much better! I often go with only a little over 24 hour growth. I too wanted to do the full clearing. My electrolysist warns against this method as she says it risks damage to our face with too much trauma at one time. I do have friends who have used this method and feel fine about it. It is a personal choice.
Suzanne

[jentay1367]

My electrolysist warns against this method as she says it risks damage to our face with too much trauma at one time.

One of the blessings of being in the Bay Area for people like us is the plethora of awesome services to choose from. Here in the fly-overs, you not only have to find those that are willing, you have to find those that are able to help. I've dealt with two Electrologists and both have been ineffectual. To not be too negative, I feel it's lack of knowledge and unwillingness to invest in the best equipment. Anyway, I'm at this point forced to do it this way short of moving to a market that's more conducive to a transitioning woman. I literally have no choice. Which of course, is really very depressing. But I have to be pragmatic. That...... or the bearded lady, those are my choices. So I will hope and pray they don't turn turn my face into a moonscape. I will definitely report back once I know the results. Hopefully, it will turn out to be another option for us and not a cautionary tale. :sad:

[SarahSerene]

I started laser/electro about six months ago (HRT started last week), and I am SOOo glad I started early. I just had my 4th laser session and I have ~20 hrs of electro in for the white/gray hairs (my face is about 50/50). Laser/Electro is gonna keep going for me for a while, and I feel what Lauri K is saying... growing out enough beard to zap for electrolysis sucks! Hopefully by the time HRT really starts showing its effects, I will be yet further down the beard removal road and it will be easier to manage.

[AlyssaJ]

Well so much for those plans. I've decided just to go full bore with Electrolysis the whole way. Had my first trial run last night and am going back today for a one hour treatment. A little nervous because the trial caused a lot of swelling which is still there even now almost 18 hours later. My electrologist assured me it's nothing to worry about. However I'm hoping this hour long treatment doesn't create the same amount of swelling on a much larger patch. Going to take anti-inflammatory and allergy relief tablets before I go tonight, I've been told that could help prevent the swelling.


I third that motion..

its not just a waste but everything you do that is not permanent (plucking included) that damages the channel where the follicle is will result in a risk that electrolysis is more difficult...

I asked my electrologist about this and according to her this isn't exactly accurate. Plucking is a problem because the way it damages the follicle can leave pieces of the bulb under the skin which can cause complications. However, she said IPL won't make electrolysis more difficult but it could cause hairs to go dormant for a long period and then reappear at a point later when we thought the job was almost complete. I did stop IPL on my face after seeing these posts and I still think it was a good idea to stop, but I wanted to share that little factoid in case anyone found it useful.

[AllieSF]

Not sure of you job position and working conditions, but many men have some type of facial hair as part of their professional presentation or come in on Monday morning with a bit of scruff because they did not feel like shaving. My plan was that if during the 4 years of electrology on my face I went back to work, I would schedule my appoints for early Monday morning or at noon. That way I could full shave after that with that 3 days of weekend beard growth normally enough for electrolysis to work.

[Lauri K]

Alyssa

Most of the swelling should be gone by the 18 hour mark, but when I first began it hung on way longer and in fact a few times for days especially above the lip.

My other suggestion is to have cataphoresis with Aloe gel immediately after treatment and then maybe a little ice in the evening to help reduce swelling.

If you continue to have significant swelling or any peeling / dryness PM me and I can share a few tips.

Everyone reacts differently to treatment. It gets better after, just never give up.

[AlyssaJ]

Thanks Lauri. She told me yesterday when doing the test patch that she normally does do cataphoresis when she's don't but didn't yesterday because it was such a small patch (5 minute trial run). I just got back from my first 60 minute session and she did do the cataphoresis at the end. While it's more red than the patch she did yesterday, it doesn't so far appear to be swelling up the same. I've got some bumps like mosquito bites but that seems to be it so far. Hopefully either the cataphoresis or the other meds I took before the session (or both) are helping to keep things under control.

[AllieSF]

When I started my long process my electrologist asked how I would like to proceed, work on one concentrated spot or area at a time, or just work the whole face for every session, balancing out the pain and redness and swelling. I wanted it to come off uniform so that if I did stop shaving for any period of time, The hair would grow and give the same look as before, except the density would be less. She did concentrate above the chin and jaw line first then eventually got to the neck, which was and is one of the more painful areas. She concentrated on the thicker black hair, then the thicker white hairs and eventually all the rest. That approach worked very well for me. I mostly got those little pimple like spots where hair was growing out. I hate them and pick at them until the hidden hair is released causing little scabs in the process from all the picking. My bad, a little like biting your nails when you know it is bad.

[Jesse Six]

Hi Alyssa,
A comment on the whole "doing hair removal while being FT".

It's not just Electrolysis that's difficult to hide, so is laser (I had quite a bit). So either way, the more hair removal you can do before coming out and presenting female all the time, the better for you.

I found two difficult things:

1) Immediately following laser, I'd have major swelling. I mean, red face, fat Popeye chin, absolutely no way to look feminine. It would fade same day. Don't book it in the middle of your work day as a FT transitioner.

2) For the next week or so, the hairs would continue to slowly "grow", but they'd be very difficult to shave. They would act like they were sitting in rubber - you pass the razor over them, but they'd still be there. They tell me that the hairs aren't actually growing, they're fried and dead, but the skin is ejecting the dead shaft that's still under the skin. This takes 7-10 days. While the skin is slowly pushing them out, those little singed dark hairs are really visible. I find in the days following laser that I can't get a decent shave, and find it difficult to present female. 10 days later, they all fall out, and you're as smooth as a baby's bottom.

[Vickie_CDTV]

The after electrolysis treatment swelling will usually decrease as you go along, as density is reduced (but it will vary, I still swell up and I have had 100 hours... but I have facial hair from hell, including distorted follicles from years of plucking.) Another reason to rigidly stick to appointments is to keep the treated hair per session down, and therefore minimize swelling.

And don't pluck! An old electrolysis industry joke, "Only pluck the (beard) hair you want to keep." Follicular distortion can occur over time, and it makes treatment slower and more painful (and more expensive!)