There are many safe ways to remove unwanted facial hair, including tweezing, waxing, threading, shaving or using depilatory creams. If you're worried that any of those techniques will cause your hair to grow back thicker, you can relax on that front. “It's a myth,” Dr. Lamb said.
Side effects of tweezing
Hyperpigmentation (darkening of the skin) Folliculitis (inflammation and potential infection of hair follicles) Potential scarring.
Plucking chin hairs. Many of us grow the occasional chin hair—it's totally normal and rarely a cause for concern. Genetics, age, and hormones can all play a role here. If you want to remove the odd chin hair, plucking is a good option that's perfectly safe if you get it right.
Plucking a high density of hairs within a small region prompts regrowth of all hairs in that area, whereas plucking more widely spaced hairs does not lead to regeneration, according to a study conducted in mice and funded in part by the NIAMS.
The biggest con with plucking is that it is time consuming since you are picking hair one by one. Thus, out of shaving and plucking facial hair, shaving is better. But even shaving is not recommended because skin on your face is extremely delicate and soft.
Plucking stops hair growth temporarily (it will never stop hair growth permanently!) by removing the hair shaft. When done correctly, plucking can stop hair growth for up to six weeks, longer than many alternative hair removal methods.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS is the most common cause of abnormal hair growth in females. This condition occurs when the ovaries produce an excessive amount of androgen hormones, which include testosterone.
The white bulb at the end of your hair is essentially a bundle of protein, known as keratin.
In a bowl mix 2 tablespoons of gram flour with 2 tablespoons of rose water and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix well to form a paste and apply on your face, let it dry completely and rub it off with your fingers to get rid of facial hair. For best results, repeat this three to four times a week.
No — shaving hair doesn't change its thickness, color or rate of growth. Shaving facial or body hair gives the hair a blunt tip. The tip might feel coarse or "stubbly" for a time as it grows out. During this phase, the hair might be more noticeable and perhaps appear darker or thicker.
“Chin hair results from a combination of genetics and hormones,” says Hadley King, M.D., board-certified dermatologist at New York's SKINNEY Medspa. It's our male hormones (called androgens), as well as our overall hormonal balance, that stimulate growth of chin hair, she explains.
However, repeated ripping of the hair from its follicle via waxing or plucking (which is essentially the same thing, when you think about it) will make hair grow back thicker, darker and coarser… and frequently, more plentiful and faster to re-grow.
Although plucking away unwanted face and body hair is convenient, it's typically pretty harmful. Plucking or tweezing is time consuming and only invasive if removed in the wrong direction which can deform and tear the hair follicle. Tweezing hair grows back the same as sugaring if pulled from the root.
Certain hormones—specifically androgen or other "male hormones" like testosterone—can cause you to grow some thicker and darker hairs here and there if they ever get out of balance.
Hair will start growing back in 2 to 4 weeks, so Burgess recommends scheduling one session per month for six months, though clients generally start seeing results in three treatments.
Tweezing. Also known simply as "plucking," tweezing removes hair from the follicle and usually lasts anywhere from two to six weeks depending on the thickness and rate of your hair growth.
Tweezing has its place, but it shouldn't be used everywhere on the face or body. It's important to tweeze correctly to avoid developing ingrown hairs or irritating skin. Never tweeze nose hairs or hair growing out of a mole or pimple. Other forms of hair removal may be better for certain body areas.
Pulling out hair by your root may damage your follicle temporarily, but a new bulb will eventually form, and new hair will grow again through that follicle. According to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, it may take a few months or more than a year in some cases.
When you pull out your hair "by the root," you may observe a transparent swelling called the "bulb." The area above the bulb usually seen on a plucked hair is the root sheath, the growing area of a hair. The size of the hair bulb on a plucked hair varies with the phase of growth the hair was in.
Hair follicles are part of your skin that are responsible for growing your hair. If you accidentally pull out a strand of your hair and it has a ball (bulb) on the end of it, you didn't pull out the follicle, and instead, you removed your hair root. That root grows back and your hair will grow back, too.
Hirsutism and unwanted PCOS facial hair are very common with polycystic ovary syndrome. Hirsutism can be seen as coarse, dark hair that may appear on the face, chest, abdomen, back, upper arms, or upper legs. Hirsutism is a symptom of medical disorders associated with the hormones called androgens.
"Having stray facial hairs is very common for women," says Arash Akhavan, MD, a New York City dermatologist with the Dermatology and Laser Group. "It's not uncommon for women in their mid to upper 20s to begin noticing stray hairs on their face." And usually, the number of hairs one finds tends to increase with age.