myyyy story

[Greetings]

Do you mean you’re in Marin County? Check the sticky post on this forum with links on how to find an electrologist. If you can commute to San Francisco or other parts of the Bay, you’ll probably have more options.

Do you know the laser and settings that were used on you?

I believe the first center used a Coolglide and then the second center used a MeDioStar XT. Unfortunately I did not take note of the settings that were used but the one using MeDioStar Xt was using a setting that was the maximum for my skin color.

[angelstrudle]

I am 22 years old. I have been BATTLING body and facial hair for as loonng as I can remember.

Lately its been eating me up inside. I am too embarassed to do anything, go out in the sun, im afraid to drive with someone in my passenger seat because of how the light will hit my hairy face!! I could go on and on about all those little things I do related to my hair…

My body is an issue in itself…(i shave my arms and legs and sometimes my happy trail)… I guess what bothers me the most is i get hair around my nippled and in the middle of my chest… oh and my back is whole other thing… yuck.

but my biggest issue is my face… I have light skin and dark hair, so although the hairs on my cheeks, jawline, and neck are somewhat fine, they are dark so they are very noticeable… the hairs on my chin are mainly blonde, but kinda thick and long… my mustache is really gross and I can’t seem to find anything that works besides waxing… I’ve considered bleaching my cheeks, neck, and chin, hoping that will help…

Ive seen many people post this on here, but I too, also play that game of “is that girl hairy?” for example, I’ll be standing behind someone in line and I’ll look at their back, cheeks, chin, etc and compare myself to them… for the most part they just have cute baby peach fuzz hairs… I have yet to see someone as hairy as me…

I do have a boyfriend, and Im pretty sure he knows how hairy I am, and I guess he just doesnt care. the other day though he pointed out his hairy pale legs and said they were gross and that he hated hair. It just made me sink inside. But he’s always telling me how much he loves me and how beautiful I am and all that stuff. He has told me many times he wanted to get married, as well. I just dont know what his point was when he was pointing out his “gross hairy legs” that I could probably even beat him in a hair contest if I grew mine out!!!

anywayyy im now meeting with my doc tomorrow to check for any hormonal imbalances… and then i think im going to proceed with electrolysis… im just sick of waxing/plucking/shaving, just to have it return in a matter of days… being 22, and not being able to be myself, due to lack of confidenece and feeling alienated and bad about myself just makes me soooo much more frustrated.

overall I’m a really happy person, too. I mean, the only thing I dont like about myself is this hair issue. which is why its so frustrating. i feel happiness and confidence inside of me, but its just blocked by my dark little secret.

ive been reading this forum obsessively today, and its made me feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. ive never realized there were other women who worried so much about the hair on their neck/chest/cheeks/etc. id never WANT someone else to go through what Im going through, but its nice to know im not the only one… I acutally dont feel so alienated anymore.
:]

I just stumbled on this forum (which is now a firm fave) and one of the first threads i read was yours lulu bean, and im literally like :o cos everything you wrote its exxxxxxxactly how i feel! Everything from the car thing n checking the light, the comparing other girls (and guys sometimes!!), the boyfriend thing and even the basically being happy and the hair being kinda like a dark secret!

I’ve always had dark hair since i was young but it was never very much, then when i was about 17/18 i noticed a bit more on like really small sideburns then over the last 5/6 years its just gone a bit haywire on my chin and neck, sideburns, little bits on my chest, nipples, stomach god i could go on! I’va had a blood test for testosterone levels n stuff but all that came back was my thyroid was a little high, and my doctor didn tell me that my mom did cos she works in the hospital!! in fact the doctor never mentioned the test results at all and so im still kinda unsure about the whole situation, but im pretty sure its not pocs or anything as i’ve never had any problems with that aside from the usual annoying stuff that goes along with it, and i’ve been on the pill for a year now (on my 2nd kind) and know that the hair isnt related to that cos the dates dont match up.

I’ve had one laser hair removal session on my neck, sideburns and chin when the hair wasnt AS bad as it is now (back in 2005/6 i think it was), but as i only had one session and there wasnt a huuuuge amount of hair to remove it obviously grew back. weird thing is as the years went on i got more hair in more places. Now before i would have said it was definately nothing to do with laser treatment but after reading things on here im not so sure that laser is the right treatment for me, or ever was.

If its just a case of trying different treatments to see which one works then so be it, but i wonder too if different methods work on different areas of the body better than others??

For example the hair on my legs, underarms and bikini (not to mention thighs and stomach) is very coarse and dark and thick, im starting to get ingrowing hairs reasonably often and my legs get verrrrrrrrrry itchy and red and everything possibly painful and i’ve done everything i can to try and fix it from moisturising like mad to exfoliating everyday, not using any fragrenced things or anything in baths or showers, and that last one kinnnda worked. But then again, how can i shave / remove hair successfully (even if it only lasts a day before regrowth starts with a vengence) without using some form of bathcream, moiseurebath, shaving type stuff??
Bikini i tend to trim as close as possible but i cant do anything about the thigh area, and the stomach and any facial areas i’ve tried every method on (aside from electrolysis). Hair removing cream doesnt work, literally its mad how little it does and i’ve tried every brand. Shaving (not electric shaving tho) works like i said for a day, bleaching is just pointless to me, and finally plucking: the faithful evil friend that is the tweezer lol, it goes everywhere with me and i cant spend a day where i dont potch with my skin to hunt out the offending hairs that are obvious and get rid of them, even if it means having a huge red patch where i’ve tried so hard!

I dont know what im trying to say here really, think i just got carried away after reading your post oopsies lol :crazy: .

The one thing i’m gonna do right now tho is look at the pros and cons of laser and electrolysis. Laser i always assumed was the best and electrolysis the most painful and demonic looking! But now im not so sure. Im also looking at epilators as they seem a bit less dodgy looking these days. hmmmmmm.

Anyway thats all im gonna say lol, ive gone on enough, needless to say this forum has really reeeeeally opened up my eyes at hair problems and to find other people who are literally thinking the same things as me is amazing!!

Feels quite good to know actually!!

Cheers!