Teen in a Dilemma

Start here! Share your feelings
#1

Intro: Hi, this is kinda my first time coming out with my ‘hair problem’!

I say this is a dilemma, well, 'cuz being a teen, and a girl, I have some insecurities. Doesn’t all?

Ok, firstly, I’m ok with myself–as long as my body hair isn’t seen!

But then knowing that society, here in the U.S. people discriminate those who have “excess” body hair. (I’m in New York, btw. I wanna :frowning: go to the beach or go to a pool wearing a swimsuit!).

Background: I am one of those people who get discriminated upon. Well, ever since I was a kid, I’d have fuzz hair on my upper lip. People keep making fun of me!

Straight to the point - I wanna get rid of it or just minimize the appearance of my excess body hair.

Any advice? Any tips?

My thoughts: At first, I thought I had hirstuism since I have a lot of hair for a girl. But now I ignore that. My problem isn’t as bad as others (I think)

Where do I have hair?

Well, I have a LOT of visible hair all over my body. My hair is really dark and is medium to coarse.

THE BIG REASON FOR MY DILEMMA: I really want to be accepted by others and plus I want to get a boyfriend. I wanna let my skin to be exposed without getting weird looks by people. (I can’t just ignore them becuz I know I live in a country where a lot hair’s just not accepted on women!)

I need to know which hair removal method would go good with each body part?

I have dark hair ranging from my chest, my back, my buttocks, my knees, legs, thighs, arms, FACE, back of neck, fingers, and toes, etc. etc. :s ew, yuuck. i’m getting all creeped out by listing them all!

These are some ways that I can get rid of hair:

I will do:

Depilatory - I can do this, but sometimes my skin gets too dried out.
Bleaching - I guess this is ok but my skin gets irritated sometimes and I don’t want to have golden hair or anything like that.
Waxing – This hurts! And I heard that it’s better for a professional to do this. Is this true?

I might do:

Electrolysis. If I have money and I’m not shy, I’ll do this! What are ways to reduce the pain?
Tweezing. This consumes too much time. And it hurts. I sometimes pluck my eyebrows but they leave red dot marks!

I WON’T DO:

LASER, noooo way!
Shaving I’M SCARED OF RAZORS!

Yeah, I’ll go to a professional if I have the money.

Please any tips and advice would be great!! :grin:

Finale: Please tell me which methods would be GOOD for which body part? Remember I have hair EVERYwhere! Thank you!

#2

oh my. You need your parents help. I’ll say that right off. Share all your thoughts with them.

My advice is to pick ONE area, like your upper lip, find a good electrologist and get the hair removed permanently. EMLA is a topical anesthetic that you can apply 45-60 minutes before a treatment to help with the sensation part. You need a perscription or order it with your parents permission,online from a Canadian pharmacy.

Where do you live in New York? Maybe we can tip you off as to where to go for good electrolysis care.

By the way, there are many cultures and geographical areas where hair is not cool. Your country is not the villian nor is it responsible for your feelings about your hair. If you must place blame on why you are “discriminated” against, look onward to the media, from print to video, they have the power to shape views on what is pretty and what isn’t.

Shaving? How about shaving your legs?

I would take care of my face first and then prioritize a particular body area. Can’t do it all at once, so my advice is to proceed with your facial concerns first with the help of your parents and READ HAIRTELL DAILY so you can study all the good advice given here for special young ladies like yourself.

Love,

Dee

#3

I agree with Dee. You should talk to your parents. It sounds like you haven’t tried many of the temporary methods available yet, which most people use. Just because you don’t see the hair on women’s upper lips on the street, doesn’t mean that they don’t have it. Many women do and they use various methods to remove it.

All permanent hair removal methods hurt. When you’re old enough and want to commit, you won’t mind a little pain. It’s not bad at all and there are topical anesthetic creams as Dee mentioned to help with it.

For now, shaving is your best option. Razors are not like needles. They don’t cut you like a knife. You should ask your parents to show you how to use one. Most girls shave their legs, underarms, and most other body areas. It is the most common method and it is pain-free.

Waxing lasts longer, but over time can make your hair more coarse and more resistent to permanent removal if you want to get it later. I wouldn’t recommend it on the face.

Plucking is what most people do for their eyebrows. You can get them waxed at a salon as well.

Upper lip hair is easy to remove with electrolysis when you get older and decide to take the plunge into trying permanent removal. This would be a good area to start.

#4

Alright. Thanks for answering.

As for my mom she said that they’ll disappear when I get older. She said that she used to have as many hairs as me, but as she got older, it lessened. I’m thinking that she means that since my hormones are acting up a lot, I’m stuck having a lot of hair growth.

I’m scared of shaving… so I don’t really want to consider it. Just the thought of a razor against my skin is a scary thought. How do I know if I’m not pressing too hard? I did try once just once only and I couldn’t even press down to a quarter of a couple of a hairs. My mom did say she’d show me but I backed out.

AND I GOT SO FURIOUS!!! The other day!!! A guy friend of mine, who I would eventually like to go out with, he had the NERVES of telling me that he would never care for a girl who has hairy legs and armpits except for the pubic area. He kept saying that if I want to stay a hippie or something!!! that only weird (he used another word but it would cause controversy) men would go with me. He also said a lot of other personal things, which made him look shallow and made ME seem like I don’t know how to take care of myself as a woman!

Well, as the for the media, seems like they’ve gotten in control of people’s minds. I would think they’re trying to get to other people in countries who don’t see hair on a woman’s body as a bad thing yet.

Yes! My upper lip hair is a problem! My classmates would ask me about or make fun of me since I had some type of mustache and hairy eyebrows (actually even a unibrow). I’ve had people mistaking me for a boy :s and they even had to ask to make sure.

Before, I tried tweezing. That hurted too much. Then I used a cream. I was too sensitive for it until I got a bit older and found 1 that didn’t bother me as much, but still I don’t like how it dries out on the skin and still leaves on some stubbly hairs.

Yes, I would still consider electrolysis… I’ll just need more info on it I guess.

I’ve tried waxing on the eyebrows. I went to a salon, which my mom brought me there. The women working at the salon all looked at me weird, and the person who was handling me, she was even surprised at how bushy/hairy my eyebrows were. She waxed my unibrow and extra hair and plucked away some.

Eventually they grew back after a matter of weeks. I’m off to plucking my own eyebrows for now.

Today, I tried out a depilatory cream on some areas, but they still leave black shadowy marks, cuz my hair’s dark. But I did read that it’s better to do it after taking a warm bath and to exfoliate if there are ingrown hairs.

Thanks for help, I think I’ve got a good general idea of my situation and what to do with it.

Any more help would still be appreciated! Thank you!

#5

You are very welcome.

I hope others have some ideas for you, but I’m glad to hear that you have a general idea of how to handle your situation. You check back whenever you need some help. Permanent hair removal is not an easy gig. There is no easy way down as of 2007, but there are some genius’s out there are who working on some ideas.

#6

Well shaving would definitely make things easier. They have special razors that make it difficult to cut yourself, you might want to check them out.

My body hair bothered me a lot more when I was younger, but now I’ve realized that a) I’m not abnormal and b) It’s manageable. I have dark but very fine hair pretty much everywhere.

since you asked:
face/upper lip, I use nair. I hope to get electrolysis but I haven’t done my research so I don’t have a good electrolysist yet (I’m in NYC).

lower legs, bikini line-laser.

thighs, underarms, buttocks-shave

forearms-I used to use nair/wax, but I’ve noticed a LOT of women recently with ingrown hair on their arms, and I don’t want that to happen to me. Every few weeks I use an electric bikini trimmer (with adjustable lenghts) and go over my forearms. This thins the hair out a lot and looks fine.

eyebrows-professional tweezing

hands/fingers-I either use an at-home wax or I shave them.

I plan to get my underarms lasered eventually, and electrolysis pretty much everywhere else.

#7

Dear hair-all-over,

I am wondering how old you are and if you started menstruating yet and if your periods are regular and if you have ever mentioned the excessive hair growth to your physician?

We find ways of holding ourselves back by caring too much about what other people think. Get into that bathing suit and enjoy the beach… just make sure not to forget the sunscreen.

Keep your mom informed.