Thinning Male Beard Question- NOT Complete Removal

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi all,

I am a white straight male who is considering electrolysis on his beard/goatee area because my black facial hair grows in thick (both thick hair and the number of hairs per surface area) and I get razor burn. In addition. When I shave, I do not like the “5 o’clock” shadow or gray area that I have when clean shaven, but at the same time, I DO want to preserve my masculinity and not be completely bald on my face (this is NOT a trans case).

Ideally, my goal is what some guys naturally have, which is to be able to grow facial hair when I want, but when they shave, they do not have the shadow.

I have a few questions where your expertise will be helpful:

  1. If I thin out my goatee area, will my face/facial hair still look natural (in the goatee area) when I shave or if I grow out the hair sometime in the future?

  2. Assuming in point 1 will still look natural, how many hairs per (square inch?) area should I aim to have?

Any pictures or other commentary from the forum would be helpful.

I am scheduled to have an electrolysis treatment (90 minutes) later on this week, and was going to ask the practitioner to take the following approach:

  1. Work on “thinning” out the goatee/chin area since there’s a lot of hairs there
  2. Lower beard line on the cheeks area (essentially a removal to a certain point)
  3. Remove hairs above the chin but below the lower lip (those two oval-like areas where there is typically less hair)

A few additional questions:

  1. Does this seem like a logical approach for the visit?
  2. Will 90 minutes be enough to accomplish these items?
  3. What settings should I ask for to ensure the hair doesn’t grow back and that I have NO SCARRING or WHITE POCK marks (it is my face and will need to walk around the next day)
  4. With respect to lowering my beard line, should I make sure the practitioner ensures there is a " gradual transition" from the area with hair to the non-hair area (e.g. is it natural to have lots of hair in the beard then no hair on the cheeks, or should it be hair on the beard gradually reducing to no hair on the cheeks)? - which approach is most natural should I ever decide to grow a beard?

Pardon for all the questions but it is my face, so I cannot have any mistakes or leaving things to chance.

I look forward to hearing back from the forum.

#2

first, it does indeed sound like yu know what you want.

no one here can give you any time estimate sight unseen , or predict what it will take an electrologist to perform that, that is something you learn through your consulatation.
a single 90 minute session will not suffice. Electrolysis treatments are spread out over 12-18 months whether clearing or thinning.

I’ve worked several cases on men who seek a thinning approach. to get a minimal thinning you can still be looking at 10 or more hours of electrolysis over the first 3 months alone. It’s very possible to get a natural look this way through electrolysis. It is not possible to do it with laser however.

We have no way of predicting settings that would be appropriate for your situation, there are simply too many variables.

Everything you’ve written pretty much tells me to advise you to get that information fromyour electrologist during a consult. Neverhaving met you, seen your face, andwith zero information on your skin history, we honestly cant.

#3

You should not apologize for asking for information about a process that is not easy, and with which, if someone makes a mistake, you will be the hardest hit.

Maybe the photos of a case in which I worked can help you see things a little clearer.

The first photo was taken right after a session in the beard density reduction work. I think you can see the area where the session was interrupted (higher hair density).

Here in more detail:

This was the original density, before the start:

This man’s beard was fully developed when the process was carried out. The hairs were incredibly thick (as I had never seen or worked on). In my opinion the redesign of the line under the cheek, as well as the neckline is too low and too high, but that’s the customer’s choice, therefore, it was done as he wanted since it falls within the aesthetically acceptable.

I’m not going to lie, this is not an EASY job, neither for the client nor for the practitioner.

Another moment of the process. In this area, all hairs were treated and permanently removed:

#4

josepha,

none of of your pictures are visible.

#5

I can see them just fine

#6

Really? How strange, I can see them on my screen …

#7

Photos don’t show for me either. Each photo box has a message “please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting.” I use postimage.org less issues than imageshack and photobucket.

Josefa when it comes to thinning beards what is the biggest challenge for you? Too bad electrology textbooks don’t deal with the subject in depth.

#8

Strange, I can see them embedded.

#9

Trying again:

Photo 1 ](http://s760.photobucket.com/user/DED_2010/media/Beard%20reduction/Reduccioacuten%20en%20barba%20inmediatamente%20despueacutes%202_zpsyej7jcjk.jpg.html)[/img]

Photo 2
](http://s760.photobucket.com/user/DED_2010/media/Beard%20reduction/Reduccioacuten%20en%20barba%20inmediatamente%20despueacutes_zpsma6c8c4q.jpg.html)[/img]

Photo 3
](http://s760.photobucket.com/user/DED_2010/media/Beard%20reduction/6e801e27-13d6-4ed7-98aa-4d828cea9064_zpswivbqxxs.jpg.html)[/img]

Photo 4

](http://s760.photobucket.com/user/DED_2010/media/Beard%20reduction/DSC07167%201_zpsmxo4kkcx.jpg.html)[/img]

#10

Hi Fenix, I’m happy to hear from you :slight_smile: The biggest challenge is the selection of hairs that have to be removed in order to obtain a homogeneous and natural result. Considering that certain areas such as chin, upper and lower lips should be denser (number of hairs per cm2) than the rest of the beard. If you remove too much at some point, you can leave a bald patch.

#11

I also can not open the photos-same message as Fenix.

#12

Following Fenix’s advice.

The first photo was taken right after a session in the beard density reduction work. I think you can see the area where the session was interrupted (higher hair density).

Here in more detail:

This was the original density, before the start:

This man’s beard was fully developed when the process was carried out. The hairs were incredibly thick (as I had never seen or worked on). In my opinion the redesign of the line under the cheek, as well as the neckline is too low and too high, but that’s the customer’s choice, therefore, it was done as he wanted since it falls within the aesthetically acceptable.

I’m not going to lie, this is not an EASY job, neither for the client nor for the practitioner.

Another moment of the process. In this area, all hairs were treated and permanently removed:

#13

Amazing work Josefa. The individual’s beard density and thickness is very impressive, but you can see after the selective hair removal it will create a different “lighter beard” look.

Laser can’t achieve this because of the unpredictable nature of it, but with electrolysis there is complete control of the process. Bravo.

#14

I’ve faced exactly this kind of scenario. Unfortunately, the client never completed the job.

#15

Josefa I remember seeing a video on your channel using this case. Amazing work!! In thinning cases, do you start with full clearances first and then transition into removing random hairs or you always start with just thinning?

#16

Josefa,

Thank you for replying on this thread and sharing your expert opinion. The pictures were very helpful.

If I want to thin my beard enough such that the “5 o’clock shadow” is hardly visible, what is a good metric to go by such that I don’t go “too thin” in density? Assume that my facial hair is as thick (per hair) and dark as your client in the pictures.

Also, I’ve noticed that guys have different patterns of hair growth , where some have a high beard line at the cheek, while others have a much lower height, and other just have the chin and mustache area without growing on the sides.

What’s the best way to figure out which hair pattern is best for me?

Thank you, Josefa. I look forward to hearing from you!

#17

Hello again Fenix, yes, this is the same case that I have put on my YouTube channel.

Normally, in the cases of reduction, I follow a selection process from the beginning.
In the hypothetical case that we made a first full clearance, that is, all the hairs present on the surface of the skin, the reduction would be around 50% of the total of the hairs, an amount sufficient to eliminate the undesirable shadow. A second complete clearance would be too much reduction, and this would prevent showing a natural beard pattern in case the individual wanted to let it grow.
Do you remember the case of the guy who came from Moscow? the second complete clearance ended with almost all hairs. Of course that’s what he wanted, that’s why we made a third clearing too.

At the beginning (Before):

A year after the second full clearance:

Another perspective:

If what we are looking for is a reduction with a natural look, a complete clearance is not a good idea, because in the masculine beard it could leave a strange and disordered appearance, unlike in the body where this strategy usually gives a much more natural result.

#18

You’re welcome, Hang10. According to my observations, to get the shadow to disappear, you need to remove a little more than 50% of the hairs.

In the first case, the strategy was to make several (around 4) full clearances in certain areas such as lower sides of the lower lip, cheeks, and neck. Then, continue with a selection of hairs on the rest of the beard that only required a reduction.

That’s why in the pictures you can see different patterns. The photo of the reduction was taken after doing and finishing with the areas that required 0 hairs

#19

Hello Josefa,

I just came across this thread.

First of all , great work!

As I understood from your post, one would have to remove about 50% of the beard for the shadow to become lighter or disappear completely.

If I may ask, for this particular client, how long did the sessions last for?

#20

If I remember correctly, the sessions lasted between 1 or 2 hours a day, 3-4 days a week for approximately 3-4 weeks.