My Facial Hair Removal Routine

Today we’re talking about a subject I’ve been familiar with since I was 11 years old…Facial hair. I can vividly remember walking past the mirror that used to hang in our dining room one hazy evening, and catching sight of my new ‘moustache’ in the light.

At the time I was completely horrified and convinced I was seeing things. No one had ever told me that as a brunette I needed to be prepared for hairs to rapidly sprout across my face! And at first, I was concerned that trying to remove it would make it grow back thicker, darker and faster. Thankfully I learnt that this is in fact an old wives tale and from that point onwards, I’ve tried everything to keep things under control.

For my upper lip, my first port of call was hair removal cream. For people who’ve never had the pleasure of using it, it smells a little like rotten eggs…Delightful, I know! It did completely remove the hairs within 5 minutes or so, but if you left it on for even 30 seconds too long, it would burn. And boy was that painful!

I later discovered during my aesthetics training that as these creams are so aggressive, they thin your skin quite drastically too. Needless to say my stash quickly made it’s way to the bin and I’ve never used one since.

My next experiment was with waxing. My mum was brilliant and didn’t want me to mess up my brows, so always took me to a professional for treatment. The therapist did both this area and my upper lip too and for a while it was absolutely amazing. But then one day I had an appointment where the wax was a touch too hot…

As the lady ripped the strip off, the skin underneath my brow went with it and my eyes watered like crazy as I tried to internalise the yelp. It took a good couple of weeks for the scabs to heal but I was willing to try again.

The only thing is, once the skin has been weakened in the area, the likelihood of it tearing again increases. Unfortunately for me, I ended up leaving every appointment scabby and I also found it’d damage my skin barrier so much, that I’d always end up with multiple breakouts too. So my search for an alternative continued.

It appeared in the form of threading when I went to visit my Dad and family who lived in Dubai when I was younger. I took a trip to the local salon and threading (which I’d never heard of at the time!) was the only option.

Thankfully, the lady was swift and experienced and I was surprised by how much I loved the results. As the hair is plucked directly from the root it gave the most even finish and despite it also making my eyes run, I’d still be having it done today if it wasn’t for one small detail…I’m useless with beauty appointments!

You have to time them perfectly with your special occasions, have the hair long enough for the treatment, but not so long that you can see people staring at them whilst you talk 🙈 So imagine my joy when I discovered an at-home, electronic version, a few years ago.

Although it looks similar to a mascara tube from the outside, it is in fact a small hair removal device (I’ll link the one I use here). It cost less than £20 and all I do is create small circular motions over my upper lip and now my chin too (lucky me!). It cuts the hairs directly from the root making it 100% pain free and can be used whenever and wherever you need a quick touch-up.

The only downside is that it isn’t the most accurate when it comes to brow grooming, so for that, I use a good old fashioned pair of tweezers. I find I simply can’t go wrong as long as I pluck the hair out at a slight angle and pull in the direction of the hair growth. This stops me snapping the hairs or damaging the follicle so I can create a crisp, neat finish. 

Of course, apart from the hair removal cream, there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the treatments above. Most people I know have some form of waxing or threading and this is just the routine that works for me.

As someone who grows hair as fast as I do, both the hair removal device and tweezers allow for effortless maintenance and as a bonus, keep my skin it top condition too. I tend to de-fuzz on an evening straight after my double cleanse before following up with the rest of my 5 Minute Kit. It keeps my skin clear, strong and youthful post-treatment, whilst ensuring I’m perfectly pruned at all times 😉