Living with hirsutism can be a frightening nightmare, but don’t fret ladies. You must always have a positive attitude and always project confidence. There are many steps to fighting hirsutism. As a woman living with hirsutism myself, I only know the methods that worked for me. They are outlined as follows:
Step 1 is not shaving. Never Shave your face. You will have a male beard. Shaving is good for the legs, lower arms, feet, and toes if you are hirsute. Those are the only areas I would shave. Shave around the nipples if you are planning on getting intimate. The best razor is a Mach3 or better.
Step 2 is plucking. You can pluck with a pair of tweezers. The best tweezers are Tweezerman. If you have a full face of hair ike I do, you might want to try an epilator. This is an electronic pair of tweezers. They make ones especially for the face. I used the one that is only supposed to be used on the legs and arms. This does produce more ingrown hairs.
Step 3 is electrolysis. This is virtually useless if you have as much hair as I do. I recommend it to ladies with 15 hairs in their chin. I have 15 hairs in a finger’s width on my chin. It took too much time and pain for me.
Step 4 is laser. I chose this step next. It works. Mostly. It takes a long time, and the results take even longer to see completely. I have had 6 months worth of treatments. It would probably take 2 years. The full benefit of laser is not seen until around a year after in my opinion. You should stick with it. It is very expensive. One treatment usually costs $275 just for my face. I have hair everywhere! Some offices do accept medical insurance. Do some research.
Step 5 is waxing. Waxing is sometimes painful. I use it sometimes for my eyebrows, upper lip, cheeks (now my hair is a lot softer – in the beginning it was so coarse that I could not wax it), and chest between my breasts. The best wax is the brazilian kind for the bikine line, and make sure you get the kind for the coarsest hair possible.
Step 6 is a good vitamin regimen. I recommend vitamins C and E, saw palmetto, black cohosh, and kelp. These are supposed to help hirsutism. I think they have helped with the coarseness of my hair.
Step 7 is makeup. For those of you who do shave their face, use good beard cover makeup. I find the best is a dermablend brand cover. It even covers tattoos. I am wearing it in my picture. The second best is Max Factor’s pan stick.
Step 8 is bleach. I now bleach my cheeks sometimes and my upper lip along with my chest sometimes. I find bleach to be useful in between waxing. The softe becomes, the better it looks when you bleach it.
NO!NO! is step 9. This is an at home laser system for $200. It actually works! I used mine so much that they are repairing it for free. I recommend it for use on the face and stomach/chest. You are not supposed to use it on your face, but I do. It does kind of feel like your face has been shaved, though.
Good luck in your treatments, and I wish you all the happiness in the world!
