The bearded lady

yogagran, I have looked at this previously and the reviews on Amazon are not too favourable and it is relatively expensive.

I had epilation on my chin and upper lip years ago but then got a bit of a red rash which apparently was rosacea - not sure if it was connected to the epilation. Generally I use tweezers but may send for a Wizzit.

My eyebrows have to be kept under strict control as well, they would grow right down and very long if left to their own devices. I try to pull out the white ones but then worry I will not be left with many dark ones (head hair is still dark!). A sort of cross between Denis Healey and Alistair Darling in reverse.

I have detailed off my DIL to come and tweezer me when I am gaga.

I joined Gransnet, purely because I found this thread and say thank you! So glad that I am not alone in this. I am cultivating hairs out of my chin, neck and the side of my nose. (yes sadly they are sprouting there too).
I am feeling a bit freakish though, as I have to pluck every single day & sometimes, I reckon I could do it all day long. I too have made DD promise to pluck them out, if I ever do into a coma etc.

As for the eyebrows, they are fast turning white, straggly and are refusing to be dyed. Even by the experts.

Don't know what I expected really. I started going grey at 17 years old.

I'm a poor excuse for a human being...Would make a reasonably good looking Werwolf though!

Well, it looks as though there are plenty of us in the same boat, Ibelonghere! Welcome to Gransnet!

My Epistick is here, sitting beside me as I type. I must steel myself to use the thing tomorrow, otherwise it'll join a long line of items bought and never used, often because I've wimped out (come in, blood pressure monitor I never dared use because I got it into my head it would just keep on squeezing, and squeezing, and squeezing...).

Two of my menfolk have picked the Epistick up, studied its rather dubious appearance and the Chinese writing, and quietly put it back down. I have no idea what they're thinking.

Interesting to keep them wondering Maggie

lol about the blood pressure monitor! (Actually I think I was a bit worried too )

Had a go with my Wizzit now, and have taken Ana's advice and removed the guard, and tried multi directions.
Didn't hurt at all on my chin, but was definitely heading towards pain on my top lip!
I'd give it 7/10

Hope that helps Liz46 (hairless)

Maggiemaybe my Epistick also arrived and yes, there were instrucrions as promised, but in Chinese. I tried it on my leg and the back of my hand and it was so hit and miss that I gave up. There is no way that I could attempt to use it on my face. A good job that it only cost £1.

It's nice to be in such good company on this thread. My upper lip hairs have become thicker as I have got older and there seem to be more of them these days so although I have often used jolen bleach in the past, tonight I have used the boots facial hair removal cream - just trialling it on a little either side! (Hope I won't end up with a certain German man's look ) I am interested in how quickly it regrows. Think the time may have come to go for regular waxing though. Seems a shame in a way as I have stuck with it since I was about 13! My worry is that if all hairs are removed at the same time (as with waxing and cream) surely they will all grow at exactly the same time, and therefore moustache will appear to be much thicker?
Can I please ask - those of you who wax - how often do you have to go?

Of course, to make this all so much worse, when I wear my reading glasses and look in the magnifying mirror - horrors appear!

I have always had to wax (from about age 35) and needed to get it done once every six weeks. A few years ago I discovered the Parissa hot waxing kits in Boots and I now do it myself. It saves a fortune. I use tweezers in between and am trying the Wizzit, but I think that probably isn't up to the job!

Charleygirl, I have at last screwed up my courage and tried my £1 Epistick and I think it's grand! I had a little slip of paper in with mine with English instructions, which I will copy below. It's very easy to use when you get the hang of it and you can feel it nipping out the little hairs and then can see the blighters caught up in the wire coils. I'm just off to moisturise now, in the hope I don't get a shaving rash!

"Hold each end and bend the bar downwards into an inverted U. Place it against your face and roll the bar inwards and outwards with your thumbs. The spring will catch the hairs and gently pull them out."

Not so sure about the "gently" - it stings a bit! It's not what even a wimp like me would call painful though.

Apparently there are videos on You Tube if the instructions don't make sense to you. Fingers crossed!

Thanks, I may have another go. Chinese is not my language of choice.

At my yoga class tonight someone said that the willow hedge arch outside had been removed, but the roots were still there and would be sprouting up again soon.
My first thoughts were of my upper lip

Thanks Mamie for your reply. Six weeks is a pretty good time. I will look up the Parissa stuff but think I will try a professional to begin with, to make sure it works on me - and I can stand the pain

Yes, probably good to get it done by a professional first Nanabelle
Do they still do hot wax in the UK? I seem to remember that they were not allowed to do it from the big tubs of hot wax around the time we left the UK. They still do it in France. I find I can put up with more pain and hotter wax if I do it myself, but as I said up thread, the left eyebrow is tricky to shape for a right-hander. The Parissa is about £10 in Boots, but it lasts me about six months.

ha ha ha ha ha Maggiemaybe
"Two of my menfolk have picked the Epistick up, studied its rather dubious appearance and the Chinese writing, and quietly put it back down. I have no idea what they're thinking."

According to the women's mags, waxing on the face makes more hair grow.

My Wizzit has arrived & I'm very pleased with it. Sales of it must have shot up!

Went shopping yesterday with DD & was very surprised to see Threading being carried out in the shopping mall. Just a little stand with 3 reclining chairs - no privacy at all. All 3 chairs were occupied though & one reclining lady was rubbing her I assume now hairless chin, & smiling.

I'm finding that my Wizzit is ok if I use it every day. That way, it seems to keep everything in check with the minimum discomfort.

Do plucking the hairs on your face make them grow darker and stronger?

My waxing / plucking regime has been the same for over thirty years Boatyard
During that time people have said plucking / waxing / epilating (is that a word?) makes it worse.
I haven't noticed that, but as the alternative would have been to do nothing, I am not sure what that proves.
Does having your hair cut make it grow faster? I know that my lunar calendar gardening book has info on the best phases of the moon for getting your hair cut / facial hair removed.

Thanks for your posts Lona and everyone. My wizzit has just arrived and following advice from this thread I ended up removing the guard and trying it in different directions. It is uncomfortable but bearable. I have pale, fine down where a man would have a beard (thank you hormones). Probably it is not too noticeable but I know it's there. I'll probably use it briefly every day so the effect is not too obvious.

My chin hairs are back. Luckily I tend not to look in the mirror with my glasses on so it's just the three stiff ones that annoy me. Darn teenagers have disappeared the tweezers again tho.

I've made my first visit to an electrolysis salon. Had a brief chat and took a leaflet. I'll contact them again when I'm feeling a bit better - good excuse. I guess I would be looking more at the high end of the charges: £524 for ten hours if I want it all done.

But wouldn't you need to go back for 'top-ups' even after that, Mary?

If it does get rid of the hair completely and for good, though, it's got to be worth it! Hope you feel better soon

Mary - I hope that is not in one hour sessions! When I used to go, it was about 10 minutes per session and I think I paid about £15 - £18 for that. I do think like Ana that you may have to go for top ups, as other follicles start producing hairs in future years.
The sun was shining this morning and shone a spotlight on my under chin hairs. Just how do they get that long without me noticing?