Beard & facial hair removal

I have tried many of the products on the market, and this is what I think…

There are 4 major options:
shaving, removal creams, laser products, epilators

Shaving: The bottom line is, it works. If I only had one option it would be good old fashioned shaving. That simple? Well of course not. There are electric shavers and blades: this is my opinion.

Electric razors have one big advantage, they don’t send surgically sharp blades across your skin. In that respect it is a big bonus. The down side of course is it doesn’t give you as good a shave. I have used, Remington, Philips, Braun, Panasonic and many others. For me the Philips razors give the best shave.
The electric razor is much kinder on the skin, and as the skin is thinning and more sensitive as I transform…that is a big plus. On the down side more concealer will be needed to cover the ‘shadow’ from the stubble.

Blade razors can give the closest shave you are likely to get. Skin damage, barber’s rash, dry skin, cuts, red rashes etc. are the down side. I personally only use a 5 blade razor and after testing various makes, the Gillette fusion5 comes out top. For body shaving (covered elsewhere) the Cien 5 works very well indeed and is less than half the price of the Gillette fusion5. Disposable razors just cut me and leave sore skin. That is also true for other parts of the body.

Hair removal creams. If there is one topic that really makes this section worth having it is this one. I have tried many types and I am going to be brutally honest and name products that just don’t work. They don’t work at all.

Sold under various guises on ebay etc. It doesn’t work at all, doesn’t remove even a single hair. I left it on for the maximum time recommended (7mins from memory) nothing. Two days later I tried again but gave it a little longer.

WARNING: don’t leave it on any longer. My chin was severely burned and blistered for two days after. Also it was extremely painful and was unable to shave the growing stubble. Double whammy. This is the case with ALL removal creams. The very chemical that removes the hair also dissolves your skin.

I complained to the sellers (China) who just fobbed me off with excuses and lies.

I have tried so many…probably all, as they are all the same chemicals.
They don’t work
(YouTubers who have tested and reviewed say the same thing)

There are other enticing products:

Hair growth inhibitors. Now they might work…I’ve never been able to test mine. The problem is they only work AFTER the hair root is removed…which can only be achieved with waxing.
I’m not going to review this one as I haven’t used it (yet)

LATEST. I have used it now : May 2023
more to come…

Epilators

Braun Epilator Silk epil 9

I started with a series of epilators back in 2022 for body hair. I started with the:
Braun silk epil 3. and later a Philips wet and dry.
Can these be used for beard removal?
It is my intention and so far the results are excellent. Combine this with the hair grown inhibitor above and see if I can remove it for good.
Early results are very promising!
Does it hurt? Yes very much for beard but it’s up to you. Is it worth it?
For body hair, the first epilation stings quite badly…but the second, far less. Also the hair grows back far thinner and lighter in colour.
I had originally intended to only remove neck and cheek hair with the epilator…but I became addicted!

Results

Yes the hair grows back after about 3weeks …well some of it…not all. Second time removal, I hardly felt any pain. The hairs were thinner and root much shorter. (90% haven’t returned after 3 cycles.)
I will put a full review of this as soon as I have a conclusion.
I figured if it saved me lots of electrolysis expense, pain and time…it was worth it.
Even if I have to epilate my face once a month…it is definitely worth it! It’s looking like it may need less than that. Fingers crossed x

conclusion

I haven’t found a single beard removal cream that works. Some claim to be specifically for men and therefore stronger but I have yet to find any evidence of that. Hair removal creams for the body, the good old inexpensive Veet and others are as good as anything…and better than most. Made for women but work on men’s body hair just as well I have found.

IPL Laser hair removers

There are many of these inexpensive devices on the web. In theory they work, though in practice it is a long slow process and as yet I have seen no solid proof it actually works. It takes months really.
They are mains operated and the mains cable is quite short. It is necessary to be close to a mains socket. This also makes using these rather awkward.
I don’t find any discomfort using it. The instructions are a little complicated and rather pigeon English. I’m operating mine on level 5 and 3 flashes per area of skin. (I tested and set this via the units instruction manual)
The ‘flash’ area is quite small and the recycle of the unit per flash about 3 seconds. As a guide, to do a forearm takes approx 4mins. To do the whole body, about an hour.

Please note: IPL lasers do not work on blonde, grey or red hair.

My beautician told me, ‘ we paid many £1000’s for out clinical laser. If I could do it with a £30 thing like this do you not think I would?’

I’m not saying they don’t work on men’s hair…just that it takes so long to do I decided to pay for a course of professional facial laser treatments.
Indulgence Beauty Salon & Clinic, Marlborough, Wilts.
are doing my treatment. I feel safe, informed and in the hands of qualified professional clinicians. My face…I think I owe it that.

to sum up

These are my own findings and I will update this section as I go along. I have tried all the above over a period of 4 months.
In my view, use a razor for your face and body. Sometimes I use an electric and other times a 5 blade razor…mainly in the bath relaxing. Doing your legs that way is very relaxing!
For beard removal: depending on your program. Facial and body hair is going to thin and be less noticeable as hormones levels change. I have opted for facial laser treatment, which is a session each month. It is reasonably expensive but affordable. I still need to wet shave as I have blonde/grey hairs but have found it needs to be done less often and hair growth shows much less.