The problem is, facial hair removal can come at a bit of a risk. Doing a quick job with a razor or a shaver might actually make the hair grow back even thicker and faster. Luckily, a number of natural methods of hair removal exist that produce much more promising long-term results.
If you have excessive or unwanted hair on your face, you’re probably suffering from a condition called hirsutism. Of course, all women have facial and body hair, but hair is generally lighter in colour and not so thick. The hair on people who have hirsutism, on the other hand, is usually very usually coarse and dark.
If you have hirsutism, you might have excessive hair growth all over your body, but most people are the most self-conscious about the hair on their faces. You’ll find that you develop this excessive body hair because you have higher-than-normal levels of androgens, or “male” hormones, including testosterone. Actually, all women produce a certain number of androgens, but these are generally at lower levels.
Certain medical conditions, like polycystic ovarian syndrome or adrenal gland disorders, are some of the most common causes of androgen overproduction. These can lead to male-pattern hair growth and other more masculine characteristics, like a lower, deeper voice. Some medications, like anabolic steroids and certain immunosuppressants, can also cause excessive facial hair growth.
It’s thought that between five and ten percent of all women are affected by hirsutism, but even if you don’t have the condition yourself, you might simply have darker hair on your face that you wish to remove. No matter what your situation, you should be able to effectively remove your facial hair using one of the natural techniques explained in this video.
It might not be home remedy as such, but tweezing is one of the simplest and most effective ways of removing facial hair. Everyone has a set of tweezers somewhere in their home, and with a bit of patience, you can successfully remove your unwanted facial hair using the tweezing method alone. Rather than simply cutting the hairs, as with shaving, tweezers are designed to pluck hair straight from the roots.
Most people will choose to use tweezers to shape their eyebrows, but there’s no reason why you can’t use it for any area of your face. The good news is that the extra time spent meticulously pulling hairs out is worth it: you can expect the results of tweezing last longer than shaving.
Make sure to wipe your face with a warm cloth before tweezing to soften your skin, and hold your skin taut to make it easiest to pull out each hair. Tweezing isn’t the most painless hair removal method, but it certainly gets the job done.
How do you like your eggs? However you’d answer that question, it probably doesn’t involve putting them on your face. You might want to start doing so, though, because it’s thought that excessive facial hair growth can be greatly reduced by a simple egg white mask.
The stickiness of the egg helps the mask to cling to your facial hair and effectively peel the excess growth off once it’s dry. As a bonus point, the egg will also nourish your skin.
Eggs are a fantastic source of protein, which boosts the natural collagen in your skin. Just mix an egg white with a tablespoon of cornstarch and sugar until you’ve got a smooth, thick mixture.
Apply the mask to your face and leave it to dry for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the mask has reached peak hardness levels, peel it off in one quick motion, then rinse your face with cold water. Try to apply an egg white mask to your face at least twice a week for the best results.
Papaya isn’t just a delicious fruit – it turns out it’s also pretty handy for hair removal, too. It contains a bio-active enzyme called papain, which is thought to enlarge the hair follicles, reducing excess hair growth on your skin.
You can also use papaya to naturally exfoliate the skin and remove any lingering dead cells. Mix with turmeric, which is a traditional skin remedy and helps to further exfoliate and brighten the skin.
To make your mask, take raw papaya, peel it and cut it into small pieces, then grind these pieces into a paste. Add in a tablespoon of turmeric powder, and apply it directly to the parts of your face with excessive hair growth and leave it to rest for around 20 minutes. Rinse off with cold water, and repeat twice a week for a noticeable improvement.
Scientists have only recently discovered the power of essential oils for skin health, and recent research suggests that lavender oil and tea tree oil in particular can inhibit hair growth and significantly reduce the growth of excess body hair.
To make your own lavender and tea tree oil solution, combine one teaspoon of the lavender oil with four to six drops of the tea tree oil. Then take a cotton ball and use it to dab the oil onto the hairier areas of your face.
Here’s a way to prevent excess hair growth in the first place by drinking spearmint tea. It’s thought that by simply drinking spearmint tea twice a day, you’ll be able to naturally lower your body's androgen levels, helping reduce excess facial hair growth.
Studies have found that spearmint tea effectively decreases testosterone levels, making it a good natural treatment for mild hirsutism. To make spearmint tea, just soak some spearmint leaves in boiling water for a few minutes, then strain leave to cool slightly before drinking.
One of the kindest hair removers for the skin is the turmeric and chickpea scrub. This works by almost cleansing the hairs away, and your skin will benefit from the antioxidant properties of the turmeric in the process.
To make the scrub, mix equal amounts of chickpea flour with ground turmeric. Then add your water bit by bit, until there’s enough to make a thick paste.
Spread this over your areas of unwanted facial hair and leave for around 10 to 15 minutes before then rinsing off with warm water. This treatment is one of the gentler home remedies, so you’ll find you’ll need to do it a few times a week for several weeks before you notice much of a difference.
If you’re more used to adding potatoes and lentils to your curries, you’ll be interested to know that paired together, they also make a very effective hair removal face mask. The bonus is that potatoes have several other skin benefits: they can lighten and brighten your skin, thanks to their content of B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, calcium, potassium, and other nutrients.
To make the mask, soak yellow lentils overnight, then mix with a potato, a teaspoon of honey, and a squeeze of lime juice. You’ll need to mash the potato to extract its juice, then drain the water that contained the soaking lentils and grind the lentils until you create a smooth paste.
Add the rest of your ingredients to the paste and mix well. Finally, apply the mixture to the affected areas of your face and leave it to dry for around 15 to 20 minutes until it dries out. Remove the dried paste with cold water and repeat twice a week.
Looking to wax but don’t want to bother with shop-bought waxing remedies? You’ll want to give the lemon and honey home-made waxing alternative a go.
Get started by mixing approximately two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of organic honey, and two teaspoons of lemon juice in a bowl. Then heat the mixture until it forms a paste. You might need to thin the mixture by adding water if it becomes a bit too sticky.
Set the mixture aside to cool, then apply it to the affected areas of your face. Use a waxing strip as you would normally, lay flat on the skin, and pull the hair out in the opposite direction. If your skin isn’t a fan of chemical-based waxes, it’ll much prefer this natural at-home alternative.
Here’s a handy hair removal method using two common breakfast foods: oatmeal and banana. This scrub works by clinging to the excess hairs and drying, then pulling the hairs away when you remove it from your face.
Oatmeal makes a great, hydrating scrub and is loaded with antioxidants that help to remove redness from your skin. Apart from removing your facial hair, you’ll also be left with an enviable glowing skin.
Simply blend two tablespoons of oatmeal with a ripe banana, then apply the paste to the areas of excess hair on your face. Massage your skin, then leave for 15 minutes, before washing it off with cool water.
You might want to go down the easier route if you’re not a fan of too much regular maintenance, and if so, the papaya and milk mask is for you. The mask can help you to lighten your hair rather than actually remove it, thanks to papaya’s pulp, which acts as natural bleach when you mix it with milk or if you prefer, turmeric.
Once a week, mix half a cup of papaya pulp with either one tablespoon of milk or half a teaspoon of turmeric. Massage the mixture into your face, let sit for 10 to 20 minutes, then rinse off.
There you have it, the ten most popular home remedies and other natural means of removing hair from your face. Hopefully, you’ve learnt that you don’t need to resort to shaving away your hairs, which will always result in them growing back very quickly, potentially even darker than before.
When it comes to being low-cost and fairly simple, you can’t go wrong with a natural remedy. Should you be after a more permanent solution, and you’ve got the cash to splash, you might want to consider investing in a laser. These work by "zapping" hair follicles with light and heat, which, over time, damages them to the point that they can no longer grow hair.
Excess facial hair can be an embarrassing condition to manage, but you don’t have to live with it. Practice the methods we’ve mentioned, and determine which one works best for you. You might also want to visit your doctor or dermatologist and see what they can recommend for you.
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