Plucking Beard

[Anonymous]

I used to pluck my beard at one stage in conjunction with waxing. Results were ok for a time but you need to grow it out a bit inbetween so it is an on off process which annoyed me at times when I wanted it gone but had to keep the hair for the next wax or pluck. The pain is a bit much around the lips/ nose area and it takes ages. Waxing can be a blood sport on the face though not that painful for me but scary for the beautician! i have some scarring on the neck as a result.
I guess it depends how hairy one is , my beard was strong enough that laser, IPL and electrolysis all failed to stop it so I shave now. Being grey helps with the covering over business.

[Adrian]

I have plucked my beard for coming on 4 years now. I don’t have to wait for it to grow out – unlike waxing which needs something to “grab hold of”.

Obviously I never was a particularly “hairy” person = or this time spent in front of a mirror would have been a pointless futile exercise. And the fact that what would be my beard is turning white with age makes the coverage less critical (though the white hairs are thicker and feel disproportionally worse than they look).

After all these years I can say that there is absolutely no pain associated with the process – those little hair cuticles have got used to letting go now. But it is time consuming – but far less time consuming now than when I started.

Over the years I have kept a rough audit of the number of hairs involved.
I was curious to see if the numbers of hairs actually fall.
But the data I have is sparse and a bit inconclusive.
I suspect there are somewhere around 2,500 active hair folicles…and about 300 ‘new’ hairs each day. That represents about 30 – 45 mins plucking on average – though I hardly indulge myself every day.

Personally I enjoy the time for reflection associated with a repetitive task like this – and I know I’m saving myself a lot of $$$ by not trying to “fix things up” permanently.

I hope this helps information helps others.

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I let my facial hair grow in the past and then waxed it. Oh oh, A lot of pain and no results. I just left it a one attempt, first patch – last patch.
Years later I did IPL and it has held to date.

I came across some stats that are interesting. It would not be strong facial on a genetic female but not the less interesting.

Ladies, do you shave your face?

I have before. – 16%
Never in my life. – 52%
Regularly—and I tell my friends about it! – 4%
Regularly (but I keep it a secret). – 26%

Comments on this Poll (19)
Jeorjette

[Ruth]

Hi

This thread reminds of the pheasant pluckers song. Anyway I’m a plucker, but only on the chest, there is not much there in any event,and the follicles come away without too much resistance. Its actually quite a pheasant plucking experience.

Ruth

[Anonymous]

I was prompted to make this post because of the 40 anniversary of the Aquarius festival held near Nimbin in 1973. My father went to the festival & ended up living at Tuntable Falls, a community co-op (commune). As a consequence I became a hippie kid (or the kid of a hippie) & grew up around some very serious beards.

I am particularly hairy with very coarse, (originally) dark hair, although in recent years I have started going grey/white. For at least 20 years I had a beard…I despise shaving. My beard grew all the way from my (face) cheeks, down my neck & met my chest hair.

Having decided to transition, I found the beard tended to clash with my skirts & dresses though, so it had to go (along with all other hair).

Being rather unwilling to part with $, I have plucked my beard on an (almost) daily basis now for approx. 14 months.

I spend many hours each day plucking, some time in front of a magnifying mirror, whilst mulling over thoughts, composing text & generally relaxing but most of the time I use the Braille system, i.e, by feel. It’s a challenge I enjoy.

Amanda summed up my experience quite well with;

Quote:

Personally I enjoy the time for reflection associated with a repetitive task like this – and I know I’m saving myself a lot of $$$ by not trying to “fix things up” permanently.

I can’t offer any figures or measurements but I can say that I can see very obvious results for all the effort.
I no longer have a beard shadow, which considering people used to think I was of Arabic descent, is pretty good. Because I pluck daily I don’t know if the actual number of hairs has been reduced but I believe it has. Due to a mono-brow, I’ve been plucking my eyebrows since puberty & they eventually give up the battle. I am assuming much of my beard will do the same…it seems to be working.
One down side though, poor plucking invariably leads to ingrown hairs. As a consequence I have caused scars that are similar to those left by bad acne…unfortunate as my skin was in surprisingly good condition due to the beard protecting my face for all those years. The scars don’t look pretty but I prefer it to being a bearded woman.

The initial pain didn’t continue for long & now in most areas I feel nothing & in some others it’s just a sensation, though immediately under the nose reminds me I’m alive.

I’ll persevere for another year or two before I decide if it’s been worthwhile.

[Adrian]

Quote:

I was prompted to make this post…

I’d forgotten about this thread!
Well it has been 5 years for me..I haven’t given up…and I still think of the $$$$$ I have saved.

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One down side though, poor plucking invariably leads to ingrown hairs.

Yes – but I’ve noticed the problem is always much worse if I pluck hairs on a summers day. There are parts of my face that are particularly prone to ingrowing hairs – and I avoid these completely when it is warm.

I get two types of ingrowing hairs. One type produces a bump – I never attack these as they are infected. Instead I apply regular liquid antiseptic and try not to fiddle with them. They invariably cough-up their hair naturally after a week or so and disappear. The other type is where the hair grows horizontally just under the skin. This is more of an issue if you are plucking to get rid of black hair!
I generally attack these horizontal hairs with a needle after a while and pull them out – trying to keep the wound as small as possible – just big enough to hook the hair and get the tweezers on it.

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I spend many hours each day plucking

It does become a bit of an obsession at times because it is so relaxing. But I find that the biggest visual impact occurs when you pluck all the obvious hairs…and that doesn’t take very long. So I now only spend a long time once or twice a week.

Quote:

I use the Braille system, i.e, by feel.

Most of the hairs I can feel are thick white “whisker” hair. Although they spoil the illusion of “smooth as a baby’s bottom” – they actually are not visible. I concentrate on things that look black – which because of my advancing years is becoming less of a challenge each year.

When I am short of time – I’ve taken to using an epilator on my chin which is the biggest breeding ground for coarse white whisker hair. It works well on the thicker hair – and is not an area where I am troubled with many ingrowing hairs as a result.

Happy plucking !!!

[Jennett]

Years ago I was getting regular Electrolysis and while I wouldnt say it was great value I still have light facial hair even after having shaved for years.
Anyway Electrolysis eventually weakend the hairs as does tweezing and it got to a stage where I was able to wax my face myself at home. Much easier than playing with tweezers.
It hardly hurt and if I had kept going I would never have shaved againl.
Moral of my story is to use both and in conjunction to beat the pesky little buggers.
Also I feel that if you were lasered at pubery it would save a life time of shaving and weird that it hasnt caught on in general.
Jennett

[Carol]

One of my friends on another forum swears by using an epilator on her face and says it has dramatically reduced strong dark hairs and becomes easier each time you do it. I tried (after a lifetime of occasional plucking) but it was way too painful for this wimp. I’ve gone for laser and after two $70 sessions all my dark hairs have turned light grey and regrow at half the speed. So that is the route for me. My friend recently started electrolysis and says that there are just as many hairs to do as if she had never done epilating but most of them were small and almost invisible.

[Anonymous]

I am nearly 61, ..I can’t say that I have a lot of beard growth, as I have had a few beards over the years, the last being a full beard I had for approx. 8 years (attempting without success to shake my ‘hobby’, …which I’m sure all of us can identify with), and which was quite snowy and course. I don’t know if that fact has had much bearing on my regrowth rate at the present, ..but lately I have wondered about using an epilator. I do have a basic Braun, that I use with success on my body hair, and I am happy with the result (it’s just like getting used to mild electric shock treatment). ….So I wonder if there is an accessory head that has only 3 or so ‘nippers’ — that would decrease the pain, that I could use on my face ?? I do use moisturiser nowadays, twice daily on my face and after every shower on my body, …which does make hair removal easier.
What really cheeses me off is trying to trim my eyebrows, that naturally join over my nose and grow quite hairy and long, being a weekly chore. I can pluck them, but I also have a trimmer and tiny comb that I use to get the overall thickness down, before plucking the out line with tweezers. I have to say that it is a real trial having to do this whilst wearing glasses as well as having a magnifying mirror close by (such is my eyesight) …Duh !!
Another annoyance is that I have hairs that grow from the end of my nose, so a weekly pluck is necessary there, …painfull too, …so, …if I were to get on to HRT, …would this hair regrowth reduce or eventually dissappear ?? I am not hairy body wise, my problem area being only my face.