Confession: I Shave My Face & It's OK

I'm not ashamed to say I do this so lets cross it off the self shaming list.

I haven’t grown a beard or a ‘stache. It’s something a bit more subtle than that.

My facial hair started changing in my early 50s.

You know that blonde peachy fuzz that we all have?

My babies had it and it was soooo cute on them. When they were babies! Some people have it on their face or their forearms or up from their navel or inner thighs.

Mostly mine never bothered me.

I never really had much of it to speak of anywhere on my body. That is until I noticed it sort of becoming ‘more’ on my right cheek.

My face that is — not my right butt cheek! 😆

Occasionally, I would catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror when I was cold and I thought side on glance I was beginning to bear resemblance to a dandelion!

I decided to do some research to see if it was safe to shave it off or remove it so that I wouldn’t end up looking like a bearded lady and be carted off when the circus came to town. Hey! I’m not dissing bearded ladies here.

You do you.

I’m all about freedom of choice for all.

Turns out ‘female shaving’ is a thing and it’s not restricted to age.

On as serious note, facial hair can be a common side effect of polycystic ovary syndrome. For many women they just want their makeup to adhere better, giving the appearance of a texture free finish.

It was neither for me. I just found it annoying.

There’s even a whole beauty trend because of it called ‘dermaplaning‘ which is the clinical name for shaving. Removing the hair with a super sharp, sterile blade. Not for the faint hearted, eh? Bonus point is not only are you getting rid of unwanted hair but the action of removal acts as an exfoliation of the skin.

Fast forward to 2023-2024 dermaplaning now also falls under the ‘glass skin’ trend.

I mentioned this trend in Faffing Friday 4 when designer, John Galliano broke the internet with is show.

Faffing Friday #4 .. I'm On A Roll Now

As for the old wives’ tale that your hair will grow back thicker, faster and darker turns out facial hair is vellus hair which isn’t the same as the hair on the rest of our bodies.

Okay — so I was happy with the actual science bit but what about actually freakin’ doing it?

A little more research as well as chatting with some of my Insta friends and it turns out that there are various tools you can buy to DIY at home. I chose to try the instrument with the most unfortunate name — a ‘Tinkle’. How does anyone come up with a brand name like that for removing female facial hair? They are described as eyebrow razors but the small print on the packaging states they are suitable for fuzzy sideburns like mine.

That was about 7 years ago now and I’m still using the same type of shavers. I moved onto these.

Turns out they are a pretty blunt instrument and nothing to be afraid of. 

The fuzz falls off like blowing that dandelion 🌬️

I usually do it about once a month, sometimes longer. It definitely hasn’t made any difference to how quickly the fluff grows back on my cheeks.

I know that’s what many women worry about.

The first time I ever did it I was half expecting to wake up the next day with razor burn but I am relieved to say every time its as smooth as well you know.

What about you?

Do you shave your facial fluff or would you give it a try now?

Ciao for now,

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