Friday, April 4, 2014

Unwanted Facial Hair Solution (Maybe)


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Genetically, I don't think I inherited the hirsute gene from my lineage, as I went through my entire puberty and teens without sprouting a single hair in my armpits. Unlike Julia Roberts, today I have about twenty hairs there in total. I also never tweezed my eyebrows. They were always the right shape and thickness for my face. My arms and thighs?  Not much hair growth there, either. But being born Mediterranean, in an area of the world where the hairiest women proudly cluster and boast sugaring hair-removal techniques (halawa) which were probably invented by Cleopatra, I was nonetheless trapped in the feminist battlefields of the centuries-old Hair Wars.

You see when I was 13-years-old, my family moved to Greece, home to some of the hairiest of them all; and one of my first friends was our landlord's daughter who lived in the same building. When I met her, she had some noticeable upper lip hair, but one day, it was gone along with all the other hair on her body! Of course, I wanted to try this waxing thing that the pubescent Greek goddesses were doing, even though I had no upper lip hair at the time. My dear friend obliged in giving me instructions, and the rest is history. I've been paying for this mistake all my life. Ever since that one time, the more I waxed, the more hairs came out, and they were more determined to be fruitful and to multiply with each plucking. It was a vicious cycle, and I was doomed.

So throughout my adult life, I've had to do this monthly routine of waxing my upper lip, until it became a bi-monthly routine, and eventually become a weekly routine. So as I tired of constantly waxing and tired of the the fear of being away from my tweezers for more than 24 hours, I decided to try electrolysis. I tried it at a dermatologist and I tried it at home. It was daunting and didn't work. Then when laser hair removal was introduced in the 1990s, I tried that too. It didn't work, was expensive, and each session gave me unsightly blisters and dark spots. Additionally,  because of the requirement to SHAVE before each session, the hairs on my upper lip got stronger and increased in number. This was bad, so I quit the laser and went back to waxing and tweezing. By then, I had to wax or tweeze almost every other day to keep up with the rapid hair growth.

After exhausting many options and in desperation for a solution, I turned to history in search of the early traditions used for hair removal. Posted on my favorite folk medicine website, Earthclinic.com, I found information about the use of ALUM by Asian women to stop hair growth. This made me extremely curious and led to deeper research. It's claimed that when a mixture of alum and rosewater solution is applied to freshly removed hair pores, eventually hair will stop growing in that area. Apparently in India, this is done to girls early in puberty, and by the time they reach their teens, they would be hair-free in all the right places. So, I decided to give it a try for a year and see what happens. Being in my late-forties already, I knew I was getting a very late start on this, but I had nothing to lose, and I had tried everything else (except this new product I just found, which is used in a similar way).  And now that it's been exactly a year since I started using alum,  I'm going to report the results of this personal experiment here on the Broo.


THE METHOD:

1/2 teaspoon of alum (I got mine at Amazon)
1 teaspoon high quality pure rose water
(quantity needed for upper lip area)

In a sake-sized cup, mix the two ingredients thoroughly until most of the alum is dissolved. It's hard to dissolve it completely, so do your best. You can use an art paintbrush to mix and apply the solution to the skin. After about ten minutes, the alum will dry and grain. Reactivate it by spraying some rosewater on the skin and leaving it on for an additional 10 minutes. Wash all the alum off under running water and pat the skin dry with a towel. The epilated area must be washed very well, especially if it's on the face or near the eyes. Alum can sting and damage eyes. I found alum to also have a nice post-waxing cooling effect. The Executive Shaving Company even sells it in the form of an after shave balm.

Finally, moisturize the skin with coconut oil.


















I did this for 6 months, then I decided to add another step to the method to encourage the alum to more efficiently go into the hair pores. To get this effect,  I wiped the skin with a cotton round saturated with hydrogen peroxide before applying the alum solution.  It bubbles and cleans the pores deeply, making them more open to receive the alum solution. Hydrogen peroxide not only made a wonderful sterilizing agent for the pores, but I feel like it might have helped the alum solution to further slow my hair growth in the second 6 months of this trial.














THE RESULTS:

  • I have 70% less hair on my upper lip today than I did a year ago.
  • I only need to wax about once every ten days, as opposed to every other day.
  • I can easily skip the magna mirror and tweezing routine a couple of days a week.
  • The hairs that remain are much thinner and no longer have dark strong roots.  
  • I have much less ingrown hair problems in the area. 
BONUS RESULTS:
  • It didn't cost time or much money ($15 total)
  • I see less wrinkling on my smoker's upper lip. I don't know if this is from the alum-- since it's also known for it's tautening effect, or from the fact that I'm less frequently waxing and yanking at my skin, but I definitely see less wear and tear on my upper lip. In some African and Middle Eastern countries, alum is used to restore female virginity by tightening the vagina! So who knows? 
Since I haven't yet reached the point where I can throw away my tweezers, I plan to keep this up for another six months and see what happens. Until then,

Keep your ears on...



14 comments:

Tracey said...

Crazy interesting, as always! I love this blog!

Ruby Justice said...

When my favorite English teacher says she loves this blog, you KNOW I'm having an excellent day!

Unknown said...

Hi did you apply just after eaxing or for several days after?

Ruby Justice said...

Hi, Ush. I applied just after waxing..and sometimes whenever I plucked stray hairs too.

I've recently begun to use alum in rock form. I just spray the rosewater on my face and run the stone around the skin. It's less messy that way.

I still can't say the growth has stopped completely but it's much more under control..and my skin is better and softer in those areas as well.

Good luck.

Anonymous said...

HI Ruby,
Great Post. THanks for sharing it.
Are u hair free in the upper lip now?

Unknown said...

Hi Ruby! Since this was in 2015 how is your hair growth affecting you going into 2016 since the alum/ rose water mix? Please share😃

Unknown said...

Hi ruby!! I have a lot of facial hair but i have not waxed or removed it even once ..neither i want to do ..as regrowth is harder ...bt i have been applying this mixture on my face as ut is from last six months ...bt there is no visible result ...plzz help me...how much more time wil it take? Or some other remedy

Anonymous said...

Hi Ruby! How your hairs look now?

1 said...

HI Ruby,
Great Post. THanks for sharing it.
Are u hair free in the upper lip now?
how to remove unwanted hair

1 said...

I have a lot of facial hair but i have not waxed or removed it even once ..neither i want to do ..as regrowth is harder ...
How to remove unwant hair naturally

Anonymous said...

This is so true..ppl using after shaving waxing dis alum treatment.will take time to see complete results..but as i have recently passed by electrilysis procedure my hair focile got weaker so dis treatment is working well..be patient for good results

Alexandra Rojas said...

Hi Rudy, it sounds like the results for you were great but i was wondering, how often did you use this method?

Anonymous said...

Hi, hope someone reads this. Is it possible to use just plain water?the thing is that where I live rose water is very expensive

Anonymous said...

Plain water is absolutely fine and will work just as well. I use the block after every shower. Skin is soft, pores are open and skin is already wet and ready, so I just rub the block everywhere in circular motions and pat dry with towel. If I use it on my face I would wash that off. You will notice your hairs will slow down and become thinner within the first few tries. This is the most effective and safest way to remove hair I think!