Help! Hair on Upper Lip!
 

I looked in the mirror this morning and discovered my age must be beginning to show. There was hair, dark scary hair on my upper lip! What do I do about it? What does anyone else that has this problem do?

Wax it or permanent hair removal by laser.

Wax or electrolysis, or bleach.

Man... I've had upper lip hair my whole life. I use Nair for the face, works fine for me.

Personally, I don't care for bleach...instead of a mustache, I have a blonde mustache...lol! Wax works really well and I do it myself with a Sally Hansen product.

I'm super hairy. Wow, that's embarrassing to say. I have hair on my upper lip, gross sideburns, hairy arms and legs ... I'm a freaking Sasquatch. I wax, about every 2-3 weeks since my hair grows so fast. After the first few times it doesn't hurt a bit.

I wax. I have mine done whenever the hair gets long enough to wax. I have had awful luck trying to do it on my own.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. I had friends tell me that when you start waxing or removing the hair it grows back it grows back darker.

ckatgo, I read that "growing back thicker/darker" story is just a myth... it just looks that way because of the way hair begins to grow back. But I am not really sure.

I've been waxing for almost 20 years and have yet to see it come in any darker. The first time you wax, it will seem darker and coarser as it grows out. But think about it, the hair on your face sees the most sun, which has lightened it a bit. It's also fuzzy soft hair for the most part. When it grows out again, it won't be fuzzy or soft for a few days when it's just starting to poke out. If you let it grow out again, it'll be fuzzy and soft.

I have sensitive skin, and creams and bleaches gave me horrible burns. Plus when you bleach, you still have the visible hair, it's just lighter.

I'm hairy too, mainly on my chin and throat but a little on my upper lip. Sometimes I use Neet (darn trouble with that is it leaves behind some of the coarser hairs if I wipe it off too soon and burns if it's on too long; I chase it with Noxema but I get mixed results with that); other times I just take a little eyebrow trimmer and use that, it leaves stubble but at least it isn't so conspicuous for a while

Mine is a combo of dark and light. It has never been fuzzy. Those stray eyebrows that keep popping out on my chin are coarse. I, too, have never had really good luck with the at home products. I'm tempted to go to one of those places that removes them with a string and see if they stay gone longer than waxing.

BTW, I've been doing this for a couple of years and I have to say, the upper lip still hurts when they pull off that strip of fabric.

Oh, I would SO laser if it's an option for you!

Have you done it? I thought it was terribly expensive.

It could be hormonal and would be worth getting checked. Facial hair is a symptom of PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) that whacks out your hormones and is fairly common in obese women. If you do have a hormonal imbalance, there are things your doctor can do to try to keep it from getting worse, and medication to stop and perhaps reverse the symptoms.

Otherwise, I strongly recommend laser removal if you are a candidate (light skin, dark hair) and can swing the cost (high!). I had it done and am SO much happier.

I have done full legs, lower back, full face and neck. Yep, lol--I have done it!

By the way--upper lip only doesn't cost that much. The facilities around me are shooting the mustache area of $50 a treatment. How many treatments you will need will really depend on you.

I suddenly started sprouting some on my chin a few years ago and I tweeze them. The grow back lees frequently becaus enow I only get one or two every few months. Hurts like heck though

They charge by the area. Chin or upperlip or neck, etc. The technician uses a laser wand and it pulses light. You shave the area first then they put the wand on your skin and it fires a zap. They zap over and over until the area has been fully covered. It's slightly painful, but in a satisfying weird way, since you know that every little shock is a hair follicle being blown away. You go back in every 6-8 weeks, 4-5 times. Sometimes touch-ups are necessary after that if you have new hairs, but it's nothing like it was before.

I would look for a place that uses trained nurses like a dermatologist office. I've seen what the burns and scars can look like if done incorrectly at places advertising it cheap and it's not pretty. It's your face, so be thoughtful about who you trust with it I say!

Oh, and electrolysis uses a needle that is inserted into the hair follicle and then is heated to destroy the follicle. It's one hair at a time, where the lasers do not require the time or precision since they float over the skin. Electrolysis is great if you have light hair or dark skin or just a couple of hairs to take care of.

I found this website assessing various hair removal options that might be of interest:
http://www.hairfacts.com/

Thanks to both of you for all this useful information.

My hair is dark brown and I have pale-ish skin so you can see my she-stache if I dont' do something about it. I use Sally Hansen: Cream Bleach! I love it! It only takes 10mins I just put it on after I get out the shower while I get dressed and do my hair. I don't think I will ever wax my lip because then when it starts to come in you have to wait for it to grow long enough to wax it again! With the bleach you can bleach it again as soon as you notice the dark hair coming back. Plus then you don't have to worry about the coarse new hair coming through either... it's still soft & fine. I also have super sensitive skin but never have had a reaction from Sally Hansen products so make sure you do a patch test the 1st time you try it. I think the bleach works just fine for me. I would highly recommend it as an easy fix! You can't even see it because it is so light.

I have the same problem since I stopped the contraceptive pill.

I would not bleach because you still see the "fluff", and it can look so golden that it becomes even more visible in the sun light!

A friend recommended threading which I did last month. It`s supposed to be a lot more precise than waxing. I was very happy with the result and will go back on Friday (so it lasted me 3 weeks).

Warning on laser: It doesn't work for everyone! I started it for my chin and sideburns, and now I have more hair than I started with ?!?! WTF

I been going for like 4 years and have gotten way more than the recommended amount of treatments, and still have hair, and in places I didnt used to.

So be careful.!

I didn't read all the messages. But does anyone use proxide?It works for me. The only problem is you have to keep using it,and my upper lip gets red raw sometimes.:(

Laser can give you permanent scars as well.

Im gonna start waxing mine I believe. But beware cause I bought some eyebrow wax strips called "Hair be gone" I think...and it didnt take off much hair. I guess it was too cheap. I'll be trying Sally Hansen next time. I pluck the ones on my chin.....I think mine are out and about cause my periods are not on schedule, they happen sometimes, and sometimes not. Grossness!

I have fair skin and black hair, and you know what I do with my mustache? I leave it there! Actually my hair is really fine so the only person who probably notices is my dentist, and she's not important.

I, too, wouldn't bleach upper lip hair, because I would be afraid it would really shine in the sunlight. LOL!

Believe it or not, I read this tip and have been doing it about a year and, contrary to popular belief, the hair DOES NOT grow back thicker or coarser.

I use my DH's electric razor moustache attachment to "shave" the peach fuzz on the sides of my face near my neck. And, I've even used it above my lip with no adverse effects and no increased growth.

I think it was on a model's tip site that I discovered this.