Every woman wants her face to look beautiful, soft and smooth and without any facial hair. Growth of facial hairs is natural. However, when there is excess growth of hair on neck, chin, on the upper lips, cheeks or forehead, it causes embarrassment and it affects the confidence of the person. The reason for excess growth of facial hair includes changes in hormonal levels in the body, irregular menstrual cycle, some medications and due to hormonal changes during pregnancy. Though there are methods such as shaving, laser treatment and waxing available to remove facial hair, they may be painful, time consuming and may cause damage to the skin. The home remedies are the best method to remove facial hair as they are easily available and are without any side-effects. There are different methods for hair removal and the pros and cons of these methods are discussed below. This will give you the information why home remedies are a better option for facial and body hair removal.
THE VARIOUS METHODS OF HAIR REMOVAL (PROS AND CONS)
WAXING
Pros- This method can be done at home or from a beauty salon. It is easy an easy and inexpensive method. The person can remain hair- free for a long time as this method removes hair from its roots. There are latest waxing options such as chocolate and mango waxing, which are comparatively painless.
Cons- In most of the women, waxing cause skin allergies. They are prone to itching, redness of the skin, and acne or infection of the hair follicles. Moreover, when you do this process repeatedly, there are chances that your skin becomes loose and saggy.
RAZORS
Pros- They are easy to use. They are a cheaper method for hair removal. There is no special skill required to use this.
Cons- If done incorrectly, it can cause injuries and in-growth of hair or pseudo folliculitis which may result in infections. You have to use this method at least once a week to keep your skin hair-free. In some people use of razor causes skin irritations.
EPILATORS
Pros- They offer least skin damage and are very easy to use. They are inexpensive.
Cons- This method is capable of removing only 88 % of hair and cannot remove very small hairs. Waxing provides 98 % success rate for hair removal. They are unable to remove hair from the root and hence faster re-growth occurs
THREADING
Pros- This is one of the cheapest methods for facial hair removal
Cons- If not performed by experienced people, the process can be very painful. In most of the women the skin remains red for some time. The hair is not removed from the root and hence the hair grows back faster. You have to undergo threading every few days and this means you have to suffer pain every few days.
BLEACHING
Pros- Camouflage the hair and make them less visible. You can make the hair color to match your skin tone and hence unnoticeable. You can do it by yourself and the effect stays for a few weeks.
Cons- This will not remove the hair completely. Exposing the skin to sunlight within one hour after bleaching can cause skin irritations. Bleaching is not solution for women with thick hair growth. Regular bleaching can cause skin damages due to the presence of chemicals in the bleach.
HAIR REMOVAL CREAMS
Pros- It is possible to remove hair without professional help with this method and it is simple to use and inexpensive in the long run.
Cons- They work very superficially and hence the frequent application of the creams is necessary. You will need to spend time for hair removal more than once in a week. In some women, the chemicals used for hair removal causes skin irritation, darkening of the skin and allergies. This cannot be used for removing facial hairs.
LASER HAIR REMOVAL
Pros – This is one of the safest and most effective methods for permanent removal of hairs from the body. This method doesn’t cause any infection or leave any marks. The results are long lasting.
Cons- Laser hair removal cannot be afforded by all as they are expensive. The procedure is painful and risky. People with tanned or dark skin are prone to burn by lasers. This is not an effective method for people with hormonal imbalances. You will require more than one sitting to remove the hair completely.
HOME REMEDIES TO GET RID OF FACIAL HAIR
There are many natural ingredients available in your kitchen, which can be used for effective facial hair removal. Though it takes some time to show the effect of the treatment, they will not damage your skin and are cost effective. Here are some of the home remedies for removing facial hair
1. GELATIN PEEL-OFF MASK
One of the easiest and the best remedies to pull off unwanted facial hair in an instant is to use gelatin face mask. This can be easily done at home. Though the gelatin face mask can be a bit messy and smelly too, the result that this face mask offers makes you feel that it is worth trying. You can add a few drops of lemon juice to suppress the smell of gelatin. You can try out a few essential oils as well. It is important for you to keep your eyes and eyebrows away from this face peel-off mask.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon of gelatin (unflavored)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk
- Lime juice (3 to 4 drops) (or)
- Lavender essential oil about 1 to 2 drops
METHOD
- In a small bowl, add milk, unflavored gelatin and lime juice or lavender essential oil. Mix them well.
- Microwave this mixture for about 15 to 20 seconds.
- Apply it immediately on your face after you remove it from the microwave.
- Leave it to sit on your face for a few minutes.
- Gelatin sticks onto your face fast. You can apply it either on the areas where unwanted hair growth is visible or on your whole face.
- Never apply it very close to your eyes or eyebrows.
- You can remove the gelatin mask from your face after 5 minutes as it would have dried off completely by then.
- Peel it off completely. You will find that your wanted facial hair and blackheads peel off from your face and stick on to the dried mask.
2. APRICOT AND HONEY FACIAL SCRUB
Apricot is a fruit that is rich in vitamins and minerals and also has rich concentrations of lycopene. It is found to be very effective in removing facial hair. Apricot has to be mixed with another ingredient called honey to make an excellent facial scrub that will help in getting rid of unwanted hair on the face as well as to cleanse the face. Honey has the properties of making your skin soft.
INGREDIENTS
- Half a cup of dried apricots
- One teaspoon of honey
PROCEDURE
- Grind the dried apricot in a blender to make a coarse powder. Make sure that it is not too coarse.
- Add honey to this apricot powder and mix it well.
- Apply this mixture on your face and leave it to sit for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Now, start scrubbing the mixture in a circular motion gently and make sure that you keep on scrubbing for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Wash your face off with lukewarm water.
- Repeat this process two to three times a week for effective facial hair removal.
3. WHEATBRAN SCRUBS
The remaining product after refining the wheat grain is the wheatbran. This bran is a very healthy product and will help in giving the body all the nutrients it needs. But, wheatbran is also very effective as a cosmetic product and is used in making many facial scrubs and masks. It is a very effective facial scrub that helped in removing unwanted hair as well as is effective on facial wrinkles. The following are the ways wheatbran will help to remove facial hair naturally.
PROCESS 1:
INGREDIENTS
- One to 3 tablespoons of wheatbran
- One teaspoon of rose water
- One tablespoon of milk
PROCEDURE
- In a small bowl, mix wheatbran, milk and rosewater.
- Apply this coarse scrub on your face evenly.
- Leave it for a minute and then use your fingers to rub it gently on your skin in circular motion.
- Make sure that you keep on scrubbing till the wheatbran dries up.
- Leave it there on your face for a couple of minutes and then wash the face scrub off with water.
- Repeat this procedure daily for a week or two and then use this procedure two to three times a week.
- You will find that the scrub will help in reducing the growth of facial hair.
PROCESS 2
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon of wheatbran
- 1 tablespoon of gram flour
- 1 tablespoon of fresh milk or curd
- Quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder
PROCEDURE
- In a small bowl, mix wheatbran, gram four, milk or curd and turmeric powder to make a paste.
- Apply this paste evenly on your face.
- Allow it to sit there for about 20 to 25 minutes or until it gets completely dry.
- Wet your fingers with water and rub them gently on your face in circular strokes.
- Scrub for about 3 to 5 minutes gently and then wash the facial scrub off.
- Repeat this process two to three times a week.
- This facial scrub will help to get rid of unwanted facial hair over time. It will also make your skin soft, smooth and look younger.
4. LAVENDER AND TEA TREE OIL MIX FOR REMOVING FACIAL HAIR DUE TO HIRSUTISM
There are many women who suffer from unwanted hair growth on their chin and breast. This mainly due to a condition called hirsutism, where hair develops on the androgen dependent areas of a woman. It is found that mixture of lavender and tea tree oil effectively helps in curing mild idiopathic hirsutism in women. This means that lavender and tea tree oils have anti-androgenic properties and hence when applied on the face can help in removing unwanted hair.
PROCESS
- Mix one teaspoon of lavender oil with 4-6 drops of tea-tree oil
- Apply this mixture of oil on facial hair using a cotton ball
- Repeat this remedy 2-3 times a day for at least 3 months to remove the facial hair completely.
5. ORANGE AND LEMON PEEL FACIAL MASK
One of the very popular ingredients used by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners for a variety of aliments is Orange peel. The orange oil that you get from orange peel is used in a wide variety of cosmetic products. It is a very popular ingredient that helps in cleansing the skin and gives it a toned look. The orange peel has higher concentrations of Vitamin C like the lemon juice and lemon peels. Both, orange peel and lemon peel are natural exfoliating agents that will help in easily getting rid of unwanted facial hair.
INGREDIENTS
- One teaspoon of powdered orange peel
- One teaspoon of powdered lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon of ground almond
- 1 teaspoon of oatmeal
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- One teaspoon of rose water
METHOD
- Mix all the powder ingredients like oatmeal, dried orange and lemon peel powders and ground almond powder in a bowl.
- Now add required amount of olive oil and rose water and make it into a paste.
- Apply this paste on your face and leave it to sit for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Then use the tip of your fingers to gently rub the paste in circular strokes.
- Do this process for about 5 to 10 minutes and then wash it off with water.
- Repeat this procedure for two to three times in a week to see effective results.
6. BARLEY SCRUBS
If you have stubborn facial hair, then barley is a very good scrub that you can use on your face to get rid of unwanted hair. Barley can also be taken internally and it will help in treating various skin and hair conditions. Barley will help in leaving your skin glowing and soft.