Tweezing vs. Electrolysis or Laser?

RachelX

As a male, I never liked all the hair on my body or face. Between the ages of 12 and 14 I suddenly became covered with hair, Noooooo! I tried growing a mustache and a beard for a period of time, just to see if I could do anything creative with my facial hair. I had a goatee, a Fu Manchu, the ZZ Top look, the Amish look and didn’t feel any of these worked. So I resigned to shaving every other day for the rest of my life.

When I finally came to grips with “Rachel” at 57, shaving was no longer an option because no matter what kind of razor I had or how long I spent shaving, when I was done, I could still feel some stubble, and by the next day the shadow was visible. I watched many videos on hair removal and hiding techniques, but I needed to get to a place of little or no maintenance. Clothes and makeup is enough maintenance for me thanks!

I started to look into Laser and electrolysis. But at the time these weren’t cost effective for me. I realized that Laser wasn’t really a permanent solution and I heard the process feels like having a rubber band snapped on your face — Um NO!

Everything I read and heard was that electrolysis was eventually permanent, but it took a long time to be hair free. I chose tweezing because the results lasted three to four days and once I got the hang of it I was able to cut my time from 3 hours once a week, down to 2 hours to clear my face of hair, and — no stubble!

Electolysis

I started recently to get electrolysis done to a one inch patch on my chin. I asked my technician to focus on that area, to cut down on the randomness of removing hair from a larger area, so I can gauge how long it will take to do the rest of my face once this area is clear of hair. This is also the area that has the coarsest hair that shows the most. I continue to tweeze the rest of my face while getting the treatments to my chin. I heard a lot of comments about how painfull the process is and I have to say, getting a tattoo is far more painful that getting electrolysis and it doesn’t feel like someone snapping a rubber band on your face. I get what’s called a “Blend” that means electrolysis mixed with some heat. The needle is inserted to the root of the hair follicle and you feel a slight tingle and a quick burst of heat concentrated at the very end of the probe. Then the hair is gently pulled out. Each hair follicle has 3 growth cycles and may need dozens of treatments to make the hair permanently gone at that particular point. That’s why I want to concentrate on a small patch at a time.

Back to tweezing. Most people say, “Oh, that must hurt” with their faces all contorted as they think about pulling out hairs. It was somewhat painful when I first started to do it, but now most of the hairs just slide right out and it’s nowhere near as painful as electrolysis. I would guess that some of the hairs don’t grow back anymore and some hairs are definitely thinner or finer to the point that I almost don’t see them.

The tweezers

My routine is usually done early on a Thursday morning before I leave for work in NYC. Then I’m good through Friday and Saturday nights and into Sunday, when I love to go to the flea market. Hair free for 3-4 days is awesome! Tweezing also leaves no noticeable, puffing, or swelling. There is just some reddening to the skin from the hair pulling which pretty much disappears with a splash of cold water and some foundation. Then I’m ready to go.

The electrolysis does leave some little bumps that, (on me at least) lasted for about 24 hours. Not good if you have somewhere to go the same night.

Laser hair removal.

My method of tweezing is very quick and easy, considering that when you pull the hair there is a little wet root ball on the base of the hair and I use that to stick the hair on a clear part of my face. The motion of pull, stick, pull, stick gets faster and faster as you get used to the routine. You also need a good pair of tweezers that firmly grab the hairs and don’t cut or break them off at the point of contact. The only problem areas, like I said, are the chin because the hairs are a bit thicker, and the little hairs right under my nose. These for some reason get me sneezing uncontrollably because they actually tickle coming out.

The electrolysis sessions cost around $60.00 an hour and my technician can do roughly an inch square in that time. That makes it affordable and I can lay off for a few weeks or so if the budget gets tight. I know this is a process like my transition, it’s part of the journey. Sooner or later I will be hair free, then on to the nose! Tweezing won’t make that smaller, LOL!

Love and respect
Rachel Xaviera

Tags: electrolysis, featured, laser hair removal, Transgender, tweezing

Category: Transgender How To, Transgender Politics