I’ve heard of things like Nair that make it fall out… if that was a one-and-done solution I’d be all for it, but I’m hoping for something that slows or stops it from growing.
I go clean shaven, but I get the ‘5 o-clock’ shadow the second I put the razor down, and look homeless if I skip a day or two.
Tried growing a beard - looked alright, but the amount of product and effort I shoved into that thing was ridiculous. And it was maddeningly itchy the entire time (lasted about a year putting up with it).
I’ve spent the last couple years with the conclusion that hair is just annoying, and I want it gone with as little effort and expense as possible.
Kinda partial to keeping the eyebrows and lashes cuz they keep shit out of my eyes, but honestly if losing them is the cost of getting rid of the rest of it, I’d call that a fair trade.
Some initial searching shows there is a market for hair growth suppressants, but chewbaccoids like myself might not be among the target audience lol.
Anyone got a recommendation or cautionary tale?
You should ask this in the trans subs, they have a lot of long term useful experience at getting rid of unwanted hair and such.
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If you’re really sure about getting rid of your beard, laser hair removal will do the trick. It takes many sessions, but as long as your hair isn’t blonde or lighter it’ll get rid of it. Electrolysis can take care of any white hairs you have. Once you’re finished you’ll never have to think about shaving again
but as long as your hair isn’t blonde or lighter it’ll get rid of it
Why can’t it do blond hairs 😢
Light colored hair reflects the light, while dark hair absorbs it and converts it to heat, which essentially causes it to burn off.
(Not an expert on laser hair removal, but pretty sure thats how it works)
Newer laser can work on lighter hair, still less effective but possible nowadays.
Laser hair removal, unlike electrolysis, isn’t permanent and needs to be repeated about every seven years.
I’ve spent the last couple years with the conclusion that hair is just annoying, and I want it gone with as little effort and expense as possible.
How permanent are you wanting?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrology
Electrology is the practice of electrical hair removal to permanently remove human hair from the body.
Most practitioners will advise that complete removal of male pattern facial hair takes between 1 and 4 years, with an average treatment length of 2 years in case of one session per week, one hour per session.
I wish there was a way to do it at home, in my case for body hair. Shaving is a no go with dark hair because it’s immediately noticeable and I also typically start to get all pimply because the hair bores into my skin and the inflammation leaves dark spots for many months. That means, the longer I do it, the more I look like some diseased freak. Can’t even do partial shaving on lesser spots either because it leaves a hard cut border to the rest, which looks ridiculous. lol
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Until you can afford it deal with the more permanent solutions, I used to know someone who both waxed and epilated their beard.
They used stripless wax like GiGi Strip Free, a microwaveable wax that smells like pine resin you can get at Sally beauty supply. They also purchased an epilator from Amazon, which is a device that plucks hair in bulk and looks like an electric shaver.
Both methods are touchy but can give you a smooth face with a longer regrow time.
With waxing you have to be careful not to rip off your skin which is always a risk when waxing the face. Epilating just takes technique and pain tolerance.
Both are reportedly painful at first but you get used to it after a while.
I’d break out in acne with waxing, but hair removal creams are pretty good these days if you don’t want that or pain.
I realize OP specifically wanted not that, but the thing is they do start reducing growth over time.
Just, uh, don’t use the ones for sensitive areas. It’s not worth the risk of leaving it on a bit too long. Trust me.
I was judging you for your itchy beard comment, but I see you gave it a year. That is plenty of time to get used to it if you’re gonna, and I’m sorry for judging you prematurely. I haven’t shaved or trimmed my face in four years and I love my beard. I get a lot of comments/compliments on it. Probably my best feature. I’m sorry beard life isn’t for you.
Yeah it got to about a full foot long - I was on track to look like Gandalf, but it was just as itchy at 12 months as it was at two weeks, and I spent WAY too much money on conditioners, beard oil, mustache wax, etc.
My hair grows thick and fast, but the hair itself is brittle - I’d press on my beard and I could hear faint little clicks from hairs breaking, so there was always a layer underneath that was perma-new-beard length.
Looked good though - I did get lots of compliments lol!
I can’t have mine too long, 5-7 mm tops. It just gets so stiff and hard and starts poking me and it also grows too wildly for my OCD brain.
I tried that several times and couldn’t get past three months. It drove me so batty that during lockdown I got up from work and took a shower just to make that feeling to away.
Half centaur cyclist type here. Permanent? No. But some Wahl clippers with the smallest guard can make fast work of a whole body and razor routine once every ~2 weeks. I absolutely hate shaving my face because it causes major chaffing from the salts that dry into a helmet strap on the bike. I use the smallest guard on the Wahl’s for facial hair and no blade for a constant short stubble. It works for me. Use women’s or the Schick 5 blade razors that have the extra landing pad area around the blade and you’ll knick yourself way less often. That’s the best I’ve cone up with in the last two decades of removing the built in long johns.
chewbaccoids
Would you try a “half way” solution?
Would you try rocking a “stubbly look” and trimming with an electric beard trimmer on one of the lowest settings rather than going fully clean shaven?
Could give you the best of both “not homeless” (as long as you keep it neat) and not having an expensive and itchy beard.
Just hope you don’t end up with an enlarged prostate. Finasteride causes excessive hair growth.
This isn’t really true from what I know. Finasteride only prevents hair loss, and really only scalp here from my understanding.
Well, I’ll let you know in a few more months. I started taking it about 1.5 months ago. The literature with the medication used the term “excessive hair growth” exactly.
Have activists ever thrown paint at you?
