By Kelly Smith

What Is the Best Method For Facial Hair Removal? Waxing Vs. Other Options

Facial hair, ugh. Do you want to remove the hair on your face? It is something that most of us typically feel annoying at some point in our lives.

It could be annoying peach fuzz or even more prominent hair growing on the chin, the upper lip, or the eyebrows. The worst part is dealing with unwanted hair, which is so frustrating. We all have our different preferences regarding how we remove it.

Keeping that in mind, here we’ll discuss different methods of facial hair removal. We will also put a special emphasis on waxing. This will help you to figure out what is the best option for you among all.

So how to know if the wax for face hair removal is the right choice or not! Well, here we’ll help you find that out. So, keep on reading.

What Are the Common Methods of Facial Hair Removal?

These include:

  1. Waxing

  2. Shaving

  3. Threading

  4. Tweezing

  5. Creams

  6. Laser Hair Removal

Each of these methods has its benefits and cons. Let’s compare them to see how waxing stacks up!

Wax for Face Hair Removal

It is one of the most common methods for removing facial hair. This method has a lot of advantages compared to shaving, among others. It pulls out the hair from its root, so one can have smooth skin for a longer period.

A study states that since waxing rips the hair out from its root, this takes longer before it grows again, and that's when your skin will become smoother for several weeks (source ). It was found that repeated waxing of the same areas causes hair growth to become thinner over time; therefore, most people prefer to wax for results that last a long time.

The Pros of Waxing:

  • Longer Long-term Effects: With waxing removing hair from roots, your skin stays smooth up to 3-6 weeks depending on what is happening on your hair cycles. This works out much better than shaving. Shaving lasts only for a few days.

  • Exfoliates the Skin: Dead skin cells get removed during waxing. It then leaves the skin brighter and softer.

  • Less hair growth: It reduces hair regrowth. Gradual waxing eventually makes hair take the form of thin, softer, and less dense growth.

The Cons of Waxing:

  • Painful: Waxing is painful. The good news is - it gets easier with time as your skin gets used to the process.

  • Irritation Risk: The risk of redness, bumps or irritation is common with waxing especially in people with sensitive skin. A patch test should be done before any waxing process.

  • Requires Some Skill: When doing it at home, for example,  with the best bikini wax at home kits, it takes some practice to get the perfect waxing technique.

Shaving is a Quick but Temporary Solution

Shaving is very common because it is easy and does not take much time or effort. However, it has several disadvantages. Many individuals shave the area above their lips, sideburns, and the back of the chin.

Shaving cuts the hair at the surface of the skin. It causes hair to grow back faster (source). Moreover, repeated shaving can cause irritation or ingrown hairs, especially in areas with more delicate skin, such as the face.

The Pros of Shaving:

  • Fast and Easy: It's fast to shave, and no pre-work is required. Convenient when in a hurry.

  • Pain-Free: You don't feel pain like after a long process of waxing since shaving involves no stinging pain.

  • Practical: You can shave anywhere—the fancy equipment or products aren't necessary; only a razor will do.

The Cons of Shaving:

  • Short-term Outcome: Shaving will only cut at the surface; the result might last a couple of days, and then, most likely, smoothness requires daily shaving.

  • Risks: You are liable to get nicked or cut on the body. Razors do not cut smoothly, especially at sensitive places.

  • Hair Regrowth: Shaving usually results in thicker, coarser hair growth. Not to mention, you will experience stubble.

Threading Works but the Pain!

In this a thread is manipulated and twisted between the thumb, index fingers to remove hairs from their follicles. Precise threading procedure is especially efficient for places around the brows, upper lips.

It has the advantage of being chemical-free and can shape brows with great accuracy. However, like waxing, threading removes hair from the root, which can cause redness and irritation immediately afterwards especially in sensitive skin.

The Pros of Threading:

  • Accurate: Threading can be very specific for shaping the eyebrows or removing smaller regions of facial hair.

  • No chemicals: For individuals who do not want any sort of chemicals applied to their body, this can be a safe method.

The Cons of Threading:

  • Painful: Threading can be quite painful, especially for those with sensitive skin.

  • Not Ideal for Larger Areas: Threading is better for small areas. Waxing is much quicker when it comes to larger areas like the cheeks or chin.

  • Requires Expertise: Threading takes skill, and it’s hard to do it yourself without practice.

Tweezing for Precision but Time-Consuming

It is excellent when you have very few stray hairs. It's a precise technique, but it is a time-consuming activity if you have many hairs to remove.

The Pros of Tweezing:

  • Accurate and Clean: Tweezing allows you to point individual hairs precisely in the areas you want, such as the eyebrows or chin.

  • Long-term Effects: Just like waxing, tweezing uproots hairs, so you can prevent having to do it again too soon like when you need to shave.

The Cons of Tweezing:

  • If you have multiple hairs to remove, tweezing can take a lot of time.

  • Tweezing hurts. More so when removing hair from sensitive skin areas like the upper lip.

  • It may cause ingrown hairs. Improper technique may lead to hair growing back into the skin. This can cause irritation or ingrown hairs.

Depilatory Creams are Quick and Simple, but is it Safe?

These creams dissolve the hair just beneath the surface of the skin and are chemical-based products. Though very fast and easy to apply, some aspects must be kept in mind.

The Pros of Depilatory Creams:

  • Fast and easy: Apply this cream, and wait for only a few minutes. Then get rid of all the cream-removed hair pieces. It will take very minimal effort.

  • Painless: Unlike waxing or tweezing, these creams are pain-free.

The Cons of Depilatory Creams:

  • Chemical Irritation: Chemical Reaction: Sometimes, some users will develop irritations or even allergies with chemicals from the creams, thus doing a patch test is a must on your face.

  • Temporary Results: Like shaving, results are only surface level with depilatory creams since hair does not grow underneath.

  • Risks: The product should not be used on sensitive parts, like areas on your face especially around eyes, because the chemical composition could cause a reaction.

Laser Hair Removal are Permanent Solutions, but Costlier

It is an alternative for those wanting permanent facial hair removal. In this procedure, concentrated light damages the hair follicles and thus forbids future hair growth.

The Pros of Laser Hair Removal:

  • Long-Term Effects: After successive treatment sessions, laser hair removal may provide you with permanent or almost permanent results.

  • No regrowth: The hair follicles are adversely affected once damaged thus little or no hair regrowth will be experienced in the affected area.

The Cons of Laser Hair Removal:

  • Expensive:: Laser hair removal can be costly and requires multiple sessions for one to achieve its best effects. 

  • Painful: This procedure is less painful than waxing, though one still feels a bit uncomfortable.

  • Not Applicable to Everybody: Laser works best on persons with fair skins and black or dark-colored hairs. This therapy is less potent on persons who have darker colored skins and paler or whiter hairs.

What’s Best for You?

So, just how do you choose the right facial hair removal method? You guessed it- this depends on the priorities! To get long lasting and effective results despite some discomfort or pain, there is waxing for face hair removal. If you want something easy, quick, and painless, then you might opt for shaving. Lastly, if precision is needed on smaller areas such as the eyebrow, you could opt for either threading or tweezing.

If you’re just starting out and looking for a simple way to experience the best results at home, you can try this. However, you need to do a little practice before you go further with such a sensitive area. 

You may check this: 

Extra Skin Care Tips

There's an interesting study published, where hair removal treatments are said to bring about a gradual improvement in the texture of your skin. Now, to enjoy these results for longer, care for your skin after a waxing treatment: moisturize, and keep off the sun as it can cause irritation and heal unevenly (source).

Final Thoughts

We have come so far, till now you must have understood that everyone has different needs. Depending on individual requirements like long-lasting results, ease, or affordability one can choose among the methods mentioned above.

For a perfect and flawless finish every time, you can trust Crybaby Wax.  You can be rest assured that they will produce the best outcome for your face and body. Check out the Crybaby Wax website for its quality waxing products and very easy-to-use kits for convenient at-home hair removal.

Let's get started today. Hair free. Confident you!