Dealing with facial growth is challenging enough. Dealing with white facial hair is even more challenging! Therefore, if you are searching for methods to remove the white facial hair above your upper lip, on your cheekbones, or between your eyebrows, you have come to the correct location. When your facial hair begins to turn white, the reality of aging really sets in. Just like the hair on your scalp, your facial hair begins to turn white as you get older. Is this to imply that it becomes more or less visible? That varies from person to person, depending on their skin tone. Nonetheless, no one appreciates appearing unkempt and would like to get rid of it swiftly, feasible, and securely. However, before we look at how to get rid of white facial hair, let’s take a look at why it turns white in the first instance. Keep scrolling!
What Causes Facial Hair To Turn White?
All the hair filaments on your scalp, face, and body contain cells called melanocytes. These melanocytes produce melanin that lends color to your hair. As you grow elderly, the melanocytes in your hair deplete over a period of time. This causes a reduction in the level of melanin in your hair that ultimately results to your hair turning gray. When there’s absolutely no melanin left in your hair, it turns white. There are a few factors that could contribute to your hair turning white. These include:
-
Aging Bleaching
-
Genetic influences
-
Certain forms of anemia
-
Vitiligo
-
Thyroid dysfunction
In a study, researchers collected information from over 40,000 adults to determine the prevalence of vitiligo, a condition that causes loss of skin pigment. 170 were female, and 30,428 were White with an average age of 44.9 years.1.38% of the participants had vitiligo, with 0.77% diagnosed and 0.61% undiagnosed. This states that about 1% of adults in the US have vitiligo. This means there are approximately 1.9 to 2.8 million cases in the country as of 2020, including both diagnosed and undiagnosed individuals.
Best Ways To Remove White Facial Hair
How to eliminate white hair from face safely? There are loads of different treatments or hair growth inhibitors that you can test out at home, at the salon, or at the hands of a dermatologist according to your inclinations to eradicate white hair from your face. Here are a few that can get the task done quite effectively.
1. Epilation
Epilators are electric hair removal devices that draw out facial hair (or body hair) straight from its sources. This may sound excruciating, but it is actually a relatively painless and mess-free method to remove hair when compared to waxing. It is also more effective than shaving as it removes the white facial hair from the roots, thus reducing hair growth over time and with repeated use. All you need to be cognizant of is that the white hair has grown to at least a ¼ of an inch in length before using an epilator on it.
To prime your face for epilation, start by softening your facial skin with tepid water and applying a very thin film of emollient ointment to the area where you want to remove the white hair from. Then, glide the epilator in the direction opposite to the hair growth to clip off your white facial hair. Rinse off your face and blot dry.
2. Tweezing
Now, here’s another method that will eradicate your white facial hair straight from the origins. Tweezing your hair with a stainless steel and sanitized tweezer can prevent it from sprouting back for at least 4-8 weeks.
Start out by sanitizing your pair of tweezers with isopropyl alcohol or sterilizing it in hot water. Then, simply clip out your white facial hair, one strand at a time. Since this is a little more time consuming method, it’s preferable to tweeze out facial hair when you just want to clear up a few strands or between sessions of other hair removal treatments.
However, it may not be advised as a continued practice. Dr. Nadir Qazi, a board-certified physician and a fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, states, “Plucking facial hair is not beneficial to the structure of the hair follicle. While removing one of your white hairs will not do any immediate harm, it will still grow back in the future and may damage the hair follicle entirely through continual plucking.”
3. Waxing
Waxing white facial hair essentially entails the same procedure as that of waxing hair from any other part of your body. Hot wax is applied to the facial area from which you want to eradicate white facial hair. A waxing strip is then adhered on and pulled off to eradicate the white hair straight from its origins. While waxing your white facial hair regularly can reduce their growth over time, it is also a painful method to endure that can leave your skin feeling quite sensitive.
4. Hair Removal Creams
Facial hair removal creams (also known as depilatory creams) are probably the most painless method of removing white hair from your face. These treatments essentially contain potent chemicals that dissolve your hair, which can then be simply scratched or rubbed away.
Before you use a facial hair removal product, cleanse your face with tepid water to exfoliate the hair follicles. Then, apply a layer of the cream on the area that you want to remove the white hair from and leave it on for the time duration recommended on the box. Then, clean the cream and hair away with a warm, moist washcloth. It is recommended to do a patch test before using these hair removal lotions to make sure you are not intolerant to them.
5. Facial Spring
A facial spring (or R.E.M Spring, as it is also popularly known as) is essentially a metal spring curled between two rubber handles. It effectively removes the slightest and purest of white hair from your jawline, upper lip, forehead, cheekbones or under your jaw.
Start off by thoroughly sanitizing your face to prevent any blemishes. Then, bend your facial spring until it’s in the shape of an upside-down U. Now, delicately roll it over the area from which you want to eradicate the white facial hair. The spring holds on to individual strands of hair and yanks them out by the roots. The prickling discomfort you experience when using this instrument is akin to threading and something you get used to after a few uses.
6. Threading
Threading is arguably the most common method of removing facial hair. In this method, a length of thread is threaded between the fingertips and forefingers and is glided against the skin to eradicate white facial hair. Since it only slices off the hair shaft at the surface of your epidermis instead of drawing it out from the root, the results it gives are transient and the white hair can grow back within a couple of weeks. It is also quite a painful method of facial hair removal.
7. Dermaplaning
Dermaplaning is a method of exfoliation and facial hair removal that is used to get rid of dead skin cells, peach fuzzi , and facial hair. In this method, an aesthetician uses a 10-inch scalpel that curves into a pointed point in delicate upwards motion on your epidermis to remove undesirable hair. Not only is this a painless technique to remove white facial hair, it also leaves your skin appearing sleeker and radiant.
Read Also: Applying Kaolin Clay for Skin Benefits
8. Electrolysis Treatment Laser hair removal
A permanent method of hair removal could be the finest option for women who have dense white facial hair. One of these treatments that you can get done by a dermatologist or trained cosmetologist is electrolysis. In this method, a thin instrument that is affixed to an electrolysis device into a hair follicle that then fires a current of chemical or thermal energy into it to destroy it. The undesirable hair is then removed with the assistance of forceps. You will need to undergo multiple sessions of electrolysis to fully remove the white hair from your face and it may work out a bit expensive for you, but the long term results are truly worth it. Dr. Qazi advises, “Electrolysis does work best in high contrast, so lighter skin people may want to dye their hair darker prior to each treatment for greater success.”
9. Laser Hair Removal
Laser hair removal is considered to be one of the most commonly done cosmetic procedures around the globe. In this technique, shafts of highly concentrated light are directed at the hair follicles that are absorbed by the pigment present in them, thereby eradicating the hair. Though laser hair removal is usually not very effective on blonde, red, gray, and white hair, there is progress being made in this technology to accommodate to light hair requirements. You can consult your dermatologist before undergoing this treatment.
10. Sugaring
Sugaring is a safe, natural, and transient method of getting rid of unsightly body hair. It is done by applying a sugar, lemon juice, and water mixture on the epidermis. With a rapid twist or tug, the mixture is removed such that it eliminates the hair along with it. It is considered a less irritating alternative to waxing. It is all-natural, so there are no toxic chemicals involved. It is also less excruciating than waxing as the substance does not adhere to the skin once it is cleansed, which reduces discomfort. Also, since it is done in the direction of hair growth, it is less likely to cause ingrown hair.
Tips And Precautions To Be Taken When Removing White Facial Hair
-
It is imperative that you keep your skin spotless and well moisturized before you undergo any facial hair removal treatment to make it less agonizing.
-
Thoroughly sanitize your face before and after each hair removal treatment to prevent blemishes and infections.
-
No matter what method you select for, make sure you do it at regular intervals to ensure that the white facial hair growth reduces over time.