you need electrolysis for those hairs. there is a good chance they will get thicker and darker if you start removing them with the root. you're better off bleaching if you don't want to permanently remove them.

I've used my epicare for a long time now and I'm really happy with it. it has not made my hair come back darker and thicker. And i do not have the dark shadow which i hear a lot of people say they get when they use a depilatory or bleach. i think with the bleach, your hair becomes "multi-colored", meaning your hair grows out so you can see the difference in color closer to the root. however, i've always had 3 whiskers on my chin (anybody has that?) even before i used epicare. well...epicare removes the 3 whiskers easily as well as the other fine hair that i have on my chin and upper lip. i've checked out electrolysis and laser. was told that electrolysis stings like a bee. Ouch! and laser works only on dark hair; and even then is not a permanent removal. I went to the FDA website and read that laser was only permanent reduction. so i'll continue to use my epicare. it is a very inexpensive solution. the customer service at http://www.facialhairthreading.com is wonderful at answering any questions you may have. i bombarded them with questions for so many days before i purchased the epicare. and they have a great video that you can watch to see how epicare is used. they are located in the u.s. and i believe also the least expensive of all the sites that sell the same product.

hmm...I have a lot of mixed feelings about this now. Thank you for your responses though. If anyone else has anything to add, I would appreciate it!

stylegal, a good electrologist can remove those few hairs on your lip permanently without much pain at all and at a small cost. I had my upper lip done with great permanent results. Laser is permanent, but it doesn't work well on fine hair (and it only works on dark hair, you're right), but it's not a good solution for fine hairs on your face. Electrolysis is the best for that and permanent.

Got mine from http://www.facialhairthreading.com They're located in the U.S. and is an authorized seller of the authentic stuff. Very fast shipping and great customer service. I love my Epicare!!

lagirl - Hi! How many sessions of electrolysis would I need for my upper lip? At each session, how much of an area can they cover? (=how many hairs). Also, how much would it cost in US$? And during the session, when the hair is zapped, does it mean that it will never come back again six months or 1 year later? I'm curious and also, I think I have a very low pain tolerance for anything electrical.

Megan, When I was in my early 20's I began to have one or two hairs on my chin that needed attention. I'm no 41 and each year my hairs get more coarse and multiply. I have tried many different methods (depilatory, bleach, electrolysis, shaving, waxing, and tweezing).

In the beginning, I, too, was worried about the hairs getting coarse. Now, I have learned that they will do what they will do regardless of what you do because it has to do with hormones.

Yours may not get coarse. It depends on you hormones.

However, the method you choose for removing them can off-set the texture.

I have found tweezing causes the hairs to grow back coarse.

Waxing and electrolysis will reduce their texture.

I think that the bleaching and depilatory are bad for the skin (harsh).

I don't know about Threading - I'm reading about it myself.

Hope this info helps.

Thanks for your responses. I guess I just need to look into this more.

I just got done ordering my Epicare! I am so excited I can barely wait for it to arrive. I'll let you know how it works for me.

stylegal, I had my upper lip done. you can read my story at the links below. I had a bunch of areas done with both laser and electrolysis actually.

Upper lip will probably cost under $500 total over the course of a year or so, most likely less if you find someone good and stick to treatment schedule. Mine was probably under $300 total. The fastest electrolysis method zaps at least 5-6 hairs per minute, depending on the skill of the eletrologist it can be even 10 etc. You won't need treatments longer than 30 mins in the beginning, and then only 5-15 mins after that. So it doesn't take that long and it's not expensive and you will be done forever. Electrolysis costs around $60/hr on average. You can read the electrolysis section of this forum and http://www.electrology.com to learn more about it. Personally, for this area, I don't think it makes sense to use all these temporary methods when it's this relatively cheap to get rid of it permanently.

p.s. don't be so trusting of "reviews" for these types of products. they're usually not actually written by any real consumers.