my hair makes me feel like shit. I hate body hair. I hate it. Its dark, theres alot of it, it doesnt make me feel beautiful or wanted. and thats alot for hair. I'm only 16 and have little to no money, not enough for electolysis. I'd love to bleach it, but i want it to be permanently bleached, not temporarily. Sorry for the crap spelling...pfff

Welcome to hairtell.... Posts like yours, yupyup,are truly the hardest to find words for comfort. Permanent hair removal does require that one be able to pay for a service and since you are only 16, how do you afford to go forward with a plan of some sort? Any chance that a parent or relative could help out with the area that causes you the most angst?? My parents paid for my upper lip treatments when I was 16, but drew the line when I wanted to start other areas, saying that would be my responsibility when I got a job.

There is no permanent bleach as you know, but temporary methods such as bleaching and proper shaving could get you some relief until you have sorted out a plan to do something permanent. If you have a lot of hair, you could combine laser with electrolysis. Laser is only a choice if you are a good candidate, for certain areas of the body. Electrolysis will work anywhere on anyone, but you spend more time on the table if you have hair everywhere in abundance. Both methods require that you find a skilled somebody with fabulous equipment and you stay consistent with a time plan.

Wow, I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this. I encourage you to find a permanent method and deal with the problem NOW, instead of allowing it to brood over you for years. Please explain to the adults in your family who you can trust, and maybe one of them will be able to help you by finding someone to treat the main problem areas. I wish I could have shown my mom hairtell when I was 16, maybe we could have worked out a plan and dealt with it then. But, we thought there was no option but shaving or spending thousands of dollars, which is untrue. So, please bring a trusted adult to this site and show them that there are options and let them see the facts, feelings and maybe find someone to treat your problem.
I am 31 and have recently started electrolysis on my face and couldn't be happier.

What areas bother you most?

Yeah, it's the worst when you're a teenager and the hair starts coming out. First the normal stuff, then the few weird ones, and pretty soon: "What the hell? Girls aren't supposed to have whiskers!"

I remember my dad telling me when I was about twelve that my grandma shaved her face every day. I was in total disbelief. Now (sadly) I get it.

Shaving and bleaching is a pain, but until you have the funds it'll help some. And in a few years I'm sure there will be even better, cheaper, long-term treatments on the market. Hang in there until then! Hell, when I was your age everyone was desperately trying the Epilady. Evil - look it up. I used to use it on my underarms and it made them bleed!!!

Ive just joined this forum and im in the same boat... I have light skin and coarse dark hair that is slowly consuming my body... Im into my third course of LHR, each course lasted 6 treatments but I require around 10 treatments per area, so ill have to invest alot more time and money into LHR in the years to come.

Good job hanging in there. What areas are you lasing?

Hi yupx3,

i understand your fustration as i was there when i was your age. No money and no one i could confide with (I'm an only child and my mom is naturally hairless) so my hairyness was my ugly secret. i suggest that bleaching is much much better than shaving as shaving makes the hair grow thicker. Waxing is the best solution when on a budget. With time, the hair grows thinner and sparser. If you get an allowance, get a treatment your local salon that offers waxing, watch how they do it and then buy a wax warmer and wax & do it yourself. GIA is a great product and costs about USD 15 and you can microwave it or buy a warmer for about USD 20. It's VERY STICKY (translation= messy) but gets the job done. Be consistent and dont shave- just wax. You will be happy. Later you can think about laser when you have the money
Good Luck & hang in there!

Shaving doesn't make the hair any different. It's an old wives' tale. It only cuts the hair above skin's surface and doesn't affect the root.

Waxing is the method that can actually make the hair more coarse for some people because it trains the follicle to repair itself.

Well, yupyup never came back to post...... If you come back, yup, please don't do any temporary measures, if the hair is on your face, that requires violently pulling the hair out of the follicle for reasons that lagirl explained. Shaving is better than waxing if you need to remove the hair longterm.