The Hair Up There
I love the idea of growing old gracefully. But unfortunately, my body does not always cooperate with this idea. On the contrary, sometimes my body seems to be waging a war against my self-esteem. Since hitting my mid-30s, my metabolism has slowed to a snail’s pace, my boobs have sagged from a pear-shape to something that resembles a deflated balloon and my cheeks are on a downward spiral that hints at the fact that “old-lady jowls” are in my not-so-distant future.
But of all the indignities of getting older, the one that is bothering me most as of late is my hair. And it’s not even the hair on my head that has me the most concerned. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
I started graying in my early 30s, and initially I wasn’t that concerned about it. I haven’t seen my natural hair color since the 9th grade, so it didn’t seem like a big deal that I might be relegated to a life of bottled color. What no one warned me about, though, was the way my hair completely changed texture as the gray started to take over. No one warned me that instead of laying down like normal hair, my hair would begin to grow straight up out of my head. No one warned me that the texture would feel like straw, and that I would have to use an ounce of pomade and judicious hairspray to basically shellac my hair into place each morning, only to be licking my finger to try to tame rogue hairs from standing up on end for the rest of the day.
But then there is the facial hair. Let’s start at the top and move down. First of all, my eyebrows have also turned completely white. I remember hearing a beauty expert talk about the importance of eyebrows as being the picture frames for the face. Well, my picture frames are a hot mess. The color makes them nearly invisible, but the wiry texture means that instead of growing in one direction, the hairs are pointing all over the place. It’s difficult to pencil over white unruly hairs, so recently I’ve taken to dying them myself. This always feels a bit risky because the dye kit usually has stern warnings about NOT using the dye for eyebrows, and the possibility of blindness or eye injury. Although I confess that for me, the biggest risk usually involves accidentally dying the skin surrounding my eyebrows, leaving my lower forehead a strange shade of brown for a few days.
And then there is the chin hair – perhaps the most mortifying aspect of this age-related hair fiasco. I have always had a little peach fuzz on my chin – no biggie. It was blond and soft and not really noticeable. But over the past year, that soft, downy hair has mutated into hard, wiry chin hairs. Basically, for my 36th birthday I got whiskers. It’s gross. It’s way beyond a situation of simple plucking at this point. Waxing is the only thing that does the job. (I’m sure shaving would be effective too, but just . . . NO.)
The thought of living out the next 5 or 6 decades at this level of maintenance is daunting to me. But more daunting is the idea that, should I become infirm at some point, my caretaker may not be willing to put up with the grueling grooming demands of my facial hair. Is there some kind of advanced directive I can fill out letting people know that my greatest wish in my old age is not to be lying in bed with unruly white eyebrows? Because I am pretty much living in fear of someday becoming this guy:
I’m going to stop now, before I feel compelled to post about shaving my toes.
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Kristen is the mom of four children within four years via birth and adoption, and has been blogging at Rage Against the Minivan as a coping skill since 2004. Here, you might find musings about the impact of the skinny jean on Kristen's self-esteem, her tendency to spill food on her laptop, and her inappropriate crush on Jon Stewart. 
My eyebrows are dark but still grow with crazy unruly attitude in all directions. Cover Girl’s clear mascara is my best friend and I reapply it liberally throughout the day.
Yikes! That is one scary eyebrow picture (the dude, not you).
I hear you – so far my eyebrows have not really started morphing, but I’ve had to pluck out more chin hairs than I’m comfortable with. And I live in mortal fear that the one boob hair I have (and pluck religiously) will multiply – gross!
I am comforted (I think?) by the fact that my husband has started getting the occasional stray hair on his shoulders. If I’m getting hairier, at least he is, too, and can’t give me any crap about it!
Yes – my husband has some serious hair growing out of his nose. He’s also losing quite a bit on top. It is comforting. . . .
Comforting! LOL! I’m also comforted by the fact that my husband has developed a big round belly like me. Is that wrong?
Heheh, my late grandmother made my mom promise to pluck her chin hairs when she got to old to keep up with it. I’m expecting my mom to ask me to do the same.
I personally am totally willing to invest in laser surgery one day when hair maintenance gets to be too much for me.
It’s so nice to know I’m not the only one freaking about this stuff. I had one or two chinny hairs to deal with, now I have about a dozen on each side. Some are faint in color – but I can FEEL them. Bleh. We won’t even go to the upper lip and nose hair.
I always wanted to try laser hair removal but it’s so expensive that I figured I would just be plucking my little heart out for forever and a day. Yay for things like daily deals in our town! I got one for 5 laser treatments for a SUPER deal. So now I’m gonna try it and hope I don’t develop some other issue from the laser…LOL!
Okay, I have some bad news to share about the laser treatments. (I can’t believe I left this out of the story). It doesn’t work on white hair! I was warned this by the technician and yet I still paid a buttload of money to try it, because I was that desperate. It didn’t work. It hurt like a mofo and it didn’t work.
CURSES! Pain!?! *twitch* Guess getting it done the day of my 20th reunion is a bad idea!
laser will not work – but electrolysis will – more painful, but does work on greys (grays?)
i have dark hair, so i have to do laser and since my late 20s! oy!
OMG! Chin hairs! They have become more noticeable for me just recently. I also had the little peach fuzz before but now they are getting long. It totally freaks me out. I am afraid to pluck them because I don’t want them to start getting dark and coarse. Ick!
Another problem is the random black hairs that pop up in the most ridiculous spots since I had my daughter 6 years ago. Yikes!
Kristin, try threading the facial hair! I’ve found it lasts longer than waxing.
And you’re right about shaving — it’s never a good idea. I have PCOS and lots of unwanted facial hair and sometimes I’ve shaved instead of waiting for it to grow out the waxer, and trust me, I regret all those times.
I always remember what my favorite esthetician told me when I was super embarrased about all my “un-girly” hair: she said “All women are beautiful, and all women have mustaches.” Puts it into perspective :)
Glad to know I’m not alone! I’ve been wanting to try the threading thing. With four kids it’s hard to get out to that kind of appointment. Lately I’ve taken to the home waxing strips . . .
In our local mall, they do threading just wide out in the open next to their little kiosk…. which begs the questions, “why oh why would anyone have this done just out in the open for all of the teenagers to mock them?” Did I mention it is right in front of Abercrombie?
I like to keep my hair removal private.
Here I thought you were in a fist fight with your hair colorist and had a bruise above your eye. Isn’t there something that you can just swab on cotton and get that off or does it have to wear? I’m curious since I’ve recently found my first grey in my eyebrow. I’m more of an impulsive type that needs to fix it- now- and then I pluck them all and and then have no choice do draw them in and then I end up with cartoon eyebrows or like some Marilyn Manson dates. Not a good look for a woman of nearly 40.
Also, is that Andy Rooney? I will have nightmares of that photo.
If I get chin hairs, I will die a little inside. I have enough issues.
No, trust me, nothing gets that dye off the skin. I had to walk around like that for the better part of a week, and concealer just made it look weird. Now I use vaseline around the area to avoid the dye getting the skin.
I’ve used fingernail polish remover on a Q-tip to remove skin stains. That’s prolly not safe or something, but whatever.
Try putting some vaseline around your eyebrows before you put on the color. It will keep the dye off your skin.
Im ok with going grey. I found my first grey hair at 16 so whatever. But then i got reading glasses ACK! which revealed details id been missing in the bathroom mirror: chin hairs and white brow hair. WHYTF are the chin hairs black if my hair and brows are going white? And why am I cursed with a too chubby a face to brazen through this? I have a tall thin fried with cheekbones to kill for: she dyed her hair to cover the grey until recently. But lately she began dying to emphasize the silver an new extreme spiky cut. She looks like a white Grace Jones. If I tried it I’d look like my grandmother with an innapprpriate hair cut.
I say my grandmother because this early grey deal? From dad’s genes. Mom’s catching up to me but for a while the only grey she had was one skunk stripe. She hated it of course, but still I was greying all over and she had just that little bit. Also: she has cheekbones.
Oh, girl. I feel you on the round face thing. A pixie cut is just not gonna happen for me.
“She looks like a white Grace Jones. If I tried it I’d look like my grandmother with an innapprpriate hair cut.”
thanks for the chuckle, this should last me all day. :D
What I want to know is how the chin hairs seem to grow so fast over the course of a day? I pluck in the AM and by the early PM they are back! When I was younger I couldn’t figure out why my Mom kept a pair of tweezers in her car at all times, now I’m ready to go buy my own pair of “car tweezers”.
Thanks for this post….I’m SO glad I’m not the only one dealing with this…the texture of the more grayer spots in my hair is kind of freaking me out!
Oh, yeah. I have tweezers in the car. And in the purse.
I have a tweezers on my person at all times. Chin hairs grow like bamboo.
Bless you for sharing this. Just, bless you.
Oh, the car tweezers… Oh yes, that natural light can show hairs I didn’t know existed inside the house…
YES and has anyone had the experience at the dentist when they give you a hand mirror to point out something in your mouth and sitting under that bright light suddenly I have a full beard and mustache?
I am right there with you but I’m 29, wth. My eyebrows are not only sliding down my face but they have become such a light blonde that people are asking if I bleached them. I only have about 4 chin hairs but they do seem to grow back in like an hour, thank god for the purse & car tweezers. All of the women in my family have them so I know my future is grim. I also have a mustache and sideburns, gross. The gray hairs on my head aren’t noticable to anyone but me and my colorist, and thankfully it hasn’t become wirey yet. It is getting curlier by the day though.
Oh NO!!!! This aging thing is horrible isn’t it?!? But I haven’t had any gray hairs yet — so I didn’t know about how horrible they can be! Now I am going to have nightmares tonight…
I love you! For being so flippin’ candid. It’s so true….all of it. (Sorry, chickadees, this is your future.) Have you adopted that unnatural habit of (constantly) brushing your fingers across the wiry parts (chin, brows?), then rushing off to tweeze away? My husband thinks I’m obsessed about it. And I think I spent more time in front of the lighted magnifying mirror in our rental condo on the last trip than with the fam.
You’re almost old enough…remember that movie about the possessed toys getting in some kind of war? There was a scene where a Barbie pops in front of the camera with virtually no brows and says, “Do you think I over tweezed?” or something like that. My husband reminds me of that scene every time I head for the bathroom.
I started graying in HS. Now I color my hair every few weeks. I have chin hair that I have to pluck on a regular basis. I shave my toes. Vericose veins are appearing on my legs. And to top it all off I still get zits (what is up with that ?) and I would just love to be a full A-cup.–so I’m like a sad mix between an early teen and an old woman. Seriously, no one warns you about this stuff.
Oh yeah. I use a mix of wrinkle cream and Clearasil every night. Lovely.
You said on your blog to not read this if you were under 25. I’m 27 so I figured I was safe… I was wrong. Panic has set in…
I’m sorry. Dara. I’m just sorry.
When I was a teenager I remember just being MORTIFIED to go places with my mother where her toe hair would show. I just wanted her to SHAVE those, already! Now I look down at my hairy toes and say, Meh. Unless it is some special event, I cannot be bothered. (I hope my marriage works out, because I cannot imagine dating.. I would be mad if I shaved my toes for some guy and he didn’t fully appreciate it.) I do get three chin hairs and one jawbone hair, and I do not know if I am more upset that they grow at all, or that they grow in WHITE.
Yeah, I let my toes go most of the time. About once a month I will catch a glimpse and think about it. About half the time I do something about it.
Yep – I’m right there with you. I’ve also been coloring my hair for years, so the grey didn’t bother me all that much. Except for weeks like this. I have an appointment for Thursday so the grey hair is really showing. As my stylist told me the other day, “Honey, you used to color your hair because you wanted to. Now you color your hair because you have to.” Yeah, thanks….(there goes your tip this month!) :) And don’t get me started on the chin hairs. I really think I need to wax, but I’m too chicken. So, I’ve added an additional five minutes to my morning routine to pluck those babies out. Good times!
I recently had my very first lip wax. I’ve been getting my brows done for a few years but it was time. I think by the time I’m 40 I’m going to be needing a full facial wax. Top to bottom.
And also? Yeah. I totally shave my big toe. And the tops of my feet.
Girl, yes. *sob*
Sometimes I forget to wax and pluck, then notice the chin (AND NECK!) whiskers and long hairs on the back part of my cheeks, and say to my work girlfriends, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!? I think I’m going to have to make home waxing a regular weekend thing. Though I hate them, it *is* really satisfying to pull a whisker out with tweezers. Don’t get me wrong, I’d give that up if they’d disappear.
I have dark hair so am not pleased with what appears to be a full-scale attack by silver and pure white hair, all over my head. I now touch up my roots every two weeks or so.
I shave my big toes. And I hide eye wrinkles and hollow circles underneath with glasses. Sigh.
Oh, girl, ME TOO. And because I’m so ridiculously brunettish, I have been fighting BLACK chin hairs since I was about 23. Main reason I wanted a daughter – someone to pluck my chin hairs when I’m old. Gaaaaaah.
So yeah – I was wondering what was up with those crazy “blond” eyebrow hairs… Yipes. and I am thankful that I can still pluck at the ones on my chin – nothing unruly as of yet. The mustache on the other hand must be waxed. Eeee gads. But I suppose I will take all that instead of the wrinkles around the eyes!!! Because despite the random straw like hairs sticking out every which way and my 16 year old daughter glaring at me and saying, “Mom, why can’t we go here or there after this?” isn’t enough to convince them I need that bottle of wine at the checkout counter and I am still being carded!
funny!! :D
It is weird to be excited that other women deal with these issues too! Can I recommend something that I have found helpful for facial hair (eh, hate using that word). My sister told me about Vaniqa and I sucked up my pride to ask my family Dr. for a prescription (while we were there for family physicals, no less-lots of pride sucking up:) I can tell a major difference and I spend probably a quarter of the time holed up in the bathroom in front of the magnifying mirror plucking. I think it’s about $75 for a tube (they have a $25 off coupon on their website). I’ve been using it for about 3 months and probably have used half a bottle. Just thought I’d share!
I may need to try this!
So weird, a commercial for that is on RIGHT NOW! I guess God is giving me the okay to take care of the hair.
A girlfirend and I made a pact a few years ago that if either of us were ever in a coma we would routinely come and shave / pluck / wax the other so we wouldn’t scare our kids with our nasty hair growing in places it just shouldn’t.
omg…cracking up now. I’m off to call my sister to do the same…
I am of Italian heritage and I have more body hair than you can possibly imagine. The hair on my arms is thick and stands up straight, but its blonde, and lord help me if it turns dark as I age Im going to pluck every single hair out with tweezers. My eyebrows are busy and take over my whole face…being that I have a scar over one of my eyebrows, and they are so wiry (much like the guy in the picture) they look terrible if I get them waxed. Also, I’m a dark blonde/light brunette, and my eyebrows are JET BLACK. I have thick hair on the small of my back, but THANK GOD its blonde. Gotta nice little blonde stache here too. My sister isnt so lucky…full white goatee and thick black back hair. The best part? I’m 23 and she is 21. I cant imagine what we are gonna look like as we age!
First of all, I must tell you Kirsten, that you are BEAUTIFUL … and I would have never guessed you had so many secret “issues”. :)
Secondly, LOVE your transparency, and look forward to reading more of this Curvy Girl Guide. Thanks for the link from your blog.
Thirdly, you made me feel very young. While I am 49.5 (which, of course, means that I am “almost 50″ but would rather not go there) I only highlight my hair every 3-4 months. I’ve never had to dye or wax my eyebrows. I very occasionally must pluck the random hair off of my chin. I’ve never even heard of women having “car tweezers”.
While I detest my little sideburns, that have grown longer after every pregnancy, so you can imagine how bushy they are after 11 pregnancies … I think I’m really not doing too badly for “almost 1/2 a century” of age on this here body.
Next time I look in the mirror, I’ll try not to be too upset about the dark circles under the eyes … the hard work of keeping my sideburns tame … and the little “skin flaps” that started showing up a few years ago. I’ll just think of the picture of the crazy eyebrows, and thank the Lord for what He gave me.
Laurel :)
Hahaha. Yes, count your blessings!
Word to all of it. Although my eyebrows are the bleach blonde and you can’t see them. In all of my pictures I look super ridiculous with only what looks to be half an eyebrow and multiple black chin hairs. greeeeeeat.
Amen!
I used to wounder why grandma always had a magnifying mirror and tweezers laying in like every room and now I know.
This wirey dark hairs are horrifying. You said it all so well.
I have dealt with some of these things since I was around 18. It’s true! The awful chin hairs. Plus I have a really weird hair that grows out of the middle of my cheek, straight out, hard & dark. And I never notice it somehow until it is already an inch long. I think it must grow suddenly. It is not there at all for a few weeks. Then, bam, on the way to somewhere & I feel it, right there in the middle of my cheek.
Ah!!!
(I shave my big toes & have a few nipple hairs to pluck, too…)
been there, done that! being over 45 and under 50 (that’s as specific as i’m getting here!) i just stopped coloring my hair in december and am actually loving the contrast of the white/grey and original dark brown–it’s like getting free highlights.
now, as far as the facial hair goes i have one word for you, kristen:
electrolysis.
it’s the only thing that will work in the long run. yes, it is tedious, yes it is painful, yes it is TOTALLY worth it to have those chin hairs gone and to know they will NEVER return.
do it!
I will. I will do it. How painful are we talking here?
Like a short burning sensation that makes you curl your toes and yell in your head, “end the stupid zap already!” I haven’t done it in years but should probably go back. I’m tempted to try Vaniqua that someone mentioned- no pain please!
stacy describes it well, short burning feeling, mind yelling enough already. strangely enough, the needle going in is relatively painless, but the current causes a chemical reaction in the follicle and i think it makes lye……..so yeah, it stings. i had a ton of electrolysis done by a nurse ‘back in the day’ and she would numb the area with novocaine then turn the machine up to warp speed and go to town. ah, that was nice.
My aunt told me it would happen – the long unruly chin hair thing. I remember she told me on a day when I was my skinniest, and tannest, and youngest adult me. Full of confidence and scorn that THAT kind of thing would ever happen to me. I felt pity for her.
Now I pluck chin hairs and feel humbled. I have this one, fairly light, mole on the side of my neck (but under my jaw so I really can’t get a good view of it in the mirror.) One day after moving into our new home I noticed that the lighting in our new bathroom was especially…revealing. Of all things facial. I tilted my jaw a bit and…wait for it…found a GIANT LONG CURLING BLACK hair emerging from my white white skin and sweet pale brown little mole. It must have been growing for generations there. Lovely. I plucked and cut and hacked that hair down. It grows back almost daily. Along with the all the long white wiskers. And what I call the bunny mustache (the little fringe of white fur at the outer corners of my lips.) Sigh. It is a LOT of work aging, gracefully or not. :(
I do not currently have white eyebrows, but if I did, I’d be tempted to try beard dye, because I think it comes with a little brush.
Oh, and I totally shave my toes.
Ooh, beard dye! So many good ideas here.
Lol! Glad to hear I’m not the only one who shaves her toes!
OK, so I feel sooooo much better that other women are plucking away at their bodies on a regular basis and fretting about the upkeep not happening once confined to a nursing home. I have three boys who will throw me there without a second thought with an added “suck it up Mom” thrown in. As a nurse, I have used that line many times with my mildly injured children. And since you didn’t talk in depth about the toes, I will casually talk about mine, yay you :) I am Italian with blue eyes, and fair skin. My sister gained all the cool Italian genes. I however only gleamed the hairyness (if that is even a word). I should shave my legs on a bi-daily basis, chin hairs, moustache, and hairy toes are my lot in life now I guess. And the nipple hairs, not much to say there except they have become a competition in length with my eyebrows :( My only hope is my newly adopted daughter. Hopefully she will have sympathy and not only not throw me in a nursing home but depillate my body for me when I am old on a daily basis :)
You have made a million women feel better, I am sure. This is by far, the most mortifying thing for me in dealing with my PCOS. I am now waxing almost weekly, and it is costing a small fortune. I to wonder who will take care of my maintenance. Seriously will be looking at laser hair removal sooner than later.
Thank you SO much for posting on such a sensitive topic for women.
I have PCOS too! Excess body hair is second only to weight gain in the PCOS SUCKS department. My doc says Vaniqua stops new hairs from forming, but doesn’t get rid of old ones. Unfortunately, insurance companies don’t want to pay for this “cosmetic” prescription. They sure pay for Viagra, don’t they?!
Oh ladies, I think I’ve found my people. Let’s all over share the truth all the time, okay?
;-)
I’m so glad you posted this!! My husband is appalled that I put myself through plucking and other painful things to try to look the way I want to.
I have a little facial hair that I pluck on my chin and a few on my lip. I can’t wax because I have rosacea/adult acne. I have to wear reading glasses in order to see what needs plucked in my eyebrow region… and then darn! I have to take them off to get to the hair and I lose it because I can’t see the darn thing. It’s a circus trying to look nice.
I found a product that has helped me with the redness from the rosecea/acne and has all but erased it from my life except in times of extreme stress. I don’t know if it’s acceptable to name a certain product… feel free to delete if you need to. I use Clinique Redness Solutions, you must be patient though. I had the same break out for months on end after about 2 1/2 months of faithfully using the product I cleared up and have stayed that way. If I get a break out it’s usually minor and gone in a day or two.
Oh… the work the be beautiful! I’m already telling my husband, my son and daughter-in-law that they must not let me have chin and lip hair when I can’t see them, feel them or pluck them. Oh… and if I don’t realize my clothes aren’t clean, they better tell me to change! They just laugh…
I have had major sideburns and dark whiskers since puberty. I have used gallons lot of Sally Hansen’s bleach in my life time. When I first started college I was so embarrassed by it I would get up about 2 in the morning and hide in a bathroom stall with a magnetic mirror to bleach and pluck about once a month. (Girls only Hall and bathrooms) By the end of my Freshman year, i was OUT and sharing the bleach.
It’s still a major issue for me. When I first saw the pictures taken at the birth of my 2nd daughter (12 years ago, I was 27!) The first thing I said was not, “there’s my precious gift”, it was “no more photos from that angle ever, all I see are my sideburns.” Really I was that bad.
For my Mother’s day present 3 years ago, (1 year after my hysterectomy, so I thought the hormones couldn’t undo any work done) I got 600$ worth of full beard laser. “A snapping rubber band” my pattootie! 3 million rubber bands at once!! 5 treatments and hiding from the sun for 3 days after each. I was excited to see it working and felt smooth for the first time in my life for about 16 months. Then, I started noticing more hairs in new places. The lighter peach fuzz that was lasered off, was now growing back – as dark wiry whiskers. I am back to plucking and bleaching and cussing at magnified mirrors. Let’s not get into my hobbit feet, thank you.
i love the one long, white strand of hair that grows out of a random spot on my ear overnight….anyone? at least it’s an easy pluck, unlike the random black hairs that show up on my chin and neck…what the?
anyone losing their hair yet? that’s been my favorite. no drugs have worked and i just can’t believe … all the shit with PCOS and this is the most painful part. i’m heartbroken and embarrassed. i know it’s just hair but not having it is far worse.
After I spent about 15 minutes trying to pluck this weird hair from my eyebrow & the skin got all red & sore – I finally figured out I was plucking a WRINKLE! Now with my new magnifiying mirror I can see every broken blood vessel ,weird hairs & WRINKLES.Lovely. Currently plucking toes, the one single white eyebrow on right eye & trimming the crazy single black one that grows an inch & 1/2 overnight on the left eyebrow. really strange things we have going on huh?
LOVE this! Thank you for dispensing with vanity and telling it like it is. No gray for me yet, but I’ve got more than my share of chin hairs. (I’m a plucker, but I don’t how much longer I can keep that up…)
As estrogen production declines, androgens go up. Being curvy can mess with the hormones as well. I just read today that the Pill balances hormones and is FDA-approved for women into their early 50s now! I’m considering it.
This is so funny but so true! I have turned into my mother who used to sit in front of the bathroom mirror every night plucking. Before she died she made me promise that I would pluck out her chin hairs so no one at her viewing would see them. Hopefully my kids will do the same for me too!
having just plucked the white hair that grows overnite out of the mole on my chin, this hits home only too well. I also have one hair in my right eyebrow that grows like wire and is really hard to pluck. We will not discuss the nose hair, okay? I am going to put this column in my favorites list just in case.
Gosh, I’m 37 and I never heard of women having chin hairs. Maybe Asians don’t get them? I do have the big toe hairs though, but I don’t think that is associated with aging. My 8 year old just asked me if I would shave hers. ( I don’t shave mine; why would I shave hers?)
My hair started going gray in my early 20s so now that I’m in my early 40s, I’m used to the fact that I’m more than 50% gray (it helps that I don’t have any wrinkles yet so most of the time people assume I’m still in my 20s even though I no longer bother to dye the gray). The disadvantage of great wrinkle-free skin though is that I’m still prone to pimples. There’s just something so wrong about having zits and chin hair at the same time, but even worse that half my chin hair is white! It matches my pale skin too so sometimes I don’t notice it until it’s REALLY long. Yuck!
Thanks for this post!
Mary
I started going gray when I was 20. But, I’m blonde, so it really wasn’t that noticeable, at first. My son started going gray when he was 15, but he’s brunette, so it’s really obvious. The fact that I’m 70% gray isn’t so bad. I’ve colored my hair (off and on) for the better part of my life, so that’s not such a big deal. But the facial hair bothers me.
I really noticed the mustache hair getting bad about five years ago. So, I started bleaching it. One day, my son and I were in the lighting department of a big box store and I noticed him looking at me. I said, “What???” He said, “Did you bleach your mustache?” I said, “Yeah, why?” He said, “It’s really obvious. Why don’t you just wax it?” I was mortified. I guess it was all the lights in there that had it lit up. I immediately took his advice and started waxing.
Now, it’s not just the mustache, but the chin hair and the neck hair. Thick, black and hard to pluck. And yeah, it grows back pretty much on a daily basis.
I always thought I would turn into my mother when I got older. No, no, as it turns out, I’m turning into my father.
Girls!! Where have you been all my life!! I’m a few days late for the discussion, but I immensely enjoyed reading the comments. I’m 33 and have been plucking, bleaching, waxing, shaving, etc since Jr High when a boy in band said “You have a mustache”. Broke my heart and embarrassed me to death! To Jennifer-hiding in the stall at college, I was probably in the stall right next to you.
Still trying to gain control over the ever growing facial hair while battling thinning hair on top. What? Tons of extra hair on my face but where I want hair, it’s going away. SUCK!!
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Yes, we all need a follicular keeper for our older/infirm years. I was the keeper for both my grandmother and mother in their final months and years. I just pray that someone will come through for me when the time comes!
Oh my God I am so glad I found this site! I went to google to ask about how to get rid of hair in weird places and I find this, and let me say I am SO glad I’m not alone. Last night I happened to feel my jaw and noticed a really long hair protruding out. So panicking I plucked it out. Luckily it was blonde and somewhat soft but then I notice this morning I have more in the other side of my face along with black, course hairs on my upper lip! Ack! I’m only 25 and I feel abnormally manly now. I also have hairy toes and breasts and even a happy trail! I have to resort to plucking and waxing just about everywhere it seems just to feel normal. Ugh. Why does no one mention these things when you grow up? Lol. I suspect in my case it’s due to PCOS and an over abundance of androgens? That’s my theory anyways until I can schedule an appointment for my OBGYN to find out for sure. But so glad I’m not alone! I’m just happy my guy doesn’t seem too weirded out by my fuzzy features… Especially since he has odd hairs on his shoulders that he always asks me to take care of. And to make the aging panic worse I’ve started noticing fine lines around my eyes and forhead! Ack! And I still get the occasional acne flare up around my chin and jawline. (Not sure if I have gray hairs yet as I’m always resorting to bottled color. I haven’t seen my natural color in years. ) Love the site and thank you for your helpful info and possible eyebrow nightmares due to mr. Brillo pad up there.