I was recently presenting a workshop on hair removal options at the First Event conference. During that workshop, I mentioned the various methods people used to remove hair, one of which is tweezing. A friend of mine attended this workshop and was quite excited at the prospect of using tweezing as a viable and inexpensive approach to removing her facial hair. I had to explain to her that, although it is possible to remove your facial hair through tweezing, but I certainly don't recommend it as the best way to approach hair removal because the risks involved outweigh its effectiveness.

Most people would not conside tweezing as a viable approach to removing one's facial hair, but it can be done. I know a t-gal from Connecticut who was quite pleased with the results she had from tweezing each hair from her face. I must admit, she looks good and I don't see many flaws in her skin. How effective tweezing is will vary based upon a wide range of factors, including how coarse the hair is, how deep seated it is, what stage of growth the hair is in when it is tweezed, and the skill of the person tweezing. I suspect that my friend who successfully tweezed her own beard was an exception rather than the rule.

Why don't I recommend tweezing? It has to do with the trauma tweezing inflicts on the skin. The act of ripping a hair from the skin does have a chance of damaging enough of the skin's ability to grow that hair that the hair may be permanently destroyed. Although chance of the hair being permanently destroyed will vary from person to person, it is low -- something like 5%. With a 5% "kill rate," the average hair will need to be extracted at least 10 times before it is gone for good. Unfortunately, each time you rip that hair from your skin, you are damaging the skin itself and that damage may lead to scarring.

The damage that tweezing may cause can result in ingrown hairs. One of these reasons is that, when plucked, the hair may snap below the surface of the skin and the broken edge may snag causing the hair to burrow under the skin as it continues to grow. Yanking hair from your skin may disturb the skin itself, twisting and distorting the follicle which may cause other problems too. This is somewhat analogous to how the soil in your garden may get disturbed when you pull out a weed. Some people are just more prone to ingrown hairs, especially people with dark, course, or curly hair. To complicate matters further, some hairs grow in clumps and share the same follicle or the same blood supply and may even grow in opposite directions. Some hairs lay very deep in the skin and some hair grow out of twisted follicles. These, plus other factors, can greatly increase the chance of ingrown hairs if you tweeze.

Getting ingrown hairs is not good and this often is not trivial. Ingrown hairs often become an infected, itchy, oozing mess. Left untreated, this can develop into "acne keloidalis nuchae," a condition where hard, dark keloid-like bumps form in the skin. This looks horrible and much worse than having the hair in the first place. Remember, this is your face! Not only do we want a soft, hair-free feminine looking face, we also want a smooth, scar-free face. The last thing that any of us wants is to look like Edward James Olmos or Manuel Noriega.

One way or another, if you get an ingrown hair, it needs to be freed. This usually means digging into your skin. In my not-so-humble-opinion, ingrown hairs are usually a "no win situation." You can't risk leaving them untreated and digging them out can make matters worse – either of which can lead to scarring. If you are fortunate, you can exfoliate the skin enough to remove enough skin cells to expose the hair in order to free it but unfortunately, even over exfoliation can encourage ingrown hairs.

If you decide to dig out the ingrown hair, there are recommendations on how to do it.

If your ultimate goal is to spend as little money as possible on hair removal, then a pair of tweazers may be your solution. Just keep in mind that, with a kill rate of 5% and the shear number of hairs on the average face, you will be at it for years and you will be accepting a significant amount of risk for scarring. I suspect that the ultimate goal of most of us trans folk is to look hair free *and* not have a face full of pits, scars, and blackened blemishes. This will require other hair removal approaches that will cost more but will offer greater effectiveness and fewer risks.

For me, tweezing is not a realistic solution. I have always been prone to ingrown hairs and I have the scars to prove it. Fortunately, since I have been going to an electrologist, I have been able to properly handle any ingrown hairs and my hair removal has not caused any scarring whatsoever. Still, in the spirit of full disclosure, I must mention that I must say that I am not a doctor or demotologist, nor am I licensed in the use of electrolysis, nor have I taken any formal training in hair removal. What I have presented here is what I understand about hair removal based upon my own experience and a lot of research. These are just my opinions and "your mileage may vary."

If you are serious about undertaking this procedure, you should consult with a qualified professional.