10 Best Products For Removing Facial Hair At Home

ICYMI: all women have fine, thin hair covering their faces and necks—and it’s completely normal. (No, you're not alone in plucking those chin hairs.) How coarse, or dark that hair is, is a result of genetics. “Women in certain ethnic groups (not necessarily race) have more hair than others," says Morgan Rabach, MD, a dermatologist in NYC. “For example, Caucasian British women, in this study, had statistically less facial hair than Caucasian Italian women."

One thing to note is that for a small percentage of women, “facial hair can be a sign of an underlying endocrine disruption, meaning your hormones are out of balance, which can be a result of conditions like PCOS,” says Dr. Rabach. "If you are female, and have coarse dark facial hair, you should make sure that everything is okay inside your body by getting your hormones checked by a board-certified dermatologist or endocrinologist,” she says.

Regardless of the cause, choosing to remove some or all of your facial hair is your prerogative—and naturally, the beauty world has come up with a number of ways to go about facial hair removal. Read on as we’ve rounded up all your options so you can pick the one that’s best for you. And no matter which route you choose to take, "be mindful of medications, such as certain antibiotics or birth control, which can cause the skin to be sensitive," reminds Uchenna Okereke, MD, a dermatologist based in Brooklyn, NY. For waxing, specifically, she says the American Academy of Dermatology recommends avoiding retinoid creams for two to five days prior to waxing to avoid extra irritation or the potential to remove skin along with the hair (ouch!).

Waxing

“At-home waxing kits are another non-permanent but effective way to remove hair,” Dr. Rabach says—she cautions “to follow the directions labeled on the package closely!” When using a kit that requires heating up, be careful not to overheat the wax to prevent burns. Another reminder: Don't forget to follow up with sunscreen if you're headed outside. "Daily sunscreen use is critical to prevent hyperpigmentation as waxing the face exfoliates the top layer of skin, leaving it more prone to sun damage," says Dr. Okereke.

Dermaplaning
According to Dr. Rabach, at-home dermaplaning is “a good way to remove fine vellus hairs (aka peach fuzz) and also remove the thin top layer of dead skin.” Like almost every option on the list, this is a temporary solution. For hair that's "coily, curly, or kinky" as Dr. Okereke describes, she recommends only using a single blade razor (aka not the one you shave your legs with) as this textured hair is already more prone to ingrowns and multi-blade razors are a trigger for ingrowns.

Epilators
An epilator acts like multiple tweezers working at once. “It’s an at-home device that removes hair by yanking many hairs out from their roots at the same time,” Dr. Rabach explains. Similarly to waxing, the payoff will last a little longer since you're getting the hair at the root, but this method can be slightly more painful for some as well.

IPL
These at-home lasers (IPL is short for Intense Pulsed Light) convert light to heat and essentially kill the hair follicle—this is a permanent solution, though even laser can need maintenance a couple times a year. Though, darker skin tones may want to steer clear of this one. "For darker skin types, I prefer the NdYag laser as there's less of a risk for hyperpigmentation," explains Dr. Okereke. "IPL isn't specific enough and targets too many wavelengths and interferes with pigment whereas the NdYag 1064 laser is safer because it has a longer wavelength." Dr. Okereke says this is important because "it bypasses pigment in the skin and gets directly to the pigment in the hair follicle."

Depilatory Cream
“Make sure to diligently use sun protection, (as always!)” Dr. Rabach says—because cream hair removal, while painless, can be irritating, and leave skin more sensitive to the sun.

Here are the best tools for each category.