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Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned. To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here. April 26th, 2009: Facial Hair Removal Q Can you please advise me about getting rid of unwanted facial hair. I am prone to rosacea so have to be very careful what I use on my face. I was considering buying a laser unit for home use, do you think that would be a good idea. I have had electrolysis over the years, but it has left marks on my upper lip.
A Electrolysis is the only more or less permanent method of facial hair removal, and there are some very good results, but as you have experienced it carries the risk of scarring, according to consultant dermatologist Dr Nick Lowe of the Cranley Clinic, London (www.drnicklowe.com). He says: ‘I have seen many people with scarring from professional electrolysis, and it’s particularly common on the upper lip because it’s difficult to get the current just right. If the hair follicle is repeatedly overheated, you get tiny depressed pinhead scars.’ However, Janet Ellard-Smith of the British Institute & Association of Electrolysis (www.electrolysis.co.uk) refutes this, saying: ‘If a client has treatment by a recognised professional, such as a BIAE member, scarring will not happen.’ Dr Lowe advises treating your scars professionally with a Fraxel CO2 laser. To get rid of facial hair, he uses the Alexandrite laser (which may also help rosacea), but points out that no laser treatment is guaranteed to produce results with excess hair, and if it does, they may not be permanent. Lasers will not work on hair that doesn’t contain enough pigment - so white and very light blonde (and some red and grey) hairs are out. He suggests these patients have it waxed (which shouldn’t upset your rosacea, he says) and also prescribes a topical drug treatment called Vaniqa, which interferes with hair growth. It’s a prescription only, twice daily treatment, and needs to be used on an ongoing basis for maintenance. Some lasers are licensed for home use on facial hair but our family of four testers (with varied colouring) found a leading brand was very disappointing. They trialled the device on their armpits, legs and bikini line. They gave up on legs after many attempts, found it took more than ten treatments to produce any result on ‘pits, though the bikini line was a ‘little more successful, perhaps because the hairs tend to be darker and coarser, but again it took more than ten sessions to get any result’. This device was licensed for facial use below the nose, i.e. upper lip and chin, but my testers said life was simply too short. Dr Lowe adds that treating hair with too low laser energy (remember home use lasers are much weaker than medical ones) can actually stimulate hair growth – the opposite of what you want. For home treatments you are left with waxing and depilatories, (unless you are up for tweezing out hairs one by one… we know some who do). Amongst the home waxing products, Aussie Nad’s No-Heat Hair Removal Gel Facial Wand £9.77 for 6 grams, stands out. It was devised by a mum for her daughter, who had profound problems with facial hair, and scored well in our consumer trials. Comments included: ‘I have sensitive skin but this was very easy to use and effective – no soreness or red spots after.’ Another said: ‘after using this a few times, re-growth was finer’. The product is widely available, including from www.sainsburys.co.uk To camouflage your pinheads scars, we suggest dabbing in (rather than on) a tiny bit of foundation and/or concealer with a paint brush. Sarah, who has a couple of similar scars (due to her mother digging out blackheads as a teen…), has also successfully used eyebrow base (e.g. Valerie Beverly Hills Window Dressing from www.victoriahealth.com ) and any sort of creamy coloured pencil, or eye shadow, as polyfilla… (Valerie also does a Magic Wand Concealer, which you can put under foundation to camouflage blemishes…). We  . . . Neal’s Yard Remedies Frankincense Hydrating Cream, £18.10 for 50 grams. The ‘big sister’ product to this cream – Frankincense Nourishing Cream – is one of the highest-scoring, natural anti-ageing products we’ve ever trialled for our Beauty Bible Tried & Tested. Now, a wonderful, more lightweight (and organically-certified) version, packed with plant oils rich in vitamins A and E, but still harnessing the potency of frankincense essential oil. (Which was used for mummification: we figure anything which can preserve skin for 3,000 years has got to be impressive when it comes to tackling our everyday lines and wrinkles, in 2009...) Available online at www.victoriahealth.com WHERE TO FIND PRODUCTS: Nad’s No-Heat Hair Removal Gel Facial Wand £9.77 for 6 grams is available from Sainsbury’s stores nationwide and online at www.sainsburys.com  Valerie Beverly Hills Window Dressing, £25, is available online at www.victoriahealth.com (with your special 5% discount and free postage with online orders). You can also find her Magic Wand Concealer, £19.95, there too.
 Neal’s Yard Remedies Frankincense Hydrating Cream, £18.10 for 50 grams, available online at www.victoriahealth.com (with your special 5% discount and free postage with online orders).
Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic - Archive April 19th, 2009 - Teen Skin
April 12th, 2009 - Swimmers Hair
April 5th, 2009 - Make-up For Damaged Skin
March 29th, 2009 - Are Sunbeds Safe?
March 22nd, 2009 - Weak, Flaking Nails
March 15th, 2009 - Puffy Eyes
March 8th, 2009 - Camouflaging Red Cheeks
March 1st, 2009 - Hair Colouring in Pregnancy
February 22nd, 2009 - Thinning Eyebrows
February 15th, 2009 - Acne | 
