I wrote about my abject dislike of facial hair previously as it really got in the way of presenting female. Shaving doesn't work for me since the stubble remains very visible under my makeup. My go to method to get a very clean look is to pluck the hairs out one by one using tweezers, but not only is it painful, can only be done if the hairs are long enough, but it also takes a good 1+ hour in front of the mirror. This meant that I had to plan my facial hair growth if I wanted to dress up. Absolutely effin annoying.

I had been considering permanent hair removal but I wasn't too willing to spend the money. It was only this year that my annoyance of facial hair plucking boiled over and I decided to just get it over and done with. After all, what was the point of working so hard if I was just going to hoard money in my bank account.

There are 3 main forms of hair removal out there. Intense pulse light (IPL), laser and electrolysis. In Singapore there is a preference for IPL or laser, as it hits a much larger area within a short span of time. Both technologies are also more effective for chinese who have black hair against fairer skin. Apparently the efficacy of hair removal is reduce for people with fairer hair or darker skin. However, I also read that the effects may not be permanent, especially for facial hair. The thought of spending thousands of dollars, only for the hair to grow back a few years later wasn't appealing. I wanted something permanent. So I decided I had to go for eletrolysis.

Unlike IPL and laser, electrolysis isn't too commonly provided in Singapore and for good reason. Electrolysis targets each hair individually, meaning that it takes significantly longer than the other two technologies. It is done by inserting a hollow probe into the hair follicle, introducing heat to kill the hair follicle, before the hair is then tweezed out. The cycle then repeats for hair in the target area. The time taken to do a full clearance of facial hair depends on how hairy a person is. I heard that HairFreeSG was pretty decent for electrolysis so I decided to do a prelim consult. It was estimated that I would need around 20 to 30 hours to permanently removal all of my facial hair, which translates to an expense of around 2.3k to 3+k. It wasn't cheap, but I really hated my facial hair so I decided to stop being a cheapo and begin my permanent hair removal journey.

The electrolysis session starts of with application of numbing cream on the areas to be treated and having said areas wrapped in cling film (probably to avoid accidentally wiping off the cream). I had to wait around for an hour before the actual electrolysis session. In the well air-conditioned room, I lay on my back while the electrologist with her special magnifying spectacles painstakingly zapped my face hair follicle by hair follicle. 

Readers will be wondering, does electrolysis hurt? Well the numbing cream definitely did help make it quite bearable, so for cheeks and chin I'd say it is pretty ok, perhaps 2.5/10? The neck and upper lip area however is another animal. My oh my. I had to grit my teeth through the pain as the electrologist did her work. On the pain scale, 5/10? (Ahah I don't know what this arbitrary scale is. Maybe 10/10 is "Give me an epidural you monster!") I can't say that it is unexpected though. When I dehaired prior to a dress up session, plucking the hairs on my upper lip always hurt a lot more.

While the length of each electrolysis session is up to the individual's pain tolerance, I was recommended to cap it around 1.5 hours, since clearing the entire face at one go might result in a fair bit of swelling that is obvious. However I didn't want to make so many trips to the studio and I wanted a full clearing ASAP, so for my second session I decided to go for two 1.5 hour blocks with a rest period in between for myself. The studio has a team of electrologists so they can take turns if necessary. 

For those worried about recovery, at the end of 3 hour session there was some swelling at the treated areas and it definitely looked like I had a strange sunburn on my face and some peeling skin that lasted for 3 days. I was also advised not to shave my face, as my skin was sensitive and razor blades might introduce bacteria that cause infections. So if you're thinking of going for electrolysis as well, do plan a bit if you might get queried on why your face has red patches/slightly swollen. Fortunately for me, only my wife and another friend asked about my patchy face.

At the point of posting this, I've done around 4 hours of electrolysis and yet to do a full clearance 😫 I estimate that I need another 1.5 hours to achieve that, after which the hairs should grow back a bit finer (hopefully some don't grow back at all). I find a massive irony for us guys who like to present female. We've got facial hair on the bottom of our faces which we don't want, but when it comes to wanting to grow a luscious head of hair, it may be impossible due to receding hairlines as we grow older. So we spend money, time and sweat to removing hair from one part of the face and even more money to transplant hair on another. Wanting to present female is bloody darn expensive.

<Update>: As of 1 May 2024, I have gone for around 30+ hours of electrolysis. My facial hairs are finer and the time taken for a full clearance by the electrologist is around 1.5 hours currently. While this is an improvement from before, it is longer than I had hoped for. Unfortunately, permanent hair removal takes time so I just have to keep going for sessions diligently every 2 to 3 weeks. Hopefully 60 hours is enough to finally rid myself of facial hair.