As a woman, I am cursed with society’s view on body hair – Shave your legs, shave your armpits, pluck your eyebrows! Luckily, those things are easy to maintain. They take all of five minutes to do and very rarely are you ever teased about them. Unless, of course, you like your uni-brow and let it grow wild. Anyway…
I am also cursed with lovely upper lip hair. It’s not that thick, and it’s not that dark, but it’s there, and I notice it, and it bothers me. A lot. Growing up, I was teased quite often about it. Yep, Kara’s a boy. Yep, Kara has a moustash. “Moustashio” I was once called. It hurt. A lot. No one likes to be teased, especially about something that you can’t help at the age of seven.
Come high school, I would use Nair to remove it, but I would always burn my skin and it would leave dry patchy rashes.. I tried having it waxed, but that would cause me to break out. Add that to the redness, and it almost made it worse. I eventually gave up and just tried to deal with it. Until today.
Today I went to a local laser treatment clinic, where they do everything from Botox to microdermabrasion. I made an appointment for laser hair removal last week and at 9:30 this morning, I began my treatments to get rid of my horrible upper lip hair once and for all.
Let me tell you – It hurt like hell! There’s still redness from the procedure, but if I don’t break out with little zits and it doesn’t burn up my skin, I’ll deal with it every 6-8 weeks. The technician who did the procedure was super nice and made me feel comfortable about everything, not embarrassed.
I know I should love myself for who I am, and I do, but sometimes you just have to do things that help your insecurities. I look forward to being able to stand in front of someone and have a conversation without wondering if they’re staring at that space between my lip and nose.
And let me tell you this – It took a lot for me to share this with you guys. In real life, only Kyle and my mom know I’m doing this. That’s how self conscious I am about it all.
She Writes Words 
Dude, I’ve been thinking bout it too. If you don’t mind me asking, how many appts does it take before the hair is all gone?
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I don’t mind at all! Apparently it can take up to eight appointments, depending on your skin type and how course the hair it. I was told three to four appointments by the tech.
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Kids are terrible and can be so cruel. They don’t understand the damage they are doing. I am so glad that more and more districts are placing laws against bullying.
The upper lip hair is a tough one, I cannot imagine how much that hurts as that area is super sensitive (at least to me it is. Whenever I have a zit there and try to pop it, it hurts like hell) so I commend you for being able to sit through it. Any pain is worth what you’re most self conscious about so I don’t blame you one bit. I hope your skin cooperates and it doesn’t take too many visits!
I would like to go to the orthodontist again because one of my teeth in the very front has turned crooked and it bothers me, and I know there are invisible ways to straighten them now but I hated braces and even had a dream the other night that I had braces all over again!
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Ugh, I hated my braces too! I may get them again as well. My top front teeth went all crooked again :(
The procedure only took maybe 10 minutes, so that was a plus! I couldn’t sit through it any longer!
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Freckles, glasses, chubbiness, red hair – the things I was teased about as a kid and the list goes on. God children are so freaking cruel.
I was blessed with really light body hair to go with my fair skin so I rarely (like MAYBE once a month. Maybe) shave my legs and I never do anything with my eyebrows. I maybe get them waxed once a year? They are getting a bit bushy though so I should probably get on that again soon!
Anyways, I say do what you gotta do to make yourself feel good in your own skin. That’s most important! Good luck with the laser treatments, I hope they work out. Bummer that they’re so painful though :(
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Way to go for being so brave and sharing this with us publicly. I always put my “body image insecurity” posts behind a password because I’m so nervous!! I have seriously thought about having laser hair removal but I hear it’s really expensive :( I would get my armpits done – I have my dad’s mediterranean genes and winter’s not bad, because I can wear sweaters, but in summer, I have to shave morning and night!! I am a huge advocate for doing whatever makes you more comfortable in your own skin, as long as YOU are the one making the decision, and nobody is making you feel like you have to do it. I remember when I was little, I used to get teased for my arm hair – boys would call me “monkey” and stuff and I remember just shaving it all off once, which was a HUGE mistake – thankfully it grew back no thicker, but still, cruel words last…
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It cost me about $60 + tax, which I guess isn’t so bad if the results are permanent or last longer than waxing. I was lucky enough get a deal on a gift certificate through a local auction.
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Kids can be awful. My best friend is Indian and has really thick, bushy hair – and she didn’t start shaving her legs until quite late, and people made fun of her.
My leg hair is black but it’s really thin and grows slowly, so I shave MAYBE once a week. What I really don’t like is hair, er, down there – but I am way too afraid to wax (I’ve never even waxed my legs).
As for braces…I had them when I was younger and my teeth are much better than they were, but I chose not to have a second round. As a result I don’t have totally straight teeth, but I’m not really too fussed about that. It’s more the fact that I have small teeth I don’t like, so I have a rather gummy smile.
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Wax “down there” hurts like hell! I’ve had it done once and that was enough for me. No thanks! lol
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Thanks so much for sharing this, Kara. I was teased a LOT growing up. Anything from my chubbiness to my hairy arms to my big, German nose. For a while, I wanted to get rhinoplasty but it’s not something I even think about anymore because I’ve grown used to it.
But I think there is a fine line in being happy in the body God gave you…and doing what you need to do to feel comfortable in your skin. If it gives you the confidence you need, I’m all for it!
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I can genuinely say I have never noticed…
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