Hair Removal – At What Age?

We’ve had a couple of questions about hair removal on kids over on the EMM Facebook page recently, and it’s made me glad I have boys!  The things women do to achieve a certain standard of beauty can be painful and expensive, and deciding to do that to a child is a difficult decision.

A mom asked: “What is an appropriate age to bleach hair on young girls lips?. My daughter is 11 and she has a mustache and starting to get a unibrow as well. Is she too young to pluck?

Whose Problem Is It?

• is this a problem for the young girl, or for mom? If for the young girl, a beautician should be consulted so it is done safely and correctly. If for the mom, nothing should be done.
• I had the most horrible dark hairy legs at age 11, and no one noticed (including myself) until my mom brought it up. Then I was horribly self conscious about it and wanted to shave
• sometimes we don’t notice our negatives until someone else points them out. I never knew my feet were “weird” (bunyuns or however that is spelled, lol) until a family member pointed it out. If the young girl feels self conscious about it, then by all means take her to a professional to answer these questions and do it the right way. If the girl has no idea either way, leave it alone!
• I agree that if the girl is not being teased and has not said anything about it, don’t mention it to her. She has the rest of her life to be insecure about her appearance, I cherish the time when I didn’t think about it at that age.
• Let her decide, it’s her body after all.
• There is a big difference in a mean girl at school pointing out a fault that can then be taken care of and forgotten than mom (the one person who should always point out our strengths and beauty) pointing out a fault. But by all means, if she already is aware and cares, go to a professional!
• I started getting lip and eyes waxed in 7th or 8th grade. If it bothers her, take her. If it bothers you, hush.

The Cosmetologists Speak

• I would wax instead of bleach or tweezing. Putting chemicals on 11 yr old skin makes me nervous and tweezing can damage hair follicles which can change the growth pattern of the hair ( weird!). That being said, it’s gonna hurt and she might decide to just go w bangs for a while to hide that unibrow.
• Aesthetician weighing in, to make waxing easier, look for someone who uses hard wax. It’s more gentle and doesn’t bond with skin.
• Another cosmetologist (and former hairy child) here, I agree with the other professionals

The Moms Weigh In

• Take her to Gia Marina in East Memphis. They can teach her how to do it correctly…and/or do it for you.
• If its her that is troubled by it, I think bleaching is a much safer alternative to waxing at that age. I have a 12 year old family member that uses a gentle bleach because she has dark hair on her upper lip that was pointed out to her by some not very nice schoolmates. If its long and that’s the issue, I’d talk to an esthetician before even considering wax.  My eleven year old already gets her “unibrow” waxed. Her decision, not mine. To me, that skin is much tougher than the lip and she only does the center and then we tweeze a little around the bottom of the brow area. Hope that helps.
• The sooner you start shaving/removing hair the longer you will be doing it… In all honesty I would wait until puberty and she is getting real body hair.
• I have a daughter with similar problems. I tried to minimize the issue as long as possible because once you start, you can’t stop. But once it became an overwhelming issue for her — we started plucking and bleaching. I spoke with an esthetician who said DO NOT wax. She’s now 16 and bleaches and plucked on her own.
• I don’t know if this will help or not, but as a very young girl I started getting very dark facial hair… I waxed and took care of it that way, but now at the age of 40 I’ve spent thousands of dollars on electrolysis and different laser hair removal treatments to no avail… please be cautious when shaving or waxing at a very early age because it does cause darker courser hair to come back. I hope this helps.
• Let her decide, it’s her body after all.
• 11 isn’t too young, many girls are already going through many changes by that point and becoming very aware of their body. I would definitely think it would be best to gently approach it now with her rather than wait for someone to say something negative towards her.. So I would mention it but make it sound like no big deal, we pretty much all pluck our eyebrows or do something to remove extra hair. I’d go for waxing over bleaching because her hair will turn blonde and it will still be noticeable but ultimately leave it up to her what she wants to do, if anything.
• Do nothing at this early age it only gets darker and heavier. i know from experience of myself. at 60 i have as nice a mustache as my husband. God made us who we are and besides the hair does lighten after puberty because of hormones.
• Kids are mean and someone will point it out. Hairy legs not the same a a hairy lip. This is an issue more and more girls r facing today because of hormones in Modified foods. Bleach it and stop drinking cows milk.
• I’ve been plucking and waxing my blonde hairs and eyebrows forever and I don’t have a beard yet!! Let her do what she wants! As long as she is not injuring herself let her pluck!
• Talk to someone who does laser permanent hair removal before you do anything. They will give you the best advice for your specific case.
• Lip waxing is painful! I have been doing it for years and it still doesn’t feel pleasant. I wouldn’t put an 11 year old through that pain. I would bleach it and probably leave the eyebrows alone for now or do some very light plucking of just the center. An 11 year old does not need perfectly groomed brows. I think girls are trying to look and act like adults way too young these days.
• I agree with whoever said don’t wait till the bullying starts to do something. I also agree that 11 is young to start a strict beauty regimen, however kids are mean and the torments of adolescence affects some people way into adulthood. Get advice from PROFESSIONALS on what would be the best way to take care of the excess hair and then talk to her about it.
• Take her to an excellent aestictitian to have it waxed. Eden Spa is wonderful. Ask for Helen or Valeria.
• My mother taught me to shave my legs at age 12. Only because at age 11 it really didn’t show that much. I am now 67 and believe that if a young girl is hairy do have her hormone levels checked and teacher he how to shave, twees or what ever it takes so she will not be embarrassed.
• I would not bleach it the chemicals are strong and the skin is very sensitive and she could likely get a chemical burn have you checked into electrolysis
• My mom started plucking my eyebrows when I was 11 or 12. I found it was to hard to keep up with plucking all my eyebrows that young but I think the uni part would be fine. Instead of bleaching you could try threading.
• My friend’s mom took her for waxing of facial and arm hair from 10-17 and for 18 paid for her to have electrolysis as a part of her graduation gift. She laughed about it in college but can’t discount how helpful it was to her confidence. She was genetically very hairy.
• I do not believe their is a correct age for this you need to do what is best for your daughter. If you do not start these process she will probably get made fun of and feel very insecure. If you notice this on her so do others.
• Try the threading place on Hacks Cross (Arch2Arch) and tell her you’re getting your eyebrows threaded, and ask if she would like to as well while she’s there with you. Make a girls’ day of it. If she’s old enough to shave her legs, she’s old enough to tweeze (if she wants to).
• I agree with the threading suggestion. I like Bombay Salon in Cordova.
• My daughter has dark hair on lips and arms and heavy dark eyebrows. . We bleached when she told me it bothered her. She is happy with that but she has eyebrows waxed. She plucks in between but it is very thick and hard to keep up. The unibrow is easier to pluck. I took her for a threading at 15. She hated it because it is very painful. Laser is NOT permanent so don’t get sucked in to that no matter what anyone tells you and it’s expensive and can be a lengthy process as not all hairs are at the surface at the same time. I have tried this myself with hardly any success. Electrolysis is permanent however. I would leave it to your child about when but start simply. One thing at a time. We had no problem with bleaching. Good luck.