At what age start waxing/electrolysis/laser for teen

pina colada

Sun, Jan 22 2012, 9:20 pm

13 yo dd would like to have her eye brows done. At this age, what is the best option, waxing, laser or electrolysis? would laser/electrolysis be permanent at this age?

Dolly Welsh

Sun, Jan 22 2012, 10:21 pm

Electrolysis is permanent. It can be a bad idea to do that at any age for brows, because fashions change. A brow style can date a woman. And even waxing might have a somewhat permanent effect too, if done a whole lot, over a long time. Whatever is decided, keep the style very natural looking.

But DD does indeed have to feel ok about her brows.

BinahYeteirah

Sun, Jan 22 2012, 10:36 pm

Is there a reason why she can't just tweeze? I would never have expected my parents to pay for those kinds of services. I agree with the advice to keep it natural-looking. I don't know how much extra hair she has, but it might not take much tweezing to give her brows a more groomed look.

de_goldy

Mon, Jan 23 2012, 12:38 am

I would recommend laser or electrolysis because it's more expensive but a) pretty permanent - money saving in the long run, and b) the more waxing/tweezing she does now, the more sessions of electrolysis she willl need later.

BinahYeteirah

Mon, Jan 23 2012, 12:46 am

I guess my hair is weird, because electrolysis was not anywhere near permanent for me. I believe I have had greater permanent hair reduction over time with tweezing and waxing. Also, tweezing and waxing have been much cheaper for me, since I do them at home. Meanwhile, I spent hundreds on electrolysis and saw very little, if any, results from it. That's me, though, I know other people are successful with it. At least, I assume so, since people pay for it.

pina colada

Mon, Jan 23 2012, 12:57 am

should I hold off, as once she starts she will constantly need to do it, or is this the appropriate age to begin?

Tablepoetry

Mon, Jan 23 2012, 1:48 am

I agree with Dolly - I wouldn't do anything permanent for brows, certainly not at this age. While smooth legs and underarms seem to be pretty much the accepted cultural norm for women for many, many decades already (and in some countries, for many centuries) - eyebrow 'fashion' does change. Even if it doesn't, your DD's personal preferences may change and she may decide she prefers fuller eyebrows in a decade or two.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to start waxing eyebrows at age 13. Back in my day, no one did that, everyone tweezed - but times change. No one had a cellphone either.

jelly belly

Mon, Jan 23 2012, 9:36 am

I and most of my friends were waxing at that age. I wouldn't do laser unless she has a significant unibrow that will need to be dealt with for the rest of her life. If it's a matter of just cleaning up a bit and shaping, waxing is perfect. If she wants to start now, go for it.

BinahYeteirah

Mon, Jan 23 2012, 9:44 am

When did waxing become the norm? Is it a NY thing? When I was growing up, using mom's tweezers over the bathroom sink and learning to shave in the bathtub were a rite of passage. My friends and I never dreamed of going to a salon for waxing. I remember I had various books on the topic of growing up, puberty, feelings, and hygiene. I think they were called "Girl Talk". There were always a page or two on how to tweeze your eyebrows ("Always tweeze from under the brow-- never over!"). I remember my eyes watering as I pulled out each hair. Good times! Am I getting old already?

Tablepoetry

Tue, Jan 24 2012, 6:54 am

BinahYeteirah wrote:

Not just a NY thing. Waxing is definitely the norm in Israel for teens.
I think it's a generation thing - it's probably become a lot more common in the past 15 years.

Ruchel

Tue, Jan 24 2012, 11:40 am

Even my poshest friends wouldn't have dreamed of going to salons as teens... the fancy ones had an epilady for the legs as opposed to buying a bag of cheap guy blades. And this was a posh suburb.

shnitzel

Tue, Jan 24 2012, 1:04 pm

I started getting my eyebrows waxed at 13. I needed to get them shaped every few months so I could maintain them by tweezing.