All women have facial and body hair, but the hair is usually fine and light in color.  If you have excessive or unwanted hair on your face, arms, chest, or back that is coarse and dark, the cause is often hormonal, and it’s something that generally runs in families.  The good news is that the excess hair itself isn’t dangerous, but we understand that it may be making you feel self-conscious.  If you’re tired of the daily upkeep through shaving, and you’re ready for something better, electrolysis is the only 100% permanent form of hair removal recognized by the FDA, and it works great for hormonal hair growth due to health issues like PCOS.

If it’s your first time for electrolysis, you may be wondering how long your hair needs to be to ensure a good experience.

The short answer is: 3 mm (which is about the width of a classic wedding ring).

But, here’s the tricky part — knowing how long it actually takes to grow your hair to 3 mm! If you’ve had any type of professional temporary hair removal, whether it’s waxing, threading, sugaring, etc., you are probably already aware that human hair growth is not a uniform process — it actually grows in cycles.

I remember the first time I noticed a real chin hair — not the blonde peach-fuzz kind of hair, but a coarse, dark, rogue hair!  I instinctually grabbed my tweezers and plucked it in horror (a dangerous approach because you should almost never tweeze).  Truth be told, bristly chin hair in women is more common than most of us would like to admit, so you should never feel embarrassed or abnormal if you have this issue.

Pssst - did you know there are actually two kinds of electrolysis when it comes to permanently removing hair? That’s right - there’s galvanic and thermolysis. Don’t worry if these words seem a little foreign to you. We’re about to break down these processes in an easy to understand way! We just want you to know that everything we do is rooted in science and to provide a little more insight into how all of this works, because we know some of you appreciate the technical details!