London – Angela Garvin’s alarm goes off at 6.30am every day. As a legal adviser, she has to be up early, and has a strict skin regime to get through.
First, she cleanses her face, then she dabs on some toner – and reaches for a bottle of shaving gel. She applies it across her chin, top lip and a small area around her neck.
Then, using a men’s disposable razor, she carefully shaves her face, rinsing the fine, pale hairs down the basin as she goes. To finish, she rinses with warm water and applies moisturiser.
According to beauty enthusiasts – or pretty much any woman you care to ask – Angela has committed a cardinal sin.
After all, if shaving your legs encourages hair to grow back thicker, darker and stronger, then, for a woman, face-shaving would appear to invite disaster.
Nevertheless, Angela, 46, from Essex, has been shaving her face three times a week for the past eight years and couldn’t be happier with the results.
And she’s not alone; dermatologists also endorse the idea and, astonishing as it may sound, a host of products have been rushed out to cater for the trend of women shaving their faces.
“It’s cheap, takes seconds and doesn’t irritate my skin, unlike laser or waxing,’ says Angela. “The claim that facial hair grows back thicker and darker is a myth. It’s been the best thing I could have started doing.”
What’s more surprising is that far from causing ingrowing hairs, nasty grow-back or red raw patches, Angela is adamant that regular shaving has improved her complexion.
“Make-up goes on more evenly and easily, products absorb better and my skin is in great condition. It’s the smoothest and brightest it’s been in years,” she says.
Women have facial hair, just like men, albeit usually finer, light-coloured downy strands known as vellus hair.
Some are lucky and this fine hair is barely noticeable or virtually non-existent, but others may have naturally furrier faces and, according to the NHS, up to three-quarters of women have increased facial hair as they get older, especially after the menopause. Hormonal imbalances and conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome can also stimulate increased facial hair growth, though much of it can be down to the lottery of your genes.
As well as slicing off this fine hair, shaving removes the top layer of dead skin cells, so it is exfoliating.
Dr Michael Prager, an aesthetic clinician who has a practice in London, says: “From an anti-ageing point of view, home shaving has some effect.
“It’s like a mild form of microdermabrasion, so encourages collagen production, which reduces wrinkles. Whenever there’s trauma to the skin, collagen is stimulated to help cell renewal.”
What’s more, Dr Prager also rubbishes the idea the hair will grow back thicker.
“The notion that shaving influences regrowth is wrong,” he says.
“Cutting off hair above the root won’t cause any feedback to the follicle, which is the live part that produces the hair and sits below the skin.
“People might think hair looks thicker because it comes out at a different angle or blunt, rather than tapered to a natural point, but it won’t be changed on a cellular level.”
Dermatologist Dr Neal Schultz even claims shaving is why men are said to age better than women. “Most men shave their faces – and thereby exfoliate two-thirds of their face – regularly for years,” he says.
“That’s the reason that by their 30s and 40s, men’s skin often looks better than women’s skin.”
Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Cleopatra were all said to shave their faces and it’s now big business as new shaving products aimed at women become available.
Delicate micro razors resembling small, thin scalpels are sold in spas and online boutiques.
QVC has all but sold out of them and Chinese brand Tinkle has just launched a UK website to deal with demand, where they sell a pack of three for £2.99. Amazon stocks similar designs with rave reviews. Users say they were “apprehensive” about using it until it “turned out to be a very useful tool indeed”.
Still don’t believe me? Have a look on YouTube where thousands of women are uploading videos to show how effective they’ve found shaving their face.
It helps that many skin clinics offer a similar service. Dermaplaning - also known as blading - is an almost identical treatment but is carried out by a professional and can cost £350.
It’s billed as “manual exfoliation” to remove rough, dead or damaged cells and hair for healthier, smoother skin, without damaging capillaries, which aggressive exfoliators can.
Angela has her shaving technique down to a tee. “I take my time because if I rush I might pull a hair sideways, which causes an ingrowing hair,” she says.
“The razor stays at a 45-degree angle to my skin and I have to use a lighter touch than with shaving my legs. My skin feels as smooth as a baby’s bottom afterwards and I’ve never had a rash, though the hair does grow back quickly.”
Shaving wasn’t something Angela rushed into. “I tried every facial hair removal method possible beforehand but nothing worked,” she says.
“Waxing and threading were excruciating; electrolysis was time-consuming and expensive; my hair is too fair for laser to be effective; and everything else caused redness so I couldn’t go out straight afterwards.”
Despite the fineness of her light auburn hair, she’s insistent if she didn’t shave it would be a huge blow to her self-confidence.
“I have quite a bit of hair on my top lip, chin and around my throat. Even though it’s fine, the hair is really obvious in some lights and foundation clings to it.
“It makes me self-conscious, and I used to feel depressed about it. I fully realise that shaving is not the done thing, but it solves a problem.”
If Angela’s partner, Peter, 41, a solicitor, knows about her beauty regime, he’s keeping quiet.
“We’ve never spoken about it,” says Angela “But I’m sure he knows I shave my face. Luckily, he’s wise enough to know not to comment. He gets up earlier than me so never catches me at it. I’d never lie about shaving, but I suppose it’s not something most women would want to broadcast.”
Gill Jamieson, 60, from Hove would agree with that - even though she has been face-shaving for 40 years.
“It’s a bit of a secret. I don’t like to tell people but I shave my top lip and chin every two days,” she says.
“You can see a real difference afterwards: my skin looks smooth, clean and fresh.”
Unlike Angela, she usually dry shaves using Remington’s wet and dry razor that’s designed for legs and arms.
Gill, an inspector for the entertainment industry, has dark hair and Spanish blood on her father’s side, and worries that the hair on her face is visible.
She tried other removal methods before succumbing to a razor.
“Bleach burned my skin, waxing hurt and anything else was time- consuming or expensive.
“My mother shaves her face and she’s 83; dark hair runs in the family so shaving is just something we have to do. If I didn’t, the hair would really show. Men noticed my lip hair when I was young and would say: ‘You’ve got a lovely moustache.’ I’ll still be shaving when I’m 80.
“Who wants to see a woman with a moustache?”
For Gill, the only real problem is stubble. “People say hair is supposed to grow back thicker, but mine has always stayed soft, apart from stubble, which you can see after a couple of days. I use a strong cover-up. I’ve always had great skin. I use a lot of moisturiser, especially after shaving, and never use soap on my face.”
But Dr Barbara Kubicka, an aesthetic doctor with a clinic in London’s Belgravia, warns about irritation and cuts.
“There are more beneficial ways to exfoliate without the side-effects that come with shaving,” she says. Instead, she suggests using a facial cleansing brush or home-use Derma-roller treatments.
Renee Daly, 52, an air steward from Hampshire, is new to shaving, though she doesn’t like to call it that. She uses a micro razor by Lilibeth of New York to remove the hair around her cheeks, top lip and lower jaw area.
She says: “When you think about shaving your face, you imagine a man leaning over a sink holding a Gillette razor. It seems so unfeminine and horrible, but the tool I use is not like that,” she says.
“It’s like a small eyebrow comb with sharp blades that catches the hair, but doesn’t cut your skin. I hold it at a slight angle and lightly comb my face: the hair comes right off.”
Renee has shaved a handful of times over the past couple of months. She decided to give it a go after a friend confided that she did it.
“I have patches of dark facial hair that I’ve always been self-conscious of, especially the shadow above my lip. I tried bleach and hair removal creams, but found them messy and smelly, so just tried to ignore it.
“After shaving, my skin feels lovely and smooth. Serums and moisturisers sink in better, make-up sits better, especially foundation, and it gives my skin a healthier colour.”
She is a convert to face-shaving, like Angela, who says: “I know it’s not a terribly feminine thing to do but, really, you are only moving the razor a few inches above your armpit. What’s the big deal?”
Daily Mail