See this chin? Most women who sit in my clinic have one spot they have fought since their forties. Tweezers in the car. A quick pull at the traffic lights. A mirror check before they leave the house, and another one by teatime. And every year there seem to be a few more of them, not fewer.
You are not imagining it, and it is not simply “the menopause”. The hairs really are coming back darker, coarser and faster. And the reason is almost the opposite of what you have been told, because the removing itself is part of the problem.
What the menopause actually changed
After 40, as oestrogen falls, a stronger form of testosterone called DHT gathers around the follicles on your chin, jaw and upper lip and tells them to grow a coarse, dark hair where there used to be soft fuzz. That is the “why now”, and you already know it. But the menopause only opened the door. Here is what keeps walking through it.
Every time you pluck a hair out, you injure that follicle. Living tissue responds to injury the way it always does: it rushes blood to the site and rebuilds, heavier. The follicle comes back with a stronger supply and a deeper root, and the next hair is thicker, darker and faster than the one you just removed.
Try this before you read another word
Find the spot on your chin you have fought for years. Really feel it. Now run a fingertip somewhere you have never touched, high on your cheek, or along your jaw.
Feel the difference? The skin you have never gone near is soft. The spot you have “kept on top of” is the coarsest. You are feeling defence mode with your own hand.
This is why the guilt so many women carry is misplaced. You did exactly what every magazine, every mum and every chemist counter told you to do. You were diligent. The cruel part is that diligence was the trap: the harder you worked at removing it, the more you were feeding it. Shaving brings it back coarser. Waxing tears at thinning skin. And laser hunts pigment, so it physically cannot see a grey, white or blonde hair, which after menopause is most of them.
Stop harvesting. Start at the root.
The answer was never another way to remove the hair. Every method works at the surface. The follicle that builds the hair sits below it, and nothing on top of the skin ever reaches it. The only thing that changes the outcome is something that reaches the follicle itself and calms it down, so it grows back finer and lighter instead of thicker and darker. One ancient Egyptian herb, Cyperus Rotundus, has been used to do exactly that for centuries.
Reaches the root
Water-based, so the carrier sinks past the surface to the follicle where the hair is actually made.
Calms the follicle
Cyperus supports the DHT-driven root to ease off, instead of you fighting it from the top.
Grows back finer
Regrowth comes in lighter, slower and sparser, on any colour including grey and white.
Week by week, in the women I follow up
I want to be honest, because you have been over-promised before and you can smell it a mile off. This is not overnight. It is gradual, and it looks roughly like this:
- Week 1Honestly, nothing. That is normal, and it is the point most people quit. Do not.
- Week 2You run a finger under your chin and something is different. Softer, less prickly. The barbed wire feeling starts to go.
- Week 4The hair is noticeably finer. Old dark spots from years of plucking start to fade. Ingrowns settle.
- Week 8From plucking every single morning to barely once a week. Most areas stay smooth for days.
- 3 monthsThe former problem areas produce only the occasional fine hair. The twenty-minute morning is gone.
What women tell me at the three-month check
“Used to pluck every morning, sometimes twice a day. By week three there was barely anything there. I have stopped keeping tweezers in the car.”
“It is the only thing that has ever done a thing for my white ones. The laser never even touched them. Wish I had found it years ago.”
Against what you have already tried
| This serum | Laser | Plucking | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reaches the root | ✓ | Partly | ✗ |
| Works on grey & white | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Kind to mature skin | ✓ | Can irritate | ✗ |
| Cost over a year | Low | £1,000+ | Daily forever |
Viareline Skin Serum Pro
- Water-based Cyperus Rotundus
- With hyaluronic acid and ceramides
- Works on every colour, incl. grey and white
- Topical, never enters the bloodstream
- 60-day money-back guarantee
See how the serum works, and whether it is right for your skin
The mechanism, the ingredients and the 60-day money-back guarantee, explained in full on one page. No hard sell here, just the explanation.
Read how it works ›The questions I hear most
Does it really work on grey, white or blonde hair?
Yes. Unlike laser, which needs dark pigment to find the hair, Cyperus works on the follicle’s growth mechanism rather than the colour. That makes it suitable for every hair colour, including the grey and white that show up after menopause.
Will it affect my hormones, my HRT or my PCOS?
No. It is topical and works locally on the area you apply it to. It does not enter the bloodstream and it does not interfere with your hormones or your HRT. This is the first thing my hormone patients ask, and it is a fair question.
How long until I see something?
Most women notice slower, thinner regrowth in as little as two to three weeks. The bigger change settles in over 60 to 90 days of consistent twice-daily use, which is why a two to three month supply is the usual starting point.
What if it does not work for me?
There is a 60-day money-back guarantee, which is roughly how long it takes to know either way. If you are not seeing finer regrowth, you send it back. That is the only reason many women feel safe trying it after everything else.
Ready to work on the cause instead of the symptom?
Read the full explanation and see if it is right for your skin.
See how it works ›Dr Sarah Mitchell is a consultant dermatologist writing on skin and the menopause. She has treated unwanted facial hair in women over 40 for more than fifteen years. This article was produced as partner content for Velura and reflects her clinical view.