Peach Fuzz – What is It? How to Treat it.
I am painfully aware that I am getting older. I’m getting closer to all those complaints I’ve heard over the years about hair growth on the face. So, today we’re talking about peach fuzz, that fine blond hair most commonly seen in excess on the cheeks of postmenopausal women.
If you look closely, we have hairs all over our skin, with the exception of palms, soles, and lips. These fine blond hairs that are barely noticeable are called vellus hairs. In contrast, the thicker, coarser hairs on our head or beard are called terminal hairs.
Hair follicles can produce either a vellus or a terminal hair. For instance, hairs on the legs are vellus hairs when we are young and then convert to a thicker terminal hair during puberty under hormonal control. In contrast, as we age many of our terminal hairs convert back into a vellus hair with time.
Finally, even more fun, the vellus hairs seem to grow on the cheeks of menopausal women. Why does this happen? I’ve never really found a great explanation scientifically. But it happens. And suddenly, that peach fuzz is more noticeable than ever.
How can we treat peach fuzz?
One common concern about treating and removing peach fuzz is that it will start growing thicker and darker once removed. Never fear! Treating peach fuzz externally will NEVER change its growth to make it convert into a terminal hair. Remember that leg hair. Shaving it didn’t make it grow thicker and darker, puberty hormones did that. If it was so easy to grow hair, every bald man would shave his head and VOILA!
It is totally fine to remove peach fuzz. There are two main ways to remove it – physical and chemical.
Physical removal – Hair can be physically removed by shaving, trimming or dermaplaning. To learn more about dermaplaning and questions to ask before having it done “professionally”, see my prior post.
Chemical removal – Depilatory creams break down the chemical structure of the hair to make it break off at the surface of the skin. I often recommend Surgicream, which has an after care balm to neutralize the chemical reaction.
One final tip… As with any new skin treatment, I recommend doing a spot treatment on your jawline before treating a large area. Trust me. I had a very unfortunate experience with a depilatory cream on my upper lip while in medical school, lol.
To learn more about hair growth and hair removal, check out our prior articles from our website.
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