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Among many things I never knew about my mother, it turns out she used to have her chin waxed - not very often, just as part of an occasional facial that she had up until a couple of years ago (she's now 89). She wants to look nice next week and has asked me to make an appointment. Gulp! Can an elder's delicate skin really take this treatment? Would it be better to get out the tweezers and somehow overcome my MASSIVE embarrassment to do this for her? She doesn't look like the bearded lady or anything, but I can't pretend to her that the few long whiskers aren't there...

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My mom still has her eyebrows waxed, no problem. Take her somewhere reputable.
I know my grandma...until age95 used to shave a handful of chin hairs as needed.
I think it is great when elders still care how they look
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country mouse, just be careful if she is on Coumadin. That stuff made mom's skin so fragile that she peeled off a bandaid and the skin came with it. Nasty stuff, that rat poison should be banned.
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PS you've given me an idea for a cautious trial run - I'll put a baby's BandAid on a reasonably robust bit of her and see how well that goes before I book the appointment she's asked for. The skin on her face seems pretty ok - she certainly gives it a fair old going-over when she washes - I suppose it's the pain I'm vicariously afraid of! The skin on her legs, now, I wouldn't touch with anything rougher than a swan's down powder puff - it's those damned ECG pads that the wombats just rip off that get her every time, great chunks off her shins. If I had a quid for each time I've seen the horrified expression on a young nurse's face… You'd think it'd be part of their training, wouldn't you?
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OMG!!! This is hilarious! I know it's an old thread but it's exactly what I needed after having a sad visit with mom - not much time left, I think. But I have to add my story. My mom has always been chin hair obsessed. In the past six months she's pretty much let it go. Then a couple of weeks ago hubby and I were visiting and mom says to me " I have this long hair on my chin that is bothering me - could you pluck it"? I was suddenly 12 years old! Eewweewe - gross! So I say "no mom, I don't have my glasses with me, I wouldn't be able to see what I'm doing". So without missing a beat she looks at my husband and says "do you think you could do it"? I swear he turned pale on the spot and actually started to gag! I was still laughing my ass off when he bolted from the room! I can hardly wait to go tell him one of you is such a tough chick you practically give your mom a Brazilian! Soooo funny!
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They make re-chargeable electric razors for women and they work great, even have a delicate setting. Currently I have a Panasonic brand, it comes in white/pink so it doesn't look like a man's electric razor.
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freqflyr, I bought the same one for Mom. It's great! She used to shave until I had to hide the razors. She would come out of the bathroom with blood dripping down, no hairs, and insisting she did NOT shave herself. When I tried to shave her.....she would laugh and giggle, so I couldn't. The electric is great and was only $25 or so. She is obsessed with her chin hair and eyebrows. Unfortunately, she is now shaving those off too!
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Embarrassed to do her chin? huhhhh I do my moms privates! You get used to it after a year or so, lol.
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Having self-waxed my bikini line (in my younger days) and just recently tweezing my mom's chin hairs, I have experience with both. I'd definitely go the tweezing route. I tried shaving my mom's mustache a while back (with a regular razor) and she bled, so I'll never try that again. Her skin is very thin (and she's on Coumadin), so I felt badly about that. My mom noticed one big chin hair when I helped her shower recently, so I got her sitting in good light and went to town. No embarrassment on my part, and seemingly none on hers. It's just hair! And since I need a McCulloch chain saw on parts of my own body, it doesn't bother me in the least. :)
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An alternative to waxing is facial Nairobi, works well....just try it on small space to ensure not allergic, it can make the skin a little red, so better to do it the day before.

Or, you can just cut them short.
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Brilliant typo! And great idea too, thank you.
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