Would it be safe for my elderly mom (74) to get her facial hair waxed?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My mom is turning 74 today(Yay, Mom!).

Like many of us gals, she has some unwanted facial hair (bit of a Van Dyke happening there…).
She used to just shave it, but recently has sorta quit wanting to make the effort. I’m not exactly sure why but I think its along the lines of, "I just have better ways to spend my time… and it just grows back. "

I just started getting my upper lip waxed and Mom expressed interest in maybe getting hers done. But I have some concerns about this due to the fact that she IS 74 and I am aware of skin changes that occur in the older set.

She does have papery ‘old lady’ skin on her arms & hands. There have been a few skin tears over the last year or two. This makes me question whether or not the skin on her face would be as delicate as that of her arms/hands. The LAST thing I would want would be for her to have parts of her face ripped off while trying to wax it.

On the other hand, if it was safe to do, waxing would give a little old lady a little less work to do and might be good for her self esteem. Even though she isn’t really doing much about it herself anymore, the whiskers definitely bother her.

So, Dopers… How can I help her detrmine whether waxing would be safe?

The ladies at the salon that does my lip seem to be ok with the idea. I’m not so sure. Would her doctors be able to tell if her skin could hold up to waxing? Should we try it on some other body part first? (Her legs are pretty tough - no skin issues there yet)

Anybody have experience waxing the elderly?

2

I’m sure that the women at the salon could do a test area on her, if they think she’s a good candidate.

I’ve had some electrolysis done on what I call my old lady whiskers. It’s surprisingly affordable, and you do it ONCE for each hair. Some hairs might need another zap, but that’s pretty rare. And it’s permanent. I’ve had my face waxed, and I’ve had the electrolysis. The discomfort level is about the same.

Now, she will have to have several sessions of electrolysis, because the hair follicles won’t all be in the same growth phase. But once it’s done, she’ll just have to watch out for new growth.

I also had my eyebrows done…now I almost never have to check them, and they are always perfectly shaped.