When permanent is not permanent: laser hair removal for facial hair: I've returned to JOLEN!

Friends, I have a confession to make. I, like so many other women out there, suffer from the most dreaded of ailments - the ronnie.  There's no point in pretending it doesn't happen - we've talked about the nightmare of facial hair about a zillion times on the site and when Lynnie discussed the hairs on her chinny chin chin she struck a chord with quite a few of us.

 I have a moustache. It haunted me throughout my teenage years and beyond, and is probably the reason why I never embraced the "moustaches on everything" craze. It just hit too close to the bone, you see.

• I've done bleaching (call me the Queen of Jolen)
• trimming,
• even the odd shave here and there - I know, I know! So bold. But desperate times called for desperate measures. And if you leave it too long you're subject to ridicule and humiliation from people who are supposed to love you.

I needed a permanent solution, so when a friend suggested laser hair removal a couple of years ago I knew exactly what I had to do. A few zaps and my ronnie would would be fried off my face for ever - or so I thought.

Laser hair removal promises permanent and painless hair removal, which sounds amazing on paper. A paradise of fuzz-free features, with no need for bleaching, waxing or trimming ever again? Sold. I was booked in for about six sessions (at about €70 a session - apologies, I can't remember the exact amount), which I was told would cure me of my face-fluff forever.

However, on removing the pair of snazzy rose-tinted sunnies you wear during the process, I discovered it is neither painless nor permanent.  (Read our guide to Laser/IPL  hair removal here for lots more stories and comments).

Firstly, the pain - to me the zap felt like a particularly unwelcome pinch, but a friend of mine who also had the treatment found it to be quite painful, so it all depends on your pain threshold.

Much to my dismay, the hair started creeping back in a couple of months after my sessions. A year later and the ronnie was back with a vengeance. When I asked my therapist what it was all about, she informed me that I should be getting touch-ups every couple of months.

So "permanent" hair removal - permanent, yes, but only if you're willing to fork out for frequent touch-ups. Not great for a student like me.  Laser hair removal works, sure, but only with constant upkeep, much like everything else on the market.

Two years later and the ronnie lives on, although I've done my best to hide it by bleaching the life out of it (as I write this, there is a slathering of that trusty Product of Yore, Jolen, on my upper lip. But now thanks to this post...everyone knows.

Now ladies, I moustache you a question - how do you deal with your 'tache? Wax, bleach or zap?