Let’s face it… We, girls, love our hair so much but then again, most of us would probably not like having too much of it too – at least, if it’s not on our head!

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My mother used to tell me that she had a Japanese penpal when she was a tad younger than my age now, until she got married and had kids, us, and writing all the time does not seem practical anymore. Having a penpal before was like having an iPad now; you use it to connect to the outside world and you get to brag it to your family and friends. She recalled the fun moments they had and all. But one thing that shocked me – and probably her, too, when she first read it in one of her penpal’s letter – was how proud she was growing her axilliary hair – yes, her armpit hair in English.

Fast forward a few years and we’ve got celebrities seemingly flashing  their hairy underarms in the likes of pop idol Nena, Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, Beyonce and my personal favourite, Drew Barrymore. It’s even quite an irony that while Hollywood seems to have more and more of this “hair-endowed” celebrities, more and more Europeans and, perhaps, Japanese are starting to hide or shave their own ‘hairy pits’ (forgive the word).  IMHO, it’s a personal choice; you either do it or you don’t, as long as you are comfortable with it.  Besides, there are medical conditions like Hirsutism, which causes the better known UFH (unwanted facial hair) that people should be more concerned about.  And this is exactly what the “We Can Face It” campaign is for.

The celebrity-backed We Can Face It campaign was just launched today at the Sunbeam Studios in West London, aimed specifically for women with unwanted facial hair (UFH). TV personalities Dr. Dawn Harper (Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies), Mica Paris (soul singer) and Jason Gardiner (style guru from ITV’s This Morning) announced the results of the We Can Face It: 1,000 Women’s Survey. This one-of-a-kind survey in the United Kingdom has revealed that 98% of women with UFH regularly have negative or critical thoughts about their appearance due to facial hair¹ and a third experience anxiety if they can not remove the hair immediately.

The We Can Face It campaign, sponsored by Almirall Ltd, is an awareness campaign that aims to communicate the full health impact of excess, unwanted facial hair; create a supportive community of like-minded women with the condition and to encourage women to feel confident when speaking with their doctor about management and treatment options for their condition.

Dr. Dawn Harper, a Gloucestershire-based GP who is famous for addressing sensitive health topics on Embarrassing Bodies and one of the expert panel leading the campaign explained, “Unwanted facial hair is a condition that is much more common in the UK than the general public might believe. It affects around 40% of women and can have a detrimental effect on women’s physical and mental health, body image and self esteem. I am very pleased to be supporting this campaign, which will hopefully show women that they are not alone and that a range of treatment and support options are available to them through their GP.”

The results of the survey showed that the impact of UFH on a woman goes far beyond the superficial or physical appearance of the hair and regularly impacts on women’s social lives and relationships. 89% of women admitted that they would feel more confident if they didn’t have facial hair¹ and one third said that their unwanted facial hair has regularly stopped them from going out socially.¹ Dating and relationships are also severely limited, with around 42% of women saying that facial hair had prevented them from going on dates (57% in the 18 to 35 age group)¹ and over 40% saying that their unwanted facial hair has stopped them from forming relationships (a figure that rose to over half (54%) in the 18 to 35 age group).¹

Mica Paris commented, “The We Can Face It campaign is really helping to bring UFH out of the shadows and onto the public radar. It is shocking that so many women are not fully enjoying their social life or forming relationships because they are so concerned about their facial hair. I hope this campaign will help women to start talking about the condition with close family or friends so that they don’t have to suffer in silence.”

Much–needed improvements in support were uncovered by the survey, with over half of women saying that they felt uncomfortable talking to their family and over two thirds being uncomfortable discussing facial hair with friends.¹ More than two thirds use the internet as their primary source of information,¹ but the majority are not seeking professional help from their GP, stating reasons such as not wanting to waste the GP’s time, feeling embarrassed or being concerned they won’t be taken seriously.¹

Anxiety is commonplace and women also list other strong negative emotions such as embarrassment, depression and even stress, as a result of their facial hair.¹ The negative psychological impact of UFH was found to be much higher in younger women aged between 18 and 35 years.¹ UFH can also cause women to significantly limit their prospects and development at work: almost a quarter of women surveyed said that their unwanted facial hair had stopped them from going for a promotion at work and more than a quarter said that they hold back from putting themselves forward for tasks at work because of their facial hair.¹

Jason Gardiner, This Morning’s style guru co-hosted the launch event as well as holding a style seminar for the attending women, he said “I’m delighted to support We Can Face It and hope that through highlighting the impact of UFH, more women will be inspired to take steps towards lifting their confidence and self image through style, beauty and health advice. I really enjoy talking to the women about feeling and looking good and would love to see the women who have negative feelings as a result of their facial hair taking my advice into their everyday lives to lift their outlook and overall confidence.”

More details regarding the condition and support groups may be found on the campaign website at www.wecanfaceit.com, including the full survey report and results.