Early Eidiya — Your Personal Invite To Red Carpet Flawless Skin

You have been a Good girl, fasting, praying and practicing our “Ramadan Healthy Body, Healthy Soul” philosophy, hence you deserve a special Eid gift — A fail proof prescription for perfect and unmarred skin customized especially for your individual skin type  — this means; not a generic one size fits all prescription, but a tailor made prescription designed especially for your skin.

First Things First, We Need To Find Out What Is Your Precise Skin Type — Mentally prepare your self to embark on a fact-finding journey with me to unveil your particular skin type & lets get cracking.

Forget about the old way you used to look at your skin — Normal, Dry or Oily. According to the new research while classifying skin we not only look at the sebaceous gland activity (normal, dry and combination/oily skin) but also the melanocyte activity (pigmented skin) and immune reactions (sensitive skin).

Grab a good mirror and take an analytic look at your skin under good lightening.

Oily/Combination & Acne Prone Skin

• If you see pores and black heads, especially around the center T-zone of your face — your skin type is combination/oily.
• If you get back heads and pimples on and off — your skin type is acne prone combination/oily.
• If your pores are enlarged all over the face and after washing your face within few hours you feel all over greasy sensation — you have oily skin.
• To be very sure you can do a quick test yourself with a skin blotting paper — if within and hour or two of washing face the blotting paper shows grease your skin is oily.

Normal Skin

• Pores are medium sized. 
• On most days skin doesn’t feel dry or oily.

Congrats you won the genetic lottery at your conception, as your skin type is normal.

Dry Skin

• Pores are almost invisible. 
• Skin is constantly in need of moisture. 
• After washing if moisturizer is not applied it feels tight and uncomfortable — you have dry skin

Sensitive Skin

• All the above skin types can fall under the sensitive category too. 
• Sensitive skin hallmark is redness, itching and skin irritation, which might be triggered by weather changes, skincare products or food.

Pigmented Skin

• If you expose to sun you don’t tan evenly you get blotchy pigmentation; some areas produce too much color and some less. 
• You have patches of uneven pigmentation on your skin triggered by sun, hormones or inflammation your skin type is pigmented.

Fitting In All The Pieces Of Puzzle Together: Now that you have read about all the skin traits mentioned above — tick mark as “Yes” the ones that apply to your skin. The ones you have check-marked as “Yes” define your exact skin type.

Congrats after this exercise you are one step closer to your ideal skin. Now that you know your exact skin type lets get you a skin prescription tailor made just for you.

Normal Skin in early 20’s: Needs gentle cleansing, moisturization and sun protection on regular basis.

I recommend Aminogenesis Really Really Clean moisturizing facial cleanser, Cetaphil daily moisturizer with SPF 15 and if you are spending a lot of time outdoors in the sun Neutrogenia Light Touch SPF 55.

Normal Skin in late 20's, 30’s & 40's: Stay honest to your daily skincare regimen and add antioxidants and collagen boosters to prevent aging and keep skin as youthful as possible. Sunscreen as a must-have UV protective shield should be always used when out and about.

I recommend Dermaceutic C25 antioxidant concentrate during daytime and Activ Retinol 1.0 at night. 

Pigmented & Normal Skin: 

In addition to daily skincare regimen add skin lightening agents to your daily routine in order to prevent pigmentation patches and keep your complexion uniform and radiant.

I recommend Skin Tech Blending Bleaching cream twice daily in addition to proper cleansing, moisturization & sun protection.

Oily Skin Teens & 20’s: 

Combination and oily skin needs special care otherwise open pores and acne can cause permanent damage in the form of pigmentation and scarring.

I recommend a face wash that cleanses thoroughly but does not make the skin overtly dry. Regular moisturization as oily skin does need hydration too, in fact adding hydration to skin relaxes the oil glands and sebum production. Using an oil-free sunblock when outdoors is imperative to prevent post inflammatory pigmentation associated with acne.

If you break out and get pimples on and off add acne treatment to your daily skincare. For mild to moderate acne I recommend Exfoliac Acnomega 100 cream and Epiduo cream on alternate nights. For severe acne see a dermatologist and ask about the prescription of Isotretinon Tablets. 

Oily Skin 30’s & 40’s: You suffer from pen pores and breakouts and adult acne still lingers on as your main skin concern. All these symptoms can be tackled with proper skincare regimen. To prevent aging add oil-free antioxidants and collagen boosters.

I recommend AminoGenesis Perfect Reflection 2-3 times daily, Pharmagel Beta C in the afternoon, Amninogenesis Perfect Reflection after every wash and at night Dermaceutic retinol 0.1 alternating with Exfoliac Acnomega 100 if you still get acne on and off. 

Pigmented & Oily Skin: Add oil-free skin lightening agents along with your daily skincare

I recommend BDF Fade gel plus  twice daily.  

Sensitive & Oily Skin: Special oil-free skincare for sensitive skin is required to maintain optimal skin. Avene has great skin products for oily and sensitive skin.

I recommend AminoGenesis Really Really Clean Cleansing gel 2-3 times per day. After washing spray Avene Eau Thermale spray to soothe the skin and then apply Avene Cleanance Hydra as moisturizer. If acne is leaving pigmentation marks on face use Avene Sensitive White Serum to keep skin color uniform. When outdoors use Avene Sunscreen Emulsion  SPF 50 for sensitive skin. If you get acne on and off used Avene Cleanance Gel Crème Exfoliant to prevent breakouts.

Dry Skin in early 20’s: Special hydrating skincare should be adopted early on in life to prevent skin damage with age.

I recommend Avene Gentle milk Cleanser 1-2 times daily, QV moisturizing cream to replenish & hydrate dry skin and Sebamed SPR 50 Multi protect Sun lotion.

Dry Skin in 30’s & 40’s: In a addition to daily skincare regimen add antioxidants and collagen boosters with heavy moisture factor to daily routine to combat wrinkles and skin sagging.

I recommend Avene Gentle milk Cleanser 1-2 times daily and Sebamed SPR 50 Multi protect Sun lotion with addition of SkinCeuticals C + E Frulic acid serum (its packed with potent antioxidants), Dermaceutic Hyal Ceutic Intense moisturizer (with hyaluronic acid, Aloe vera, jajoba oil and vitamin E) and Dermaceutic’s Activ Retinol at night.

For additional hydration you can also use QV moisturizing cream on and off.

Pigmented & Dry Skin: Add moisture infusing skin lightening agents along with your daily skincare.

I recommend Avene Gentle milk Cleanser, Skin Tech Blending Bleaching cream twice daily. Aminogenesis Therapeutic Facial Repair anti-aging moisturizing cream and Heliocare advanced gel with SPR 50 for sun protection (it covers UVA and B).

Sensitive & Dry Skin: Stay clear of irritant chemicals and use gentle products to take of skin on daily basis.

I recommend Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser for sensitive and dry skin, Avene TriXera emollient balm or Avene Cicalfate cream for dry irritated skin. As a Sunblock stick to Avene Very High Protection Emulsion with SPF 50. 

There you go, now you’re all set to radiate and shine, enjoy these skincare prescriptions and face life by putting your best skin forward.

 

Fast Your Way To Healthy Skin

The reverential month of Ramadan edifies us to discipline our lives, give up bad habits and practice restraint in all spheres of life — goal being to cleanse our soul and make ourselves stronger. We can wield the same willpower towards our physical countenance, merging the philosophies of healthy mind, healthy body, and healthy soul and at the end of the month come out as true winners — body and soul. Lets venture for the big victory and start making changes from today.

During Ramadan our daily routine, and food consumption habits change drastically and in most cases not for the better if I may add. Most people fete iftar and sahoor with extravagant food — high cal fried hors d'oeuvre and sugar-loaded desserts become the star attractions at most table d'hôtes. Sambosas, Kunafa and Atayef are indeed yummy and tempting but in order to save your skin and avoid extra pounds of flab you need to exercise restraint (CHANGE NO. 1) — Don't eat large portions. Take a bite, savor the taste — don’t go gobble-gobble, commit to healthy food choices and eliminate bad foods from your diet.

As Nutritionists Say, “You Are What You Eat” — To Look Good Eat Healthy!

Instead of indulging in the traditional fried, fatty, and heavy cookery make salads, vegetables and lean proteins (grilled fish, chicken, meat) the main source of your sustenance. (CHANGE NO. 2) Start a new Ramadan ritual — focus on eating simple and healthy food.

Menus To Avoid:

• Fried, starchy and sugar loaded food causes skin problems like excessively oily skin/hair and acne. Sugar also promotes wrinkles and skin sagging by damaging collagen by a process called glycation. Unsurprisingly, too much sweet stuff is also bad for your smile. Sugar sticks to your teeth, encouraging bacteria, decay, and discoloration — bye bye bright smile.

•  Dairy products have been linked to acne and oily skin breakouts in many research studies. People with oily and combination skin should avoid drinking lots of milk because it can trigger zits.

•  Red meat generates free radicals, which constantly snag electrons from your healthy cells, damaging them in the process. This damage ultimately affects your skin’s ability to protect itself and generate collagen making you look older than your age. White meats are the best way to get you daily dose of proteins.

•  Charred BBQ, the black on that burnt meat contains pro-inflammatory hydrocarbons which might cause slow inflammation in your skin leading to break down of your collagen and elastin bundles. You don’t need to banish BBQ from your list of good foods, just scrape off the black stuff before you eat.

•  Trans fats also promote inflammation, which is bad news for your skin. These unhealthy fats also make you more vulnerable to UV damage, which is the number one cause of aging. Make sure to avoid all products that list partially hydrogenated oil on their ingredient label.

•  Canned Food is preserved with sodium, which can make you retain water and over time you’d look puffy and washed-out. Go for fresh food instead for preserved food cans.

•  Limit your intake of caffeine in terms of soda, coffee and tea as they all promote mineral and fluids excretion from your body, which ultimately leaves your skin dry, dehydrated and lacking in luster.

Provisions To Indulge In:

• Dates are the staple food of Ramadan. In health circles there is a popular saying: three dates a day can keep a lot of ailments away! Dates have some great nutritional benefits — they contain copper, potassium, fiber, manganese, iron, vitamins A, B complex, C and magnesium; all this good stuff not only boosts our overall health, but also makes our skin beautiful and supple. Respect the rule of 3 though and don’t over indulge, as dates are also high in sugar content.

• Fruits such as strawberries and blueberries are high in antioxidants; they are literally God’s gift to promote healthy skin. Apricots in addition to having vitamin A, C, E and minerals like phosphorus, silicon, calcium, and iron aid in the digestion process and protect you against dehydration. With their rich sodium and potassium content they also help to maintain electrolyte balance of your body — which physically translates to healthy skin and healthy body.

•  Stock up on foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) such as flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, avocados, salmon, and olive oil. These foods will help your skin maintain it’s soft and supple look.

•  Fasting dehydrates the skin so it’s very important to make sure that you rehydrate between iftar and sahoor. Drink at least eight glasses of water in addition to any other fluids (green juice or green tea).

•  There are many foods that can repair dehydrated skin, such as cashews or almonds; which are packed with healthy fibers, fatty acids and proteins that augments and maintains your skin's inner glow.

Daily Skincare Routine

Maintain the daily Cleanse, Tone, and Moisturize routine for your particular skin type. Learn what is your skin type? (CHANGE NO. 3) — and use products accordingly. Using wrong products can cause skin damage instead of improvement.

Exfoliation: If you have oily skin exfoliate twice a week, if you have normal skin exfoliate once a week and if you have dry and sensitive skin exfoliate every 10-15 days. The idea is to remove dead skin caused by the lack of water intake, restore the skin’s natural mineral levels and balance the skin’s oil production.

Sun Protection: (CHANGE NO. 4) Commit to sunscreen. While being out & about wear your sunscreen (with UVA and B protection SPF 30) regularly. Also invest in some good oversized shades with UV 400 protection to take extra care of the delicate skin around the eyes.

Sticking with the healthy vittles and skincare routine will help you get a clearer skin with a vigorous glow and a big bonus — acne free face.

Ramadan Kareem!!

Bye-Bye Wrinkles — Hello Second Skin

Face-On - Face-Off — wearing a second skin mimicking ideals of youth and beauty to mask reality sounds like a plot of a sci-fi movie, or does it? Thanks to the experts at the MIT lab, who put in a steady ten years of research to create second skin, it is now a very real phenomenon. This bottled miracle in a jar will be soon available to the public to wipe off wrinkles as easy as 123 — 1.The material (currently being called XPL) is applied to the face like any cream 2. It is activated with a catalyst gel and 3. Voila you have an immediate tightening effect, which mimics the mechanical and elastic properties of healthy, youthful skin while banishing imperfections and smoothing out wrinkles. The petitioners searching for the fountain-of-youth see this as a major breakthrough in our fight against wrinkles and more. 

What is XPL?

Second skin (XPL) is a silicone-based polymer that when applied on the skin as a thin coating, mimics the mechanical and elastic properties of healthy, youthful skin. It works in two stages. Firstly a polymer gel containing alternating silicon and oxygen atoms is applied across the skin to create a perfectly fitting mask. Second a liquid platinum catalyst is applied on top, which encourages new bridges to form between the atoms, in the same was a vulcanized rubber is created. The chemical reaction immediately causes the material to harden yet staying very flexible at the same time, this reaction tightens and compresses the skin underneath erasing eye-bags and wrinkles.

The material (XPL) has been tested rigorously at MIT labs for safety and effectiveness in several studies where it has shown to hide eye-bags and ameliorate skin wrinkles with the added bonus of improving skin hydration. These results automatically qualify the second skin as a super-hero product, which not only covers up the skin defects giving up the illusion of perfect skin but also improves skin hydration working as a top-of-the-range moisturizer. At night it can be peeled off as the effect last only 24 hours.

Acting as an invisible layer covering skin vulnerabilities the prospects of using “second skin” in dermatology could be limitless it could be employed to help treat skin conditions with barrier defects such as eczema and other types of dermatitis, even used as under occlusion drug delivery system and of course it can also be adapted to provide long-lasting ultraviolet protection or camouflage system for pigmentation disorders.

Braun Beauty Unboxed

As a dermatologist I feel that today’s modern girl needs to be in-charge of her own self-preening-and-pruning routines and to do so successfully she needs to have efficient tools at her disposal as well as the right knowledge about her skin and hair needs. Braun one of the world’s leading Tech Giants pioneering in at-home beauty and self grooming devices has been at the cutting edge of innovations always playing a crucial role in giving the power of self-grooming back in hands that need it. In order to empower girls to take charge and be in full control of their skincare and hair removal needs Braun recently held the “Beauty Unboxed” event in Dubai. This fete ceremonialized the unveiling of the new Silk Expert IPL (at-home permanent hair reduction device) as well as served as a saturnalia to highlight Braun Silk- épil 9 (home epilation system) and Braun Face Spa (facial skincare device).

The venue for the event — the Royal suit at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai served wonderfully as the perfect and pristine backdrop to emblazon Braun’s beauty and self-grooming devices to the glamour-loving Middle Eastern media and consumers. More than fifty social & print media editors and writers bore witness to the unveiling of the brand new Braun Silk IPL device. An introductory session explaining the ins-and-outs of the gadgets followed by Q&A conducted by the lovely Laura Buckwell and the two leading dermatologists from the region Dr. Hala Fadli and yours truly (Dr. Shazia Ali) evoked the event in a big educational as well as fun way. The freshly stirred, enlightened and intrigued audience ensued canvassing female skincare and grooming needs over extravagant cups of Mary Antonitte style high tea and snacks. Afterwards everyone got a chance to test drive Braun’s latest gizmos first-hand. Question were popped, myths were busted, and all in all everyone went home ready to take charge of their own beauty needs empowered by Braun.

Braun Silk Expert IPL:

The latest self-grooming gadget powered by Braun — the Silk Expert IPL (Intense Pulse Light) is specially created for at-home permanent hair reduction. It has been approved by the US FDA for efficacy as well as safety, and is currently the fastest and safest IPL technology for permanent visible hair removal in the market.

How Does It Work? — IPL works by focusing special wavelengths of light on the pigment (melanine) in our hair. The brown or black color in the hair absorbs the light and singes the root leading to permanent hair reduction. It works on all hair types and colors, except blonde and white.

Safety And Efficacy — The safety of the device is ensured by special touch sensors, which only fire when the device is in full contact with the skin, preventing scattering of light and accidental eye damage, hence you don’t even need to wear protective goggles while using it.

The device is also fitted with unique SensoAdapt™ skin tone sensors, which continuously reads your skin tone (80x per second) and automatically adapts the light intensity for best efficacy and safety. This feature ensures that there is very little to no chance of getting skin burns or pigmentation when using the device.

Braun Silk- épil 9

Silk- épil 9 is the most trusted hair epilator in the market that gives you up to 4 weeks of hair-free skin, as it plucks hair out from the root. It is fast, efficacious and most easy way to remove hair compared to any other methods available for at home hair removal e.g. waxing, threading or shaving. All my patients tell me once you experience Silk- épil 9you can never go back to halawa (and the mess!!).

Braun Beauty Face Spa

Braun Face Spa consists of brush exfoliaters for the face specially designed for all skin types including sensitive skin. It also comes with the “Beauty Sponge” attachment to help apply your daily skincare products (moisturizer, anti-aging serums, etc.) or makeup more efficiently.

To bring you into the insider circle I’d also share with you the myth busting Q&A session that took place at the “Braun Beauty Unboxed” event.

Epilation Myths:

1. Epilation makes the hair grow back thicker.

Dr. Shazia: False! Your hair texture (size & width) is determined by genetics and your hormones levels — not by your choices in hair removal methods. Epilation and specifically Silk- épil 9 pulls the hair from the roots so it doesn't affect the growth and the texture of your hair or skin at all.

2. You have to wait for a particular hair length to epilate and hair grows back sooner.

Dr. Shazia: True while waxing and threading — False while epilating with Silk- épil 9. This epilator is fitted with special micro-grip tweezer technology that can pluck even the teeny tiniest of hair follicles (up to 0.5mm) bringing you to a new level of epilation precision. With the Silk- épil 9 you also get the new added exfoliation brush that when used before or after epilation guarantees that tiny hair are not buried under the skin and are properly exposed for epilation, thus preventing the in-grown hair, and ensuring smooth silky skin throughout.

3. Long-lasting yes, but the trade-offs with epilation include red dots and ingrown  

Dr. Shazia: Sure, when you yank/pull body hair from the root, tiny red dots will appear but that only proves you’re human. This skin reaction fades away in just an hour or two. By using the epilator in your bath you can reduce the red dot phenomenon as the softer skin and relaxed pores show less red reaction. Additionally you can use the cold gel pack that comes with the epilator to reduce redness as well. Using exfoliation brush before epilation also reduces red dots and pain, which is why the new exfoliation brush will definitely be your hero.

4. You can’t do anything to reduce epilation pain.

Dr. Shazia: False — I think this is the biggest myth when it comes to epilation. The Silk- épil 9 epilator head is specially designed to vibrate while you epilate this feature confuses the nerves and reduces the pain. Silk- épil 9 also provides you with a gel pack that when popped into the freezer and used before and after epilation helps reduce pain very efficiently. Being able to use the wet option of the Silk- épil 9 epilator in the shower helps relax the pores and soften the skin, which in turn helps reduce the pain and you can have a more comfortable and soothing experience.

Skin & Beauty Myths:

1. Exfoliation is enough to maintain younger looking skin

Dr.Shazia: This is a bit of a myth, maintaining healthy youthful skin calls for more than one step. Proper cleansing, regular exfoliation and persistent use of skin moisturization as well as anti-oxidants makes up the foundation for healthy skincare. The best way to ensure your anti-aging products are giving you the biggest bang for your buck is by ensuring they are being soaked up by your skin properly hence deep pore cleansing and exfoliation every week are very vital. The new exfoliation brush from Braun face Spa swipes away dead skin cells leaving skin soft and clean without damaging your skin, which is exactly the right way to keep your skin feeling and looking young.

2. If I have sensitive skin, it is not advisable for me to exfoliate

Dr. Shazia: That’s partially true — if you have sensitive skin you should not use regular exfoliators containing crystals or brittle particles as they can damage the skin. But Braun sensitive face exfoliation brushes are completely safe to use because when they were being designed Braun took into consideration the sensitive skin as the key focus for treatment. The sensitive brush from Braun Face does not over rub or strip the skin and is the best solution for delicate, dry and sensitive skin that requires a softer touch so you can get a gentle cleansing treatment that is luxurious and thorough yet not damaging.

3. Blackheads relate to cleanliness and can be scrubbed away.

Dr.Shazia: Blackheads are usually related to sebaceous skin, hormones and bad diet as well as bad skincare routine. In case of oily or combination skin if you do not scrub away sebum, and dead skin on regular basis blackheads become predominant. You can keep them under check (even eliminate them completely) by proper deep exfoliation on regular basis using the Braun beauty brush as your champion.

Bonus Round — “Makeup Myths” –

1. Using makeup to contour the shape of your face (nose, cheeks, chin, etc.) can look funny.

Dr. Shazia: Believe it or not people can always tell when you’ve overdone the ‘corrective’ shading.  If you are not a contouring expert: blending dark and light shades of color, highlighting, and contouring can look funny as if you have stripes on your face (I call accidental makeup with color skid marks). Proper blending is the secret to perfect contouring and to master this art “Braun Face” with its Beauty Sponge attachment can come to your rescue, it absorbs just the right amount of product to let you build your color in layers instead of slathering it on all at once and you can use the rounded edges for hard-to-reach spots or delicate areas around the eyes for a perfect foundation look. The same brush can also be used to apply moisturizer to your skin for a complete glam look.

The most important message in the end is that you need to clean and maintain the brushes and beauty sponge on regular basis. Discard old ones and replace them with fresh ones every few months to make sure proper skin hygiene is maintained. This will also guarantee the best results with all the different brushes and sponge.

Final Message — Girls take joy in your beauty self-reliance and bask in the glory of all the self-grooming gadgets available at your tips that empower you to be In-charge Of your own beauty.

Chasing The Curse Of Unwanted Facial Hair

Why does my peach-fuzz seem as if it’s on steroids? A genuine and common question asked about by a good chunk of the female population worldwide - Today I plan to get you to the bottom of this fuzzy conundrum (no pun intended), my didactic motivation here is to get ya’all acquainted with the root causes and solutions (both medical as well as natural). Another indirect and underlying theme of this communiqué is to sire a general awareness for all those who don’t have to deal with a de trop 5-o'clock shadow on daily basis: to be more sensitive towards other dames-in-distress’s legit medical problem (which they have no control over).

 

Looking at the literature reviews you’d be surprised to know that around 20-22% of women across the globe are affected with the unwanted facial hair (UFH) growth on their mustache and chin area. These stats makes UFH a universally undesired yet a common problem. In most cases there are no major health issues related to it, but UFH does act as a source of constant distress, leading to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and ultimately a reduced quality of life for many ladies. Looking at some of the common causes we uncover that in most cases the raison d'être is idiopathic pinpointing to ethnic background or heredity. Arab, Mediterranean Indian, and Hispanic populations are more commonly affected compared to the Caucasian or Asian females. The problem also tends to run in the families, so if your mother, sister, or another female relative has it your chances are stacked.

In a small percentage of women, UFH may be caused by excessive androgen (male hormone) production, increased sensitivity to circulating androgens, or other metabolic and endocrine disorders. Some medications can also lead to UFH e.g. minoxidil, anabolic steroids, testosterone, cyclosporine etc.

Hirsutism: If the increased hair growth is triggered by medications, or underlying hormonal imbalance its classified as hirsutism. It can be slowly but dramatically improved by a three-pronged approach to treatment:

1.    Mechanical hair removal

2.    Suppression of androgen production

3.    Androgen receptor blockade.

To find out what is the exact cause in your particular case, it’s always advisable to see a doctor, who can work methodically on your case with a detailed history of your condition, appropriate blood test as well as ultrasound or MRI scans of your ovaries and adrenal glands.

Treatment Options

Dermato-Cosmetic Treatments - Plucking, waxing (including the sugar forms), epilation, depilatories, bleaching, shaving, electrolysis, laser hair reduction or intense pulsed light (IPL) treatments all make good choices to remove the physical hair.

Eflornithine 13.9% (Vaniqa®) Cream is a topical treatment that does not remove the hairs, but acts to reduce the rate of growth at root level. It is FDA approved for treatment of unwanted facial hair on the mustache and chin areas and can be used in combination with other treatments options for mechanical hair removal such as lasers and IPL to get best chance for successful hair removal.

Drugs Used For The Treatment Of Hirsutism - If upon investigation the excessive hair growth turns out to be a symptom of adrenal disorders or PCOS you may need medical treatment. Drug therapy in the form of anti-androgen medications helps salvage the inner problem, it includes as per case Hormonal suppressers e.g. oral contraceptives, long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormonal analogues and insulin sensitizers as well as peripheral androgen blockers e.g. spironolactone, cyproterone acetate, flutamide, or finasteride. Birth control pills can also cause the cysts on the ovaries to shrink. These drugs are usually a long-term solution for hirsutism. Most ladies report improvement after three to six months of drug therapy.

Herbal Remedies For Hirsutism - If you’re opposed to taking drug therapy there are certain herbal remedies that can also potentially counteract the increased androgen hormone production that usually causes hirsutism.  

• According to the research done in the University of Maryland Medical Center medicinal herbs such as saw palmetto, black cohosh, chaste tree or spearmint tea have anti-androgenic effects. 
• Research from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has shown that symptoms of hirsutism due to PCOS improve if you take cinnamon, chromium or green tea. 
• Other natural supplements such as: inositol, N-acetylcysteine, B-complex vitamins, calcium-D-glucarate and diindolylmethane (DIM) have also been found useful while treating hirsutism. 

The typical dosages are 1 cup twice daily of spearmint tea, 160mg twice daily of saw palmetto, 20mg to 40mg per day of chaste tree or black cohosh, 200mg daily of calcium-D-glucarate, 100mg twice daily of inositol, and 1.2g per day of N-acetylcysteine.

(Disclamer: Ask your physician about the dosage that's right for you before taking any herbal or natural supplement for abnormal facial hair growth.)

Food Modulation - A healthy diet that's rich in antioxidant foods helps to reduce your hair growth, advices the University of Maryland Medical Center. 

• Cutting down on calories especially in the evening and following a low glycemic diet helps hirsute women, as excess insulin in the bloodstream can lead to a sharp increase in circulating androgen and insulin-like growth factor, which have been associated with hirsutism in women.  
• B vitamins, especially vitamins B2, B3, B5 and B6, may be particularly beneficial for hirsute women. Vitamin B2 helps convert dietary fat, protein and carbohydrates into energy. Vitamin B3 helps maintain normal blood sugar levels and vitamin B5 may help with weight loss due to its ability to control fat metabolism. Vitamin B6 plays a critical role in maintaining hormonal balance.  
• Foods rich in Chromium (romaine lettuce, onions, tomatoes, whole grains, and potatoes) and Magnesium also help in hirsutism.

Final Earful - It takes time for the treatments to take-effect hence while battling with the deep-rooted UFH patience and poise are always good virtues to lean on. And remember hairy or hair-free you should always be cool and confident.