coolmama- I have not noticed any side effects. I was cautious as I have been known to react to certain things. The dermo said to use 2X a day but I started out by using 1X a day for a few days and everything was fine so I have been doing it 2X for almost 2 months now. I didn't notice any drying, burning,etc. I'm not sure yet but I may use a depilitory on the rest of my face (as I have never done that before). I very carefully put a small amount in the eyebrow area and have noticed a big difference there also. I believe for the VANIQA to work, the hair has to be eliminated first because I have been putting it on my jawline and I don't see any difference. My jaw line is blond peach fuzz. What does everyone else do with theirs (if it is just peach fuzz)? Like I said, insurance doesn't cover it and it is $85 for @ a 1oz. tube. I think it will last me @ 6 months if I continue to put it on my jawline too. The instructions say to really rub it in. Otherwise, if you just put it on the upper lip..it will last forever. If you quit using it, it is my understanding,that the hair will return to the pre VANIQA.

Two of my six kids took Accutane when teens. Son now has Ulcerative Colitis/Crohn's Disease for which he takes six pills a day for the rest of his life, unless he loses his colon to this disease. He is 36 years old, was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome in his twenties, UC/CD at age 31. It progresses. Dtr now has Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Some days she can hardly go to work. She is 30 years old, was diagnosed in her twenties. Both kids manage their diets very carefully to avoid flareups. Both exercise, neither drinks alcohol or smokes. Both have joined a class-action suit against the makers of Accutane.

I started getting chin hairs about 7-8 months after giving birth via C-section to my last child and a tubal ligation. I was still nursing, but they showed up about the time of my first post-natal period/cycle. They have been with me ever since, and that baby will turn 23 years old in two weeks. I have tweezed and finger pulled them ever since. Now that I have "old lady" eyes, my husband actually helps me! LOL I have to wear 300+ magnifiers, a magnifying mirror and a flashlight on the offending area and a pair of mirco-edge tweezers. I usally "go after" one to 6-8 hairs every day to every three days, in the evening when I do my personal hygiene regimes. What I am noticing now is that my skin is getting tougher and the hairs sometimes are "trapped" and have a harder time breaking through. They will sometimes look like little blackheads or if they can't get out, they will become irritated and look like a little tiny pimple is starting. I have found that exfoilliating my chin area with a rough wash cloth more frequently prevents this from happening. Recently, after my period, I am noticing a significant "drying" feeling on my face and have noticed it goes hand in hand with the some of the other symptoms too. By the way, more than half of my "whiskers" are now gray.. or actually, pure white! It doesn't help at all, they still stick out, still show, still irritate and frustrate! I do have a question. Our cycles go through a follicle stimulating hormone time frame in order to "pop an egg". Do you think this is what stimulates our hair follicles to "spurt whiskers"? What about the pimples? Our oil glands are intricately involved with our hair follicles.. do you think it is the follicle stimulating hormones that "spur on" pimples to develop at our adult age? I have been known to have a pimple or two maybe three or four times a year on my face just before my period, and as soon as I finish the period, the pimple is all but gone. Anyone know about this?

The reason that I would NEVER NEVER shave facial hair is because my mother started shaving against everybody's advice and when she ended up in a nursing home a couple of years later, and was unable to "shave" EVERY day, she grew a beard, and when me or my sister visited her and "shaved" her face she was left with a five o'clock shadow even though the hair had been removed. Ewwwwww!!! Show me a lady who wants to look like George Clooney......(not). BTW, I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub ExFoliating Cream which doesn't get rid of the hairs (lucky me because I don't happen to have any), but does leave a smooth healthy looking skin as it removes dead skin cells.