CB always tells me that I’m lucky to have such dark hair, because it means I have naturally dark eyebrows and dark eyelashes and I can go without makeup and not look like an Uma Thurman-esque zombie. While that’s true – I go without makeup nearly every day and I think I look fine – there are some negative parts about having dark hair. Like, I have a mustache. A dark one. Many brunettes do (especially as we age). I’m pretty hirsute all around, but my ‘stache is the worst.
So what do you make of Thandie Newton openly acknowledging her need to bleach her ‘stache? I think I might respect her more for posting this photo to her Instagram. She was about to attend the premiere of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (her husband Ol Parker wrote the first film and the sequel) and she decided to give us a glimpse of her red carpet preparations. I would never feel confident enough to post a photo like this on social media. It’s one thing to post photos of a leg waxing or eyebrow threading, but the ‘stache is so personal. Props to Thandie.
And here are the photos of Thandie and Ol Parker on the red carpet in London last night. Thandie’s ensemble is Chanel. I’m not in love with it, but she looks pretty.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.
Nahh, this is just real life 🙂
Yep. I like to leave my creme bleach out so the bf can ask, “Why does this toothpaste taste like Rupert Murdoch’s soul?”
Oh, I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read this comment!
😀
lmao…I remember the first time the bf saw me with the white cream upper lip look, he was dumbfounded…”what IS that?”
when I told him, he was like, “I’m so glad I’m not a woman…some of the things you have to deal with…”
Ha, yeah, I get that one too. But can you imagine having a pair of nuts to contend with? Google Cisco Adler balls (if you haven’t fallen prey to that one yet) and get back to me.
mimif, I have seen and cannot unsee.
those are some LOW HANGERS.
and I agree, I’d hate to have that whole package jiggling around when I walk. I think that’s why men think about sex so much (we women are much more chaste!…lol) because they’re CONSTANTLY aware of what they have down there.
Ahahaha, loved that brilliant Murdoch crack, Mimif – you are my new girlcrush.
I keep this stuff private from the hubs. I joke and tell him that women are naturally magically beautiful creatures!
Why does everything have to be shown this days? It’s not shameful to bleach your upper lip but we don’t need to see it, either.
Exactly! Very weird behavior IMO, but a lot of folks are indulging in it these days.
One time I went on Facebook and someone actually posted a picture of them plucking a chin hair! I deactivated Facebook shortly after that!
Well she’s getting some publicity for doing it so I guess it was a good career move (?) I have a tash that needs a good regular waxing or bleaching but I thinks it’s TMI to show it on social media.
Love her!
I have jet black brows and without wax, a stache and goatee to match :-/
That’s awesome.
I’ll bet your brows are AWESOME…totes jelli over here…
I think it’s a publicity stunt because in the close up I can’t see any lightened hair at all…I think she waxes/threads her upper lip otherwise you would have seen hair strands (yes, you can tell even if it’s blond, sorry ladies!).
I thought the same too. Though, as a teen, I would have loved to see a pic like this so that I knew I wasn’t the only one.
Aaah, I didn’t notice that at first, sorry. Yeah, I think it’s possibly endorsement then, too, in that case, with the name checking and all.
I think it could be Nair hair removal cream? I use it on my ‘stache, and it looks like that when I’m doing it. Maybe that’s why there’s no sign of a mustache at all on her at the premiere.
She name checks Jolen bleach in her IG pic, though. Which is another reason I thought it might be a brand endorsement.
I don’t understand why any woman would bleach it. Why not just wax it off?
I understand waxing the moustache, but bleaching? Why? Do you bleach and then you wax?
If it is just bleaching, is it effective? I am a medium blonde and I wax regularly, you can’t tell from afar that I have a moustache but if you get near, you see it. But just bleaching? I don’t think so.
Agreed. I never heard of bleaching mustaches until today. What’s the point if you’re waxing?
That’s what I was going to say – just wax it.
I knew a girl who waxed, and because her hair was so dark and thick you could really tell when it grew back in.
Bleaching is good if you have fine hair and don’t mind the peach fuzz look. Waxing is better if you have coarse hair or want it all to disappear.
I have a light and fair peach fuzz so if I wax the darker upper lip stuff it makes the upper lip bare and that stands out in contrast. It’s why I never waxed my brows, it makes the area too bare and shiny in contrast to the rest of my face, waxed areas on me look like Nicole Kidman’s forehead. I don’t mind a blonde stache that matches a natural fuzz.
i know that people do it. but i always wanted to know why. because you still have a mustache, now it’s just a blonde one.
If it’s peach fuzz, who cares? It’s just blonde fuzz, like all the other hair on your face. I’m very fair, and I have a thin layer of fuzz covering most of my face.
to each his own but i’d care. if you take the time to bleach it, you can remove it.
I either have to bleach or use Avon’s Skin so Soft remover because my skin is way too sensitive for waxing, thanks to acne medicine. Believe me, waxing is much easier then plucking (which I have to do to my eyebrows), but I just can’t.
I think it’s cool she put it out there, good for her!
i hope at least one girl or teenager or woman sees this gorgeous woman with bleaching creame on her upper lip and is reminded that she is not the only one and that it’s ok to do it if you want.
thats why I like posts like this from ‘perfect people’. That stuff that people don’t talk about, those are the sorts of things we need posts like this once in awhile to re-remind ourselves that we are all human and we all have ‘weird’ routines or quirks about ourselves, but we’re not the only ones.
Totally. When I was about 12 I was already desperately insecure about my hairiness (I still am, but not to the point of depression like I was back then). An older friend let me borrow her bleach and I confessed how I felt like a freak because of my tache. She just waved the bleach at me and said, “if you’re the only one with a moustache, why do they sell so much of this?”
Unless you’re in that boat you’ll never know how unhappy it can make you to deal with unwanted hair, and how much it helps to see beautiful people in the public eye with hairy arms or legs, or bleaching or waxing their tache like it’s no big deal. Props to Thandie, I love that she did this.
What a good friend! That story made me smile.
Still tho- don’t need/want to watch someone else bleaching/waxing. Painful enough to go through- don’t need second-hand ouch!! LOL
I second this a million times. As a girl with black as in black hair and the inherited hairy gene from my father’s side of the family, it’s reassuring to know I’m not alone. My mom is one of those lucky hairless women, so I didn’t really have anyone in my family that knew much about hair removal. I had to trial and error what works best for me. If other women think talking about this is taboo, then let’s stop sharing make up and beauty tips altogether.
I agree with this. This is stuff people really don’t talk about. I have no issue with Thandie posting this at all.
If it’s for real, then I kind of love her for doing this. There is so much pressure for woman to be “perfect” and celebrities are often held up as an example of that. Anytime they want to chip away at that façade, I’m all for it.
I wouldn’t say it’s common but moustache bleaching is definitely something some women do. They might prefer it to waxing for personal reasons or find it less painful. I would imagine a lot of ladies get IPL or laser on this area these days.
Wax that joker.
Looks like Nair
She says it’s Jolen, which is the bleach.
Ohhh ok. I saw that but didn’t know what it was.
All the women in my family bleached ‘staches when I was young. I don’t understand why that would be preferable to waxing, which then thins it out over time.
Right. I have a friend who bleaches hers and you can totally still see it – it’s just lighter. Wax that sucker.
I don’t mind my stache visible if it’s bleached. Waxing makes the area too bald and shiny in contrast to the rest of my face, like Nicole Kidman’s forehead. One drawback to olive skinned girls using bleach is hyperpigmentation, the skin can get dark splotches over time. Then you have a dark upper lip with blonde hair, in that case yes, get rid of it.
If you’re going to a red carpet event in a few hours, it’s definitely a preferable “quick fix” as waxing would leave her with a red upper lip.
Ah, that makes sense.
Because waxing can hurt. It takes the skin off my legs so I don’t want think about what it would do to my face.
For brunettes, laser removal is very effective & permanent. The laser doesn’t work well on light hair. My brunette s-i-l says laser was the best thing she ever did for armpits & bikini line.
Waxing pulls the skin too, that’s gotta be damaging over the years
I actually started shaving my face. I have a LOT of peach fuzz, I always just thought I had to just live with it. Then I saw Michelle Money’s video about it, and Caroline manzo from real house wives doing it too. Supposed to keep you young as well, all that exfoliation.
In Japan my male friend got a shave and was surprised they did his whole face. Yes, the exfoliation is the reason.
I think it might be a product endorsement and Jolen paid her to promote them; what a cute way to do so.
I’ve always thought Thandie is such an interesting, beautiful woman when she has a bit of meat on her bones. Loved her in For Colored Girls.
All I can think is how beautiful she still is. They showed photos of her out and about last year with her little baby and no makeup, and she looked like she was in her 20s. They have two older children, girls, ages 13 and 9, and then had another baby like a year ago, a little boy, Booker, to add to their family. A marriage in Hollywood that has actually lasted
I enjoyed some interviews I’ve read with her. She’s very intelligent and worldly.
She may be an inspiration for women with the same problem and in this line of thoughts…is there any chance of Goop posting a photo of steaming her lady parts?
WHAT?! Stars get all that too. I DID NOT KNOW! What next? Instagram Brazilian wax?
I have colored my hair red for over 20 years (different shades of red at different times depending on my moods) but I’m naturally a brunette. It’s true there are some perks like having darker brows and lashes but otherwise it’s imperative to keep up with my grooming or else I will look like a hobbit. But posting the process??? NOPE! Never.
It’s cool of her to do, not TMI at all. People saying ‘what’s next, a Brazilian wax-fie’ etc need to cool it, this is no different from showing a makeup application video only it’s braver because people are so squeamish about the idea that women have facial hair.
Though I would LOVE it if the Frida Kahlo ‘stache came back. Screw Cara D’s brows, the moustache should be the new trend in androgyny. Way more achievable for most of us than being boobless and hipless, too.
Bleaching it? Back in the day I had electrolysis done on my upper lip and it worked so well that i only have a few stray hairs that grow back now and then. I suppose I should have gone back to have them rezapped but a quick pluck does the trick. Don’t they have laser now to take care of these things? She seems rather behind the times.