Shaving is the most popular method of removing men's facial hair. However, this is an imperfect method that must be repeated almost daily unless the man chooses to allow his facial hair to grow into a beard and/or mustache. For many men, shaving is a chore that they would rather avoid if at all possible. This leaves many wondering how to permanently remove men's facial hair.

There is no absolutely perfect method of permanently removing facial hair. However, there are some choices that lead to permanent removal of hair after a few treatments. These options are electrolysis, laser hair removal, intense pulsed light, and diode epilation.

Electrolysis is the oldest and best known of the permanent hair removal methods. A small electrical current is passed through the hair follicles, killing them. However, approximately one third of treated hair follicles will not die out, leaving them capable of producing hair. A subsequent treatment will stop another two thirds of the remaining follicles with one third of these growing back. Another treatment will eliminate two thirds of the remaining hair follicles, and so on. It generally takes months of treatments to completely and permanently stop growth of facial hair.

Laser hair removal has become more popular in recent years. This system makes use of focused, coherent beams of light of a specific frequency to "burn" the hair follicle until it can not produce hair. Side effects can include first degree burns or other skin irritation. As with electrolysis, it usually takes multiple treatments before all of the hair follicles are rendered incapable of growing new hair.

Intense pulsed light uses multiple light frequencies instead of one single frequency. Because this method is not as focused as a laser, it is normally recommended for larger body areas than just the face. Diode epilation and ultrasound are still in their infancies as technology, but both show promise as methods of permanent hair removal after a few refinements.