NOVA: When I was 12 and the facial hair started growing, I just thought I was weird.
I thought I would finally let go of you know, that hatred and everything. My confidence is skyrocketed.
NOVA: The condition I have is polycystic ovarian syndrome which polycystic ovaries, it means you have
a bunch of cysts all over your ovaries. It can cause infertility. I don’t have a period. I haven't had one in
10 years. I grow the excess facial hair; the body hair, but it depends on the person and the specific amount of
hormonal imbalance but this is what it causes me.
NOVA: When the hair first started growing, I was completely miserable, you know, I felt like a reject.
Well I felt disgusting like girls aren’t supposed to grow facial hair, why was I at such a young age?
So I felt really, really awful about it.
NOVA: As a young teenager, when this first started happening, I did get bullied a bit. I had some kid,
you know, commenting about how I was going to have more facial hair than him and there were girls who would
make fun of my body hair. I was you know, I was afraid to go to sleepovers; I was afraid of people touching my
face finding out that I had this issue at all. I shaved from the age of 12 until the age of 26. So it was very much a
part of my normal routine to just keep doing it and I had, I saw no reason to stop. As I got older and I made more
friends who I knew are you know, good in accepting people and you know, I was with my partner for you
know, more and more time. I still continued to hide the facial hair, the body hair and everything just because I
personally felt disgusted by it. I wouldn’t let my partner touch my face at all. I was very self-conscious about
anyone touching my face at all or any of my body, really. I just felt like people would be disgusted in the way that
I was personally.
ASH: I didn’t have any negative feelings because it’s not something you can help, but like you can be treated,
but it’s nothing really hurtful or bad really, I mean besides the cysts.
NOVA: I wanted to do no-shave November specifically because you know, it does benefit a cause. It raises
awareness for men’s cancers. I might as well do it in a period of time where it benefits somebody
just besides me.
NOVA: When my hair first started growing, I was, I felt rebellious. I was terrified, but at the same time I felt kind
of like increasingly more liberated from my own personal health basically. I put myself through so much
torture and now I am finally letting go of it. So it felt terrifying but incredible at the same time.
ASH: She started the no-shave November. I thought it was interesting. It was neat seeing how fast it grew and
how full, but also seeing how her confidence grew over the course of the months.
ASH: I like her either way honestly. She is still Nova, she is still my girlfriend.
NOVA: My confidence is extremely, just overwhelmingly intense now that I have done this. Now that I finally let
go of you know, that hatred and everything. I feel like you know, I can do more in the world, I can do more to
help people, I can do more to help myself, I can make other people happy, I can make myself happy.
NOVA: It’s mind-blowing the response that I have gotten. I didn’t expect to have people in the hundreds personally
messaging me; thanking me for doing this. People who needed to see someone, who has an issue like they have.
So it’s been a really rewarding experience. I do love it and I love you know, I love it all myself.
I love how it looks. It’s interesting, it keeps my face warm when it’s freezing. It’s been a blessing for me.
NOVA: It’s so common you are not alone and you are beautiful with the body you have like, you don’t have to
hide it and I understand the pain that you are going through; I understand the hurt and I understand like the
anger towards yourself and this self-hatred. But you don’t have to be that way, you can let go of it and you can
learn to love yourself.
NOVA: They called it a cinnamon beard, earlier. ASH: It’s a cinnamon beard and it’s really soft.