I started laser hair removal last month on the lower legs (knee down). I'm two treatments in now. I’m mixed race (white middle eastern & black) with tan/brown skin & black hair. I’ve always had bad ingrowns on my lower legs even though I never wear shorts, I never liked it. So finally decided to do something about it. In doing my "research" online, I learned that nd: YAG lasers work on darker skin tones.
I went to Ideal Image for a consult first, but they quoted me @ around $5400 for 8 treatments if I started right that second, which I thought was crazy and a little too car salesman. Even if I was ready to start, I booked the consult in the middle of a busy day. If not (say I came back the next day) I would be paying almost $9500. I found an independent person that uses the YAG and I pay $200 per treatment. What sold me on the independent is when and showed me her own results. And she’s of middle eastern decent, so if it works on her…!!!
She recommended me to buy a numbing cream. I bought one from her to start Tattoo Numb (
http://www.amazon.com/TATTOO-Ointme...p/B00ITITKU6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8), it’s in a red box with a dragon. I don’t do the whole wrap myself in plastic wrap before hand. I put it on an hour and half before my appointment. I don’t know if it “helps” but my legs in general have a higher pain tolerance. I’m going to buy a different brand in a bigger container for my next session, since the Tattoo Numb is like the size of a toothpaste sample, so I didn’t use a lot of it.
The pain is okay. I have cramps worse than this. To me it feels like someone is doing a little quick slashes with a fresh straight razor. The pain lasts for a second and then its gone. There were parts I didn’t even feel. All in all, its mild/tolerable. Maybe I would feel different if it was a more delicate area…?
As for results, I don’t see super crazy miracles, nor do I expect them. But I do notice a difference that my hair doesn’t grow back like it used to. After the 1st session, I could literally scratch my leg and the hair would come right out. I’m hoping as it kills the hair follicles, it will get rid of the ingrowns too.
Long comment, but hope it helps anyone (esp. with darker skin) considering LHR.