Laser hair removal......let's discuss!

#571
I think if it is an area you do hair removal frequently, your pain tolerance is higher. Bikini hurt like hell, but underarms were a breeze - because I used to pluck them.

Light skin and dark hair is the best combo. I had to use lightening cream on my lady bits to help the laser treatment be more successful.
 
#572
Yes I agree least painful underarm most painful bikini. I think it depends how strong the laser is. They start off low and gradually increase strength. Anyways, totally worth it and life changing.
 
#573
Megs said:
Just saw this - my question is how painful is it? For those of you who had it done to different areas, which was most painful/least painful? I've always been interested!
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It's the same pain as waxing or pulling off a band-aid, that moment when the laser hits is a sharp pain moment then it's done. It will also hurt more at the beginning and in areas where there is more/darker/thicker hair. After several treatments when the hair on my leg was sparse I had zero idea where on my leg the dermatologist was with the machine. She could be doing my right arm and not my left shin for all I knew, I couldn't feel a thing. I only even knew the laser was still shooting at skin because of the noise the machine made.

But then the laser would hit a random spot where a left-over dark hair was and bamm, pain! That's one of the reasons you have to shave beforehand.

In terms of painful spots, the bikini area and upper lip are the worst for me. But again it's like waxing, short intense pain and then it's over.

But honestly Megs having seen your pictures it's not going to be crazy effective for you. The higher the contrast between the skin and the hair (fair skin & dark hair) the better it works. Everything is relative though, since I had crazy dark/thick/ingrown/monkey hair even a 50% reduction to me was miraculous and life-changing. So you may think it's glorious relative to the hair you've had your whole life.

Pain is a total non-issue in terms of reasons to do or not do laser hair removal. It's so short-lived and the benefits are so long-lived!
 
#574
flowerboy said:
Yes I agree least painful underarm most painful bikini. I think it depends how strong the laser is. They start off low and gradually increase strength. Anyways, totally worth it and life changing.
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This is also very true, the higher the laser the more the pain. But a good dermatologist will follow your skin and progress push the laser levels as high as possible with each treatment. That's why it's essential to do it with an actual doctor. Trust me people, I've had laser three times since 1999 (and I don't mean 3 sessions but 3 periods of sessions in my life) and the difference between doing it with a top-rate dermatologist vs random technicians is night and day. It's really important that the same person treat you every time so they know what your skin can handle and aren't squeamish about turning the laser up.
 
#575
mundodabolsa said:
It's the same pain as waxing or pulling off a band-aid, that moment when the laser hits is a sharp pain moment then it's done. It will also hurt more at the beginning and in areas where there is more/darker/thicker hair. After several treatments when the hair on my leg was sparse I had zero idea where on my leg the dermatologist was with the machine. She could be doing my right arm and not my left shin for all I knew, I couldn't feel a thing. I only even knew the laser was still shooting at skin because of the noise the machine made.

But then the laser would hit a random spot where a left-over dark hair was and bamm, pain! That's one of the reasons you have to shave beforehand.

In terms of painful spots, the bikini area and upper lip are the worst for me. But again it's like waxing, short intense pain and then it's over.

But honestly Megs having seen your pictures it's not going to be crazy effective for you. The higher the contrast between the skin and the hair (fair skin & dark hair) the better it works. Everything is relative though, since I had crazy dark/thick/ingrown/monkey hair even a 50% reduction to me was miraculous and life-changing. So you may think it's glorious relative to the hair you've had your whole life.

Pain is a total non-issue in terms of reasons to do or not do laser hair removal. It's so short-lived and the benefits are so long-lived!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thought-out response. I am not sure it would work great for me because I have lighter thin hair.

I got my legs waxed a couple months ago for the first time and that didn't work very well - tons of hair was leftover and she said it was because my hair is finer and light, it's hard to grab up.

Def helpful tips! Thank you!
 
#576
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.
 
#577
jetstream7 said:
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.
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That's great jetstream7! You will love it. Yag is the laser for darker skin and it will work great if you use it at the highest power you can handle. You want the 18MM head, the highest joules and the lowest pulse you can take. Spread your treatments out at least 6 weeks apart to make sure you are getting the new, actively growing hair and you are not re-treating old hair. It will take several sessions to see a difference. It is VERY important that all your hair shed between treatments. The hair that sheds after it has been pushed far enough up the follicle is the hair that died when the laser blasted the follicle. You are well on your way to great results. It sounds like you did your homework. Laser works if you know what machine you need and what settings to use. To many people trust the laser techs but many of them don't know what the heck they are doing.
 
#578
I started laser removal for my legs I think 5 years ago or something? I did it for about 2/3 years and I have no more hair growing back. There is one part of my leg where it is growing back, but that is because I had surgery there. After that I started with my armpits and face, and I am almost finished as only a little bit of hair is still growing. I think it really depends on where you get your treatments done, as I've hear some people did it for years and it did not work, but I know there are different kind of machines. Those do-it-at-home lasers also won't work as they aren't strong enough.
 
#579
I did my underarms and bikini in 2013-2014 and had great results. There is a tiny bit of hair growing back under my arms. I have a friend who did her underarms and it didn't work (she had 8 sessions).
 
#581
I've had laser hair removals on Candela, Elos and Soprano. I've done full legs, full arms, full bikini, including deep bikini. And I had my face done on the Elos and Harmony. I had my underarms done years and years ago and don't have anything since.

My legs are completely bare after 8 sessions and in terms of pain and result I like Soprano. The arms are still hairy a bit. Bikini is the most troubled area mostly because I cry like a baby on any machine but it's getting there, I guess I need 3 more sessions.

I looooove Harmony for face. It's done mostly for spot treatments and skin rejuvenation, hair removal is just a side effect. My skin looks flawless 7 -9 days after the treatment (during those 7-9 days my face is like a bloated frog). But I can have it done only 3 times a year.

Soprano is the best for light colored thin hair, my friend is a light blond and she has very good results.
 
#584
I'm located in Australia, and I absolutely love it!
but it took me about 6 sessions to see at least 1/2 the hair gone. I generally buy in packs of 6, and I get them done every 4-6weeks.
So far I'm getting underarms and brazilian (the brazilian hurts but much less than waxing imo), and I'm starting half legs in a month when I get the chance.

TacticalBlankie said:
How dark does the hair have to be in order for the laser to remove it? I have black hair on my lower legs and the bikini area but my thighs are very light brown. Would it still work?
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Where I go, they have 2 machines, one for dark hair and the other for light. They will assess your skin/hair prior to doing it. you won't feel anything because they will start off with a low setting and work their way up - cause if they start off with a high setting when you have heaps of hair...that's gonna hurt like hell.

Anyway apparently darker hairs respond best to treatment due to a higher concentration of pigment (melanin) in the follicle, which is what they target.
 
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