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Today Steph booked in for her laser hair removal sessions, first one is in 2 weeks, mega excited 😍 😍.
if anyone has had experience with laser hair removal particularly face and neck, I’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts, I’m a bit nervous but hoping it works ok.
😘 Steph
@jimbo Hi Steph, yes I'm in the process of having laser on my face, neck and belly.
I hope your clinic have been honest with you and set your expectations correctly, that only the darker hairs are going to disappear. Blond, red, grey or white won't conduct enough heat down to the follicles to disrupt or disable them. They may suggest a round of 6 sessions or leave it open-ended. Sessions might be at 4-6 week intervals, probably lengthening the interval as you progress, so as to get the hairs which grow on a slower cycle. Once you're substantially clear of hair, you may still need a top-up session or two every year.
It's a good idea to have 24 hours growth on your beard each time so that there's something for the laser to work with on the surface of your skin. But again, if the hair is too long, the heat won't conduct down far enough. I take the clippers over my belly at the shortest length (no comb attachment) a few days beforehand too. You'll also need to avoid washing in hot water for 24 hours after a session, so that the skin doesn't get overheated - it'll be a bit tender post-treatment.
Have you had a patch test yet? That will determine if you are going to have any bad reaction to the laser, and they may also establish some initial power/duration/frequency settings that are right for you. They'll have guideline ranges of setting combinations to treat different colours & thicknesses of hair in different areas. Within those, you need it as high as you can stand the pain, which will come in sharp shocks like a stretched rubber band being flicked against your skin 2-3 times per second, but will subside again fairly quickly as the laser head moves on - it's never held still.
As you'd expect, the pain will be greatest where the highest concentrations of dark hairs are - typically on the upper lip and chin, which are also the most full of nerves to let you know about it! These will also be the places that take the longest to clear as a result. The clinician will probably divide your face up into different sectors based on dark hair & nerve density, and optimise the settings for each one. As the individual hairs are successfully zapped and stop growing back, you'll find you're able to take higher power levels to clear the rest up faster. Basically you always need to be able to smell burning hair when the laser is applied, to know that it's making a difference.
The other things you'll need to cope with are cold gel being smeared on your face and getting on your lips or in your mouth, and being under blackout goggles for the safety of your eyes. They might put cotton pads under the goggles, so you could feel a little pressure on your eyes too. Again, the patch test will help you to get used to all of this and to feel comfortable in that environment, and with the clinician.
I've had 4 laser sessions now. My belly hair has pretty much gone, and what's left has almost stopped growing. On my daily shave it feels like my beard is growing slower and it's certainly less dense, although the individual hairs are still really coarse. That's just how my beard is; everyone's is different. My concealer is now lasting almost the whole day before I get stubble-shadow showing through. I still get the stubble, but because it's mostly light-coloured now, it doesn't show as easily. However in a magnifying mirror I can still see some groups of dark hairs in the places that mean there's more pain still to come!
Goodness, I've written an entire essay here, I do apologise 😳 I hope it's helped, and good luck with your laser sessions 🙂
Hugs,
Fiona xxx
@finallyfiona thanks lovely, it sounds like I have a similar face to yours, pain! Nobody said anything about pain! I guess I’ll have to suck it up and see how it goes, it’s for a greater cause, thanks for the essay I needed the feedback
😘 Steph
@jimbo It will help you to tolerate the pain. Use whichever ones you would normally take.
Goodness, I've written an entire essay here, I do apologise 😳 I hope it's helped
There is no need to apologise, Fiona. These are the kind of thorough details that members need to be able to make a decision about real laser treatments for themselves. I prefer this kind of reply.
@jimbo Ausome!! no experience here with that but wanted to say have a great time. Cheers RC
I tried it and it didn't work and feel I was ripped off a bit as there were grey hairs. Fionas advice is spot on and comprehensive and covers everything.
Steph
I can get enough pain from all my "old girls aches and pains".
So I just shave (in private) once a week.
Caty.
For anyone is concerned about pain from laser treatments, there is always IPL. It may take longer, but it is effective, way cheaper than laser, and almost entirely painless. Every now and then a fold of skin may get a bit close to the flash bulb. You will learn.
I've had back and some face medical laser for non-TG reasons (well thats what I told SO). The pain on the face was far less than on my flanks. The pain is two fold: the immediate exploding follicles! then some slight burning sensation for the next few hours which I found was enhanced by the gel they gave me to take home. It will probably depend on you as an individual. For me anything is better than waxing! Its been worth it in the end.
15+ years ago, I did laser hair removal from the neck down. And I mean everything from the neck down. My arms were so hairy to me it felt more like fur. I gotta say it may have thinned out the hair that I have, but because I have lighter hair it did not have the outcome I was hoping it would have. I know they told me fair haired people it does not work as well, but you will get some reduction. That’s about what I got. Below the knees was probably the best outcome where I have very little hair left. Pain, oh yeah! It feels like getting snapped with rubber bands like every one or two seconds. You do get used to it, but in some of the more sensitive areas you just grin and bear it. If you have dark hair, you probably have a very good chance of having a successful treatment program. But you know if you don’t try it you just never know if it will work or not for you. It’s just a shame. It’s so expensive.
@tina-loves-hosiery thanks for the input Tina, I do have dark hair on my face, although the greys have started to over take the darks 🤣.I’ll just grin and bear it, after all it’s for a greater good, I’ve paid for 6 treatments that are costing me around $40.00 AU for a treatment, I’ll see how it looks in 6 months and decide if I go any further.
😘 Steph
@tina-loves-hosiery Hi Tina, I’ve had my first session and I now understand what everyone is talking about with the rubber bands, I didn’t find it painful, just every now and then it would set a nerve of that made a nerve somewhere else react, so a couple of time I was twitching, but I got used to it quickly, they did say it wasn’t as effective on hair with no pigment, but it has definitely thinned out, it’s they grey hair that will be an issue. I got a deal on face and neck treatment at AU $42 a treatment for 6 sessions, I’ll see how thing look after that then decide if it’s worth going any further
😘 Steph
every now and then it would set a nerve of that made a nerve somewhere else react, so a couple of time I was twitching
I call this phenomenon a "sympathetic" response. We can do this on our own, too. Scratch the skin in one area and we can tingle somewhere else. This happens to me quite frequently, most recently when scratching loose ingrown hairs.
Did you take a pain pill first?
For your white hair issue, why not badger those white areas with your own IPL wand between sessions? You might want to wait a day or two after the majors sessions, though, but the IPL strength isn't going to hurt when you support the major sessions.
Laser removal is one of my regrets. Not the process but the fact I didn't have it done. When I first came out to my wife about 20 years ago I mentioned it and she told me to go ahead and do it. I just couldn't justify the expense in my mind at the time and never did. Now, every time I shave to do my makeup, I think of that and regret being so sensible financially.
