Laser Hair Removal - Tell me your experiences!

I did a search and found quite a few threads dating to 2007 about laser hair removal, and i thought they were really interesting, but I'm fairly sure that technology has changed in the last 3 years.

So! I recently organised a package of 6 laser hair removal treatments on my bikini line (for the price of 3), and it's costing me less to get the hair lasered than it would to get it waxed.

It was reasonably painful, (like a rubber band or an electric shock being snapped against the skin) but the pain goes away the instant that the laser is moved to another area, unlike waxing, where the area remains sensitive for quite some time after the wax has been removed.

I've had really quite good results after only one treatment (I'd say as much as 60% of hairs have fallen out) but I'm wondering if those hairs that have fallen out will grow back. I've been told they won't.

Anyone had laser hair removal recently? What was your experience like? The worst part was when my beautician went over the area with a shaver before the treatment and it bled like crazy.

Otherwise, I'm quite happy with the treatment so far - its only supposed to get rid of 10% of hair growth with the first laser course, and mine is more than that, although like I said, maybe it will grow back?

Anyway. Anyone tried it?

I haven´t, but I´d love to hear some experiences! Whenever I have the money I would to get this done as well.

I was surprised to hear how inexpensive it was - for bikini at least. Legs are still super expensive, but the bikini and underarm were actually cost effective.

I think it's fantastic. Unfortunately for me my hair is too light for the procedure /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Laser is most effective on darker hair. It does not pick up blonde/white/grey hairs well. If it did, I would get laser done in a heart beat! Where did you get it done Rosers?

I'm getting it done with Ella Rouge. $89 for a full brazilian, and 3 free sessions if you purchase 3 together. It's a pretty sweet deal.

I was reading a lot into the tria system lately since it seems more private, but I don't have enough hair to merit my spending hundreds of dollars on it yet.  I only have to shave underarms about twice a month as it is, and if I'm actually shaving that often, you still can't tell I have hair until you're about 2 feet away from me.  My legs, people can't tell (ever) unless I actually point it out (it's really sparse and only below my knee and on the front half of he legs), but I usually shave them between 3-6 times a year.  I'm hoping in another few years, Tria will go from the $500 it is now to maybe a $200-300 range which would be more reasonable for me to splurge on it, considering the changes should be mostly permanent.  It probably would be easier to have a professional doing it on you though since you wouldn't have to worry about goofing it up lol

I know it's expensive for the legs, like you said. I haven't looked into it that much to be honest. But i've always kept it as a possibility for bikini and underarm, i rarely shave or wax these areas, they are so prone to irritation / eczema (which makes me wonder if laser could work on such a difficult skin, thanks family genes).

I'd like to revive this thread. I am undergoing laser treatments. I just had my first one yesterday. Full leg and brazilian. Agreed its like a super shock when you get zapped. But it goes away right after, I didnt have any pain afterwards, no burning or anything.

My shins have a lot of follicless and I dont know how soon i am supposed to see results. Also for brazilian laser treatments how involved in that supposed to be? I almost feel like she only did a bikini instead of a brazilian.

I am getting my pits done in a couple weeks. I will in total have 6 sessions done on each area.

And what's with the shaving before hand?? Mine definitely didn't do that, they wanted me shaved before I got there.....

Originally Posted by angels41105 /img/forum/go_quote.gifAnd what's with the shaving before hand?? Mine definitely didn't do that, they wanted me shaved before I got there.....

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The idea with laser hair removal is this:

The laser is built to aim at dark color.  So if you have light skin and dark hair, it'll target the hair, down to the root, and kill the root.

The reason they want you to shave is so that the dark hair that's above the skin doesn't also get targeted (only the dark hair below the skin line is targeted if you're shaved).

(The reason they DON'T want you to wax/pluck/do any hair removal that'll get rid of the root of the hair, is so they actually have SOMETHING to target)

Yes, I knew that, I was more so wondering why the chose to shave her there and not have her do it at home.

And I still want to know what to expect following a session. I want to make sure i am getting what i paid for, I know i wont see major results after one session but I want to know a proper baseline for when i go in again.

Also again, what does a full brazilian laser treatment usually consist of? I really dont think mine was as involved as it should have been for a brazilian.

Originally Posted by pinksugar /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I'm getting it done with Ella Rouge. $89 for a full brazilian, and 3 free sessions if you purchase 3 together. It's a pretty sweet deal.

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Very good to know. 

My husband would totally stick it in the budget for hair removal - especially in the girly bits, but I'm scared... I have no problems with threading, waxing, etc. on my face, but that region is just scary to even think about...  But then the idea of not having to deal with ingrown hairs and landscaping the princess parts is so tempting!

Originally Posted by angels41105 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Yes, I knew that, I was more so wondering why the chose to shave her there and not have her do it at home.

Also again, what does a full brazilian laser treatment usually consist of? I really dont think mine was as involved as it should have been for a brazilian.

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I'm not an experienced expert on this, but I just keep reading stuff about it lol.  I haven't seen too much info on post-care besides a cooling compact might help.

I didn't know the answer to your first question until I ran into something this morning.  Some places prefer you to show up with with visible hair so the technician can actually SEE where your hair is to know where they'll be lasering before your procedure starts. It might make sense since you might have a stray hair that they might miss if they didn't know it was there, or you might end up getting lasered on a portion of skin that never had hair in the first place (unnecessary time, pain, and effort).  I don't think it actually matters to the laser so much how far in advance you shave (doing it when you get there vs doing it at home before you get there), but that explanation made sense to me.

As far as "what does a brazilian consist of" .. I've seen this answer differ depending on what company you go to. ...there seem to be different sections covered depending on which "area" you pick.  Basically you just need to ask them what areas are covered (get specific body part descriptions, not just fancy area names) at the place you're looking at to see what their definition of brazilian, vs bikini, vs anything else is.  I think I HAVE read that "brazilian" doesn't always mean "get rid of all the hair" when it comes to lasering, although that's exactly what it means for waxing. (I think once place described it as "only up to the area in front" and that there were separate procedure names for the other areas.

interesting. Yeah I had no pain what so ever afterwards. It was the zap instant that hurt.

I should call them and ask specifically, because she only went around the bikini line for mine and thats not "brazilian" in my mind. I kind of just thought, if they were going to call it brazilian, that it would have the same definition as what we all know a brazilian wax to be.

Great thread, I'm interested as well.