Ladies, I have some TMI sharing for you…and I think the topic will prove of interest to many readers. Let’s all admit that we sometimes have hair in places we wish we didn’t. I’m not a gal that hyper-focuses on my looks or grooming, but I do value long-term results. So here, in all its TMI glory, I give you my first-hand report on laser hair removal.
(If you’re looking for medical information about laser hair removal, you will need to look for another article. There is plenty of information online if you do a search).
Throughout the years, the main area I have removed hair from is my bikini line. For many years, I hot waxed my bikini line. I have a high pain tolerance, and the skin-pulling pain of the waxing session seemed like a decent trade-off for a few weeks/month of a break from grooming that area. Because of the cost of waxing, though, I did not go often.
Then, a few years ago I read an article about a different hair removal method called sugaring. Have you heard of it? Sugaring uses a similar concept as waxing (pulling hair from the root), but it is a cooked combination of sugar, lemon, and water that removes the hair without actually pulling on the skin (like you experience while waxing). After trying sugaring, I quickly preferred it to wax. You can actually do your sugaring at home (yes, I am speaking from experience), making it extremely cost effective. Pro tip: make sure you trim the hair in any area you plan to sugar down to a quarter inch (but not any shorter than that).
Now that I had these improved results from sugaring, I started wondering about going for the gold, a.k.a. permanent hair removal, via laser hair removal. While Rochester does have a few spas that offer laser hair removal, once I started looking I found that places in the twin cities offered laser hair removal packages (many are available on Groupon, for instance) at such significant savings to the Rochester offerings that it was the worth the additional drive time.
Any spa or treatment center worth going to will willingly answer your questions when you call them. One thing to ask about is the type of machine they have (some laser machines having a “cooling” function that blasts a little air after the laser to cool off your skin). Depending on your skin tone/hair color shade difference, different types of lasers might work better for you and provide longer-lasting results.
When you schedule your first appointment, they will likely schedule you for a longer appointment slot to go over health/maintenance information with you. The esthetician will talk to you about avoiding abrasion/high temps in the first 24 hours, and then about avoiding sun exposure to the area. You will likely need 6-8 sessions to eliminate nearly all your hair (this has to do with how hair grows in phases/cycles). Because a 6-session treatment plan will span about 7-8 months, you may want to start your sessions in the fall if you would like them completed prior to summer when you would be out in the sun more.
In the 24 hours prior to your appointment, you will need to shave the treatment areas. Having a spouse/partner assist with this step proves simultaneously helpful and mortifying.
During the appointment, it does hurt. Let’s be real…they’re shooting a laser on your skin. My provider recommended taking a dose of ibuprofen one hour prior to appointments and while I typically stay away from taking painkillers, the one time I forgot to take the ibuprofen, I had an entirely more painful experience. So don’t forget!
Your skin turns bright red in the treated areas immediately after treatment and will feel a little tender. My esthetician provided cooling aloe gel to soothe the skin and it felt great.
About 7-14 days after the treatment, the hair/root will shed/fall out (this is what was between the root and the surface of the skin that you shaved). Until that point, you may question your common sense for subjecting yourself to that pain just to have horrible results. There is also the annoyance of the prickly regrowth feeling that you typically feel after shaving. Once the hair sheds, though, you’ll find yourself amazed! Even after just a single treatment, it took weeks for the hair to start regrowing. After my first two bikini area sessions, I talked to a friend who had her bikini line, underarms, and legs all lasered. She convinced me to do my underarms (since I was already making the trips up there), and I am grateful she did! I appreciate no longer grooming my bikini line, but not having to shave my underarms is a bigger thrill for me (probably because I did that grooming more regularly).
Bottom line: I had great results from laser hair removal. Yes, the process includes PAIN (I am being honest and using capital letters because it is a significant amount of pain). However, I feel like my results have far outweighed the discomfort I felt during those six sessions. I wish I would have done it years ago.
Have you had laser hair removal done? Did you have the long-term results you wanted?
