Oh yes, a Brazilian. I don’t understand the sense of paying a bunch of money for just the sides, thank you. 
Laser didn’t bother me at all either. Oh, there were a few winces, but as others have said, I have fairly light skin and very dark hair. It was when she went after the hairs in the moles with electrolysis I couldn’t take it. I hated that awful electricity coursing through my skins and I only did three sessions of that - thankfully that took care of 90% of it.
So for unwanted hair on legs & pits i use Nair or Neet.
Apply a liberal amount for really hairy legs and pits, let it stand for 5 minutes.
Because goopy hairy clumps clog my sink I scrape the goopy hairy clumps off my legs and onto a papertowel which i throw away. The hair is gone, the leg is smooth, no nicks, or cuts. then rinse it all off.
It takes care of the bikini line too, though I wouldn’t venture into landing strip designs
I keep saying I want to do this for many and varied reasons, but I am terrified. Logically, I know that anybody I go to will have seen worse than the untamed forest of my nether regions, but I’ve got enough fat-shame to be worried that they’ll secretly judge me. Additionally, I have no idea what the “acceptable” pre-game tactics are. Hygiene is naturally a splendid idea, but am I supposed to trim anything? Exfoliate? Paint pretty pictures on the broad canvas of my inner thighs to amuse them?
My skin is sensitive enough that I usually get chemical burns from Nair and the like, and shaving gets me red bumps, itchiness for days, and usually a great swath of hairy skin that I somehow missed. I need to put on my big-girl panties and just do it–even if literally nobody but me and the waxer ever see my downstairs, it will make me feel better about myself in general. But I cower in terror every time I think of it.
I love laser and think it’s a good option BUT … it requires several sessions at the very least to see a difference. Even if you are thinking about getting laser eventually, I would recommend waxing first. It would be a good test to see if you are comfortable enough with the set-up to imagine having six or more laser sessions, at probably a higher cost.
For shaving or waxing or any other hair removal, have you tried Tend Skin? If you google it, it looks like the cheapest, most “as seen on TV” crap product ever … but I swear, it is a miracle product for ingrown hairs and general irritation from hair removal. They often sell it at salons that offer waxing.
Make sure you’re all showered up-- the sooner before your appointment the better. Every place I’ve ever been waxed has a box of baby wipes in the room, so when you strip down, wipe yourself down one last time to make sure you’re good to go. I exfoliate, I’ve noticed it gets me a better result. You can trim if you’d like to, but make sure you leave hair for them to grab on to— frankly, though, I wouldn’t trim. They are used to dealing with that, don’t even worry. Pictographs are appreciated if done well (kidding, don’t do that).
Nair burns the shit out of the skin where my thigh and crotch meet. Horribly. Waxing doesn’t do this. A good waxer will throw some witch hazel and stuff on your hoot when they’re done, which will help with inflammation. The key with waxing is to make sure you exfoliate every single day. Some places sell brushes you can use to exfoliate the skin, but I just use some cheap exfoliating wash (like that apricot scrub) and a wash cloth. Vigorous scrub scrubbing keeps everything in line. If you do start to get some redness or bumps, get some Hibiclens or something similar and wash with that. Again, the waxing places will try to sell you fancy washes that are $30 a bottle- not worth it. Hibiclens will do the trick. So will a wash cloth.
Drink first if you need a little liquid courage :D. My friend was super afraid of stripping down in front of a strange woman, so she did some shots first. No shame. Whatever helps. Personally, I just used to remind myself, “I’ve seen enough on the internet to know that there is literally no way I have the weirdest vagina this lady has seen.”
It’s the same argument I gave my friend with foot issues when I took her to get her first pedicure. I think I’ll give it a shot this weekend. Mostly because next weekend I’ve got a photo-shoot I want to be user-friendly for.
Wait. That totally sounded like it’s porn. It’s not. No one will be “using” me. Although a girl can dream, I suppose. 
The first time I went, I didn’t want to trim too much, because I wasn’t sure how much hair they needed. They ended up trimming it more. 
I also have some NSAID before. But the pain I’ve found to be overrated. It’s at the most a sting in 2 pulls, and it’s gone soon after. In a scale of 1-10, it probably reaches a 7 or 8 for the first few seconds, and then quickly drops to a 2 or 1. I get more soreness, acheness, and hurt while working out.
So, I went ahead and did it this morning. Only the bikini line, though once I was done, I kind of wished I’d gone ahead and done more. Because that was nothing. Hurt less than getting my old-lady-mustache done. I can’t believe I was that terrified for nothing.
[QUOTE=perfectparanoia]
I am just thinking that if I am going to have a stranger dealing with my bikini region, maybe I should go for laser and have a chance of some of it not coming back.
Oh, to be a guy.
[/QUOTE]
It wouldn’t help. I’m a guy, and nobody is pointing a laser beam at my crotch unless he is plotting to rob Fort Knox and I get to boink Honor Blackman afterwards.
Regards,
Shodan
This. Seriously good stuff. It has a somewhat off-putting pickle smell to me, but other than that it’s awesome. And a little goes a long way. I get ingrown hairs on my neck and in the bikini area, and this stuff takes care of them right away.