Talk to me about hair removal - laser vs electrolysis, who's had it? What worked?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I find myself deeply resenting having to shave/wax/thread/sugar or in general go to war with my leg hair/bikini line/underarms…I personally prefer the feeling of smooth skin, or I would just go on strike.

I did buy the Flash N Go, but I am impatient. Anyone had laser or electrolysis? Good? Bad? The Ugly?

Tell me all the deets

2

I’m currently getting electrolysis, so I know a bit about it.

The good: It works! The hairs that are removed do not come back. I haven’t noticed any scaring or other skin problems in the areas effected either.

The bad: It hurts. Oh god it hurts. I’m getting my facial hair removed, so I’m dealing with a lot of sensitive places, but I’m pretty sure it’ll hurt no matter where you get hairs removed. It also takes a while. Hopefully your hair isn’t as dense as mine, but you shouldn’t expect to get your hair problems solved in a session or two.

The ugly: The places where you get hairs removed scab up for a day or so and look pretty weird. Don’t attend any parties right after a session.

Those are my experiences at least. I don’t know anything about laser hair removal, but I hope this all is useful.

3

SUPER useful - I forgot about the scabbing after (a friend had it on her upper lip in HS)!

4

Moderator Action

Since this is looking for personal experiences, it’s best suited to IMHO. Any factual information is of course still welcome.

Moving thread from GQ to IMHO.

5

I’m also currently doing electrolysis on my face (my chin and a bit of my upper lip) and my experience is right in line with phi2dao. I’m willing to do it because once it’s over, it’s over and the hair will never come back. I’m 10 months in and go every 4 weeks for a half hour. The tech puts some numbing agent on you but it still hurts. Actually the electric part doesn’t hurt as bad as the hair coming out, I think. But it still hurts.

I couldn’t imagine having it done to a more densely-haired place, for longer sessions (a bigger area), or in some more sensitive area.

I was frustrated with the pain level so I was Googling it one night, and realized that most transwomen go through it on a much much much larger scale. At least on their chest and more densely hairy faces. They go for 2-3 hours at a time. Owieeeee. But once again, it is worth it because it’s permanent.

My BFF is a guy and he goes to the same lady as me to get his ear hair removed. He doesn’t complain about the pain but it’s a different area than I get done, and his sessions are only about 10 minutes.

6

For the record, upper lip is usually one of the most sensitive when waxing too - and unlike your eyebrows or legs, it never seems to get used to it.