Having grown increasingly tired of shaving (and having little to no success with waxing), I’m contemplating giving laser hair removal a try.
I have yet to look into it in detail - before I started seriously investigating I wanted to hear about other peoples experiences. Did it work? Any unpleasant side effects? How long did it last? How much does it typically cost? etc.
My primary interest would be using it on the face, but also legs, and upper body (depending on cost and effectiveness).
I’ve had three rounds of laser on my face. Each treatment yielded near-total hair loss for about three weeks, with a long-term reduction of about 60%. My beard was very thick, so unless you have really heavy hair you should probably expect better results than that.
Side effects: the treatments were moderately painful and made my face swell for a couple of days. Don’t schedule a treatment just before a job interview or a party. You will probably want to tweeze out hairs that were killed but don’t fall out on their own unless you want the area to turn into a total zitfield.
Given that they charge by the square inch, I would recommend against using laser on large, sparsely covered areas like legs or arms. It’s cheaper, in the long run, to do electrolysis on these areas. Laser seems to be most effective on the face, the armpits, and those random tufts of hair that some people have.
I paid $1200 ($400 per treatment) for my face. I have no idea if that’s typical. If I had wanted them, the fourth treatment would have been 25% off and the fifth and subsequent 50% off, as the manufacturer states that three treatments should be sufficient in most cases.
I had my chin, upper lip and lower jaw done twice with pretty good results. Now, I am redheaded so the hairs were of all colors, from clear to medium brown but the key was that they had dark roots. Laser works better on darker hair so I was only given a 50/50 chance. At $100 a pop, I couldn’t afford to go again but I have gotten rid of about 50% of the trouble makers.
If you do have it done, ask for an ice pack before you leave. It helps to take your tylenol before you as well. They will tell you it feels like a pop from a rubber band and that is true, but the last treatment took 45 pops.
I’m having the fourth treatment on my back, neck and shoulders next week. It’s hard for me to tell yet how effective the treatments have been because I have a lot of very fine hairs but I definitely know there’s been a large reduction in the hair volume and what’s remained has come in lighter and finer. I know I’ve had more than a 50% reduction and I’m thinking it’s going to be pretty close to 100% of all treatable hair (I have some that’s not treatable because it’s grey/white. Yes, I have grey and white back hairs. I’m so HOT.) Had I paid in full up front my cost would have been $3000 for six treatments. Going in installments I’m paying $3250 for four, plus two “free” follow-ups. The pain’s been getting more tolerable with each treatment. The higher power the tech can use on the laser the more effective the treatments will be. I had some swelling and bumpiness which also lessened with each treatment. Last time it lasted about a day. Make sure your tech opens up on the cooling spray and has ice ready to cool your skin during the treatment.
The darker your hair is the more effective the treatment will be. I consulted with two different places and both offices indicated that the FDA has approved the treatments as 80% effective, meaning that’s what the techs can guarantee. Both told me that many people have a better effectiveness rate. When I can afford it I’m planning on having more work done on my upper arms and sides. I couldn’t be much happier with it.
Ok. These price ranges are a little bit more than I expected - I knew it would be expensive, but this is a bit more than I can afford right at this time. I’ll look into it again in a couple more years when I’m hopefully a bit more financially stable. [mindless optimism]Maybe the cost of the treatments will less then as well.[/mindless optimism]
It may not even be worth it then - my hair is fairly light (I seem to have a mixture of blonde and dark facial hair whenever I grow it long enough to see).