Love It, Even Though Some Bad Experiences

update many years later:

My lower legs (done with mostly ng:yag, and 1 or 2 IPL) are 99% hair free for years now. AMAZING!!! I am stunned at the results. I am fitzpatrick III-IV and did my appts months apart and going to whatever place had a deal, clearly not the ideal process but it was years ago and prices were high, i was desperate because i was one of those people that had to shave every day, and even after that i would have stubble by evening time. :(((((. But now, i shave my 10 hairs once every coupla months. lol. it's a joke.

Treatments on my brazilian area have been much less successful. Completely unsuccessful actually. No hair has gone away permanently and i've had 8 sessions. Oh well, i'm actually okay with that. My bikini line was already electrolysized, so it was only the rest of the brazilian area that needed to be lasered.

My underarms have about 15% regrowth which takes me less than 5 seconds to shave, i do that maybe once every 2-3 weeks, whereas before it would be every day, blech. but now i'm literally shaving maybe a handful of hairs, woooot!!!

Laser hair removal has changed my life.

OH! and i did have a spa use a diode (which i should not have let her use) under my chin to spot test me a few times. It not only scared but i experience the spontanious hair growth that some have mentioned. :(. Now i have 5-10 dark hairs on my upper neck. I'll just get electrolysis for that.

I first tried laser and IPL hair removal when it first came out, I love trying new beauty solutions. I got a free session somewhere for underarms in the late 90's. Loved it. But it wasn't until 2 years ago I started getting regular treatments. I started during Spa Week, a week when many spas do $50 treatments, so I got my underarms done. My favorite was The Skin Spa in NYC, very nice people, very professional and they use a laser (not IPL). After 6 times my hair is gone but I do upkeep 2x a year during spa week (so it's only $50). Oh yes, and it is VERY PAINFUL!! But that's ok. It is worth it in my opinion. I wasn't very good about keeping a proper schedule, I recommend trying to keep the schedule they give you of every 4-6 weeks.

I went to a laser place closer to my home and tried getting my brazilian done with a light sheer laser diode but got badly burnt during my 3rd session. Ay yi yi. But i am darker on my *ahem* brazilian area and maybe we went up to high. Oh yeah, worst pain ever.

I also tried laser on my chin, again, laser diode and got burnt. But i should have known better because while it was happening i should have recognized the sensation. And now i have stupid little dark marks under my jaw where the laser bit me, but I think she should have not gone below the jaw. But the marks are fading, and I don't mind minor consequences like that. I knew the risks and did it anyway. Now i just get electrolysis for my chin and upper lips.

And just recently I just did a session on my legs because Verve laser NYC has a deal where your first area is $99. They use a laser diode so i was frightened because of the brazilian with a diode experience, but the doc tested it at 10 joules, then 16 and it felt fine, and i knew i would be safe. And it was much much less painful than the other areas I have done. I don't know if I can continue getting my legs done because it is costly. A package costs about $1,000, but I have the kind of hair where I have to shave every day, and even by the end of the day i seem to have stubble, so laser would be awesome, but i may have to hold off til i have the funds.

Hope this helps. I highly recommend laser hair removal.