Starting laser sessions!

[Cindy]

Yes I will need electrolysis as others have said the  white hair remains. But the relief of getting rid of the BEARD was immense. I can go out with minimal makeup, enough to enhance rather than to hide behind camouflage.

Three hours was the whole face. It takes about 5-10 mins to do my upper lip nowadays. It is touch up stuff, again I have my treatment through a medical clinic set up. The laser Techs are registered nurses, I feel very confident with them. I did go to a 'beauty clinic' that advertised laser treatment and was quite upset by the conditions. I ended up leaving and paying a deposit. I felt my face was far too valuable to be disfigured and hurt by some 17 yr old with a laser in her hand. Sorry about the ageism

Cindy

[smooth]

It was not that bad, surely? My next session is March 20th.

Beverley

I think some people are under the impression that laser doesn't hurt  I personally didn't find that this was the case. In order that the treatments can be even partially successful it is necessary to use quite a lot of energy and this does hurt. I'd say that I have a high pain threshold but I was left shaking a couple of times when a treatment was finished, I was mildly burnt a couple of times as well but it resolved okay. The top lip is always going to be painful because of the nerves in this area. I cant understand why an upper lip should take 5 to 10 minutes, mine was only ever a minute at the most, roughly 5 to 7 zaps either side of the nose. Bottom line is if you're not experiencing a degree of discomfort/pain then the chances are your treatment isn't going to go very far in removing any hair. As everyone is already aware typical beard hair is thick and deep rooted and to destroy a follicle of this type does require a good dose of energy, this does equate to pain. The same is true for electrolysis, under the nose is probably the worst spot and it will probably make your eyes water a bit. "I'm not crying" but not far off 

[smooth]

Hi Bev
It will be interesting to see if the results you end up with are any better than patchy. If you've tried all those different ones and they all felt the same my first thought would be that they probably weren't cranked up very high. Normally when a new client starts with a clinic the operator will air on the side of caution with the levels that they use, for obvious reasons. If you've been bouncing around from clinic to clinic trying different options before choosing one to stick with I dare say that's why you're experience so far has only been uncomfortable. Once you get a way down the road with your treatments you might well be asking them to up the levels to see if you can hit those patches. That might be when things start to get interesting. I never tried IPL myself because I didn't hear many good things said about it. Over what time period have you been having treatments if you don't mind me asking? How have you been able to work out which system is working the best for you? I'm surprised to hear you didn't even go red, doesn't this strike you as strange considering what's being done. I too had the gel and a jet of cold air onto my face as it was being done but I always ended up super red, like falling asleep in the sun "on the beach"  I've got no idea about which spot sizes they used on me, I only know she wouldn't turn the machine up any higher, we maxed it out. I did pluck a few hairs from my face some years ago and from memory I'd say electrolysis isn't much worse than that, the only difference being of course that with electro the hair doesn't come back... Hope it works out for you I remember when I used to shave. I had a nightmare a year or so ago and in it my beard had grown back, I rushed to the mirror only to find it had been a horrible dream, thankfully

[Cindy]

Sure hurts me. I get 28 watts in a 0.5 cm areas on the upper lip. The goggles are usually full of tears .
I do agree that I'm not totally 'cleared' and will need electro to remove some white but compared to pre treatment I'm as smooth as a babies bum, well a slightly hairy babies bum

[Maja.V]

It was not that bad, surely? My next session is March 20th.

Beverley

Hm, actually.

I was literally shivering and twitching at the end of the session because I was so tense, trying to lessen the pain by squeezing my muscles together. My eyes were soaked after she's done the upper lip, as well. It was incredibly painful for me, and as I wrote in my initial post, I never experienced pain of that magnitude (or even close to it).

The laser was set only to the middle setting, though, so it may be that I'm a huge wuss, very sensitive to pain (I do squeak when I touch anything that's even somewhat hot ), or it was because the hair wasn't shaved off (could be partly why the pain was so bad). But then again she said that we're gonna go up a notch on the energy strength

Anyway, even though I know it's gonna be painful, I'm still looking forward to it. Rather go through the pain and get rid of most of the hair, than not at all. And whoever's going to do electrolysis on me is gonna have an easier time zapping whatever remains of it, and my wallet's gonna be less empty, as well.

[shortNsweet]

I was literally shivering and twitching at the end of the session because I was so tense, trying to lessen the pain by squeezing my muscles together. My eyes were soaked after she's done the upper lip, as well. It was incredibly painful for me, and as I wrote in my initial post, I never experienced pain of that magnitude (or even close to it).

How did you feel after a few hours/the next day?

[Maja.V]

How did you feel after a few hours/the next day?

My face was quite swollen (as if I had gained quite a bit of weight back) and the skin felt as if it was on fire. I could barely sleep at all because my blanket kept rubbing at my chin (ouch ). The swelling wasn't even that noticeable until the day after. The burning feeling was almost as bad as it were the previous day.

[Achila]

I did my first session last week, and the pain was unberable....and I am also doing my scalp ( I am bald like some men)..so if I have to spend 3K on super hair systems (wigs) I better not have any hair growing underneath to push up and away my glamm-fake locks from my scalp. I find confort that a good number of GGs use wigs, mostly black women, and the technologies improving quality and texture are superb.

[rachl]

2-3 weeks after my first treatment, I'm starting to notice a little bit of patchiness, mostly under my chin on my neck. I'm a really good candidate though: fair skin and very dark hair. (It's a total curse when trying to apply foundation, though, because even freshly shaved, I have a dark 5 o'clock shadow.)

[Maja.V]

Had my second laser session today.

Having shaved well and taken some painkillers, it hurt slightly less on an even higher setting ... Except for the upper lip area, the pain there was absurd.

I've also opted in for a bikini and armpits sessions as well, they have a 40% and 50% discount for a limited only so it's a great opportunity to get those areas done (which I planned on getting done eventually anyway).

The aftermath is pretty much the same as with the first session, my face is swollen and red, and it feels like it's on fire. The smell is awful. I expect it to be such for the next 3-4 days, both reducing gradually. I've had a different technician work on me this time and she's even nicer and more helpful than the last one. I think she covered more of my face, too, and she took great care to get everything zapped. We also chatted tons, and she's going to dig up a few electrologists for me.

She also said that the pain is pretty much the same on every other part of the body, so I'm already scared of the bikini and underarm sessions. Getting them done together with my face for a bit of extra pain.

[rachl]

I am glad that it is all going well. If you are like me then after this session (in a few weeks) you will see a big difference.

It has been 3 1/2 weeks since my third session and the dead hairs have only started dropping out in the last few days but WOW! What a change. I still have to shave but I can feel that the razor is doing less and it is gliding over more skin than bristle. The clear patches have got bigger and the 5 o'clock shadow is a lot paler. I do not need concealer under my foundation now. Six or seven hours after shaving, everything still feels smooth. It is great, absolutely fabulous.

I cannot stop grinning like an idiot.....   

Beverley

Awesome! I'm definitely looking forward to similar results My 2nd is on the 14th. I'm on a 6 week cycle, but I'm going to ask to go to 5 or even 4 weeks.