Laser question

[Mermaid]

I had my first session 5 days ago, she said the hair on my face would fall off, but nothing's happened since. I really don't notice much of a difference? Haven't shaved since, but... everything looks the same to me. First three days my face was sore and felt really hot, but that's about it.

She was using an Alexandrite laser, is that any good? Should I just switch to another place that does YAG? Bit desperate here, it's very costly and seeing no results after that investment is getting me down a bit... maybe 5 days after treatment is being too hopeful?

It didn't hurt too badly on my moustache, nor on my cheeks... chin was alright, the areas where it hurt me the most were the jawline and neck... people usually say their upper lip hurts the most? Any explanation why it was different for me? I was being a bit of a crybaby, I hope she didn't turn down the settings once it was time to do my upper lip...

[JamesG]

"Ejection" can occur anywhere from 5 to 20 days after treatment. Before the hairs actually fall out, you should notice them seem to "grow" faster, that is the follicle giving up and dying and disengaging from the hair root.

That is not quite verbatim from the laser hair removal manual. With mine, I never really noticed any pattern. Just a couple of days after treatment hairs would start "disappearing" in no particular order or pattern.  My face has been very stubborn though.  I've only manages to disable about 10% of them, the rest seem unimpressed.  I am using a Silk'n Epil IPL system. 

[Mermaid]

So basically you can only tell how much hair's been eliminated a few days after the treatment?

[Sydney_NYC]

Around the 10th day after laser, I noticed little black spec floating in the water after shaving. Then I noticed I had much less shadow than before. By the 3rd session, I didn't have any shadow any longer, but a week before the next session a little shadow started to come back, but much much less. I've had 5 sessions, and the last time I only had a little shadow in my upper lip and around the area below the lower lip on the sides of the lips. According to my laser technician I have 2 more sessions then I'm done with laser. The rest (white and red hairs) I have been having electrolysis on them since October. That should be mostly done by the end of the year and already my upper face and sides of my neck are cleared with every session and working inward to the center neck and under chin area.

[@Diana]

i had done laser on my upper lips many years ago, i paid for 1 course = 6 times

couldnt see much different in 1st laser (i dont have much hair anyway, never shave but pluck) , i could see the change after the 3rd time .. but i still have to pluck a lil bit once in a while, there are still few light hair showing up 

[f_Anna_tastic]

For me I usually notice the results of each laser session  2 weeks after I've had it.

After my first session I was like...  Okay nothing has changed, but 2 weeks after I noticed a big difference.

Patience

[JesseG]

Hi Mermaid,
I'm in exactly same situation as you. Got my first laser session on my face 9 days ago, and my first hairs just started popping out now. This is normal apparently.

My technician told me that the hairs would come out at the 12-14 day mark. Her explanation was, the laser destroys the bulb of the hair, but not the shaft, which is still stuck in your skin, and your body will slowly push the hair out.

For the first week, it looks like they were "growing" just like before. The only real noticeable effects were a) rough bumpy skin, b) slower "growth", c) the hair would refuse to be shaved... it's like it was rubbery or something.

Indeed, at the 9-day mark I can grasp a hair in my fingers, and pull it out with no effort and no pain. It's pretty obvious they're not anchored in there anymore. However, my tech advised me not to pluck them early for some reason, just let them come out in due time with normal shaving.

Edit: about the pain - I also had the same situation (jawline was extremely painful, mustache was painful but bearable, cheeks hardly felt it at all). I think it may have something to do with the jawline being right on top of bone, kinda like tattoos on top of bone hurt more. My other theory is hair density and darkness - my cheeks are really sparse and somewhat more orange, but my mustache is dense and dark.

[Mermaid]

Yay! Yay! My hairs are starting to fall out! Will it get better in the next few days, as in, even more hairs falling out? Only noticed this happening today!

[JesseG]

Woo, congrats! I'm seeing the same. I hope most of my current hair will go in the next few days.

I'm bracing myself for the inevitable growth of the next cycle of hair in a month or so... all my friends said the same thing "the first batch falls out, it feels great, and then the next batch grows in". Takes a lot of treatments to approach the hair-free ideal.

[AnneB]

My question is, shaving the day or two afterwards (like for work).. can it be done, and would the bumps/redness remain?  I must have a clean shave on my chin for work, the lip area for moustache is ok, no need to be clean, but the chin is a must.. so if I get laser on.. Tuesday or Wednesday, can I do a clean shave (like elec shaver) for Friday?  Will the redness/bumps/swelling be gone?

[JesseG]

Hi Paula,
My laser tech said no shaving / makeup / anything for 2 days. But hey, the good news is that the growth is much slower now - my day 4 looked like 1.5 day stubble!

My face was indeed very red and bumpy for a day or two. It gradually subsided after a couple days. I was paranoid and didn't actually shave for about 4 days. Also, I was extra careful about keeping my face clean and I used an after-sunburn clear aloe gel to soothe the skin. I really didn't want any breakouts.

I suspect if you do it Tuesday and want to shave Friday you should be ok.

One thing to keep in mind: your now-dead hairs may respond differently to your razor. Leave yourself ample time that morning. For me, I found that a whole bunch of the hairs didn't want to get shaved. I changed to a brand-new razor blade, did two passes, and still, some were sticking out. I didn't feel any resistance, but it's like my skin got all rubbery - I'd pass over them, and they just wouldn't get grabbed by the razor. So my day-4 shave was actually kind of scraggly looking.

Oh, and I just did a day-10 shave last evening - possibly the smoothest shave of my life. That was about 15 hours ago, and my face is still baby-butt smooth to the touch. Normally my face turns to sandpaper 4h after shaving.

[zerglingrunby]

After my first session I got pretty red/bumpy. I tried shaving about 8 hours later .. horrible mistake! So many cuts and half the hairs didn't even get cut close enough. Looked pretty rough.

After my second session I waited a day for the redness to subside - shaving was much better! No cuts and much closer shave.

It's about a week until my third session now and I'd say I have like 60% reduction in facial hair. My mustache and some bits on my chin are being stubborn, so I think we will have to bump up the settings!

[Mermaid]

I lost a ton of hair now and more keeps fallin off. This is permanent or will it regrow ?

[JesseG]

Hi Mermaid,
I understand this was your first session, right? You'll have more hair come out, sorry.

Your hair isn't all visible at once - it grows in cycles. The laser only zaps what's out there right now. A good portion of your follicles lay dormant in your skin, and won't be affected by the laser. The growth cycle times vary depending on what part of the body we're talking, and also from person to person. I heard the beard / mustache area is like 4-8 weeks.

So your first laser session will permanently kill a good portion of the currently active follicles, and those hairs take 2 weeks to fall out, good right? Except that in several weeks or so the next batch of dormant hairs will "wake up" and grow in. That's why the laser clinic asks to space out your sessions - they're aiming for your second wave, and third wave, and so on.

I've heard various things from people, such as 4 - 5 sessions before you're fairly consistently clear. Other people said they needed 12+ sessions to be really clear. And some hairs will not get affected by the laser (like clear / white hairs), and either you'll have to keep shaving those, or get electrolysis for them.

[@Diana]

talking about laser, made me wanna do my armpits now lmao 

[Mermaid]

Okay, 17 days after my laser session, I'm very pleased with the results! I literally lost half or more of my facial hair! I haven't shaved since Monday and as of Friday, I look totally, totally different. I look completely stupid because of how my cheeks look clear and there's only patches of hair here and there, mostly on my upper lip and chin. My hair's very dark and my skin's pale, so that must've helped! So happy.

[JessikaBlackMage]

So for me I have had 5 sessions on my full legs with the Soprano XL laser and I definitely have less hair on my legs , I had 7 on my face and while there was some reduction , it wasn't as much as I had hoped and I still have to shave my face and my legs.

Now recently I started laser hair removal sessions at American Laser Skincare on the same areas full face and full legs. Their laser is the gentlemax pro which is extremely promising for me because I don't have super dark hair nor is it super light.

from the GMP website

It is a dual wavelength laser platform that combines the fastest and most powerful 755 nm Alexandrite laser with the 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser for high performance treatment capabilities in terms of speed, efficacy, ease-of-use, outstanding performance, safety and patient satisfaction.

It was rather painful for me so I did manage to get thru the leg sessions but decided to wait on starting the face area sessions until I could get some numbing cream. I am not sure how this lasers results will fare against the previous one as it's too early to tell, but it seems to be less hair on my legs. I am still waiting for the hairs on my legs to fall out.

The hair on my legs are much finer than it was when I started transitioning. So it seems it will be effective in the long run.

[JesseG]

Mermaid, same as you, I'm very light-skinned with dark hair. 3 weeks after session #1 - I've got very noticeable decrease in hair density.

In terms of smoothness of skin, darkness of beard shadow, and frequency of breakouts, a huge improvement. I have an uncanny look now. Not necessarily more feminine, more androgynous. I sort of look like a guy that put on foundation, lol.

Mostly what's left is a sparse growth of clear hairs, which is why I still have to shave periodically. And I see some of the new batch of dark hairs starting to come out.

Jessica, re: the pain. I'm definitely planning to use more of the Lidocaine gel for my mustache / jaw area next time. It hurt like hell last time.

[JessikaBlackMage]

Mermaid, same as you, I'm very light-skinned with dark hair. 3 weeks after session #1 - I've got very noticeable decrease in hair density.

In terms of smoothness of skin, darkness of beard shadow, and frequency of breakouts, a huge improvement. I have an uncanny look now. Not necessarily more feminine, more androgynous. I sort of look like a guy that put on foundation, lol.

Mostly what's left is a sparse growth of clear hairs, which is why I still have to shave periodically. And I see some of the new batch of dark hairs starting to come out.

Jessica, re: the pain. I'm definitely planning to use more of the Lidocaine gel for my mustache / jaw area next time. It hurt like hell last time.

apparently the gentlemax pro laser can even target the light ones cause I felt in places where the hair was very light. The Gentlemax Pro laser is just a completely different concept of laser because it's two lasers in one. it's also got the cryogen to cool the skin it helps a little but it does still hurt. The problem I have is irritation from shaving. Next time I am gonna take some pain pills before I go in to for the sessions, also they are gonna use the lidocaine.