Just had my second session (of 8 planned). I have medium/dark hair and I'm fair skinned. The first session was really quite painful, but for the second I had a very close shave immediately before and took some ibuprofen, these made it totally fine, just some mild discomfort. There was a very definite reduction in hair after the first session, quite patchy regrowth followed, and I'm hoping for a further reduction this time. I'm in the UK, so I'm afraid I'm no help on locations, but I had proper laser, not IPL. Aside redness after each session, I'd say my skin is better than before, because I already get far less razor rash. Hope this helps. Meg.