Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I have a friend that bought the Tria laser hair remover. She brought it over for me to try. She did a small test patch up on my sideburns this morning. It felt like a bee sting. I flintched on the first few hairs. I am still a bit reluctant on using this on my face but I think it should be ok as the power can be adjusted. Has anyone here tried the tria? And if so what are your thoughts on it.

Hugs
Bethany

Now that I see this thread, I'm curious about it as well. I did a bit of digging on it and looked through the reviews on Amazon. I think it would be okay for small patches, but for somebody, like me, who needs their whole body done, it would be impractical to use. It has a small, quarter inch head, and the battery only lasts for about 20-30 minutes at a time. So some spot touch ups or underarms, that kind of thing would be okay, but legs/chest/full beard would talk all day since the thing takes 3 hours to recharge.

I simply don't have the money to pay to have it done so this is my only option. Tomorrow the face next week my chest. I need help using it so it will take me a while to get where I want to be. But the price is right.

I know how you feel. Save that I also have to do my back, my shoulders, my butt....  :embarrassed:
I also know that I'm going to have to electrolysis my beard since it's mostly red/grey around the mouth and chin. I'm still looking into it to help cut down on the amount that I'd have to pay to get these done.

I am very lucky that I don't have very much body hair. There is nothing on my back. My legs are very light. Chest is not that bad. So it's really my face that i am most concerned with

Seriously thank you for posting this. Holy wow! Awesome. I've been checking this thing out all day.

I have been getting facial hair removal treatment with the LightSheer diode laser, and I read somewhere earlier that the Tria is made by the same company. Also found out it is a 810nm wavelength laser = bingooo!

I am DEFINITELY getting one (the new 4X). I have had such good results from the LightSheer after just 3 sessions, I trust that the Tria will have a similar effect now that I know the specs are ideal- and the reviews are looking great too.

I would definitely be weary using it on a full/thick beard, probably want a skilled technician for that. My beard has thinned out immensely though (50-60% maybe even more after 3 sessions). I feel pretty confident that on a medium to medium high setting it will be fine for upper lip & chin. Also I have my fourth session scheduled in two weeks so I'm going to wait a few weeks after that to start using it, because I expect there will be even less to treat. The doctor doing my laser is simply amazing, but I am just too impatient to "wait to get my money's worth". I'd much rather be on a two week schedule than a 6 week schedule just so we can see more regrowth, which I have none and I just want the days of cruddy makeup to cover spotty beard shadow to be done and over with as fast as possible.

Technically it is not FDA approved to use on the face in the US, and same in the UK. But, it is approved in Japan for use on the face where it has been on the market since 04. Plenty of people have been using Tria on the face and I have seen no bad reviews of people getting burned or scarred. It's a much smaller aperture (1/4") so the risk of burn is probably a lot less as long as you aren't going over the same skin incessantly. It will make touch ups a no-brainer. Do it in the privacy of your own home at no cost past the initial investment... Sounds absolutely incredible.

It will be great for other areas of the body so I'm getting it regardless, and I'm going to share with my GG roommates too- they are equally excited :D

THANKS again!

Can I say Oh dear.

For male pattern hair the general reports are a waste of time.

Several points. BTW Barbie one of our members in Korea who is a gorgeous woman swear by it. I think she is one of few.

Jennygirl, hair growth is cyclical, the 6-9 week period is to hit the next growth cycle, yes it is frustrating, but upping to 2 weeks does nothing but damage your skin. Yes I know how horrible waiting and shedding is. Been there.

The power of the lasers used on me was 220kj/cm (from memory) I had full facial hair. It wasn't a bee sting. It also worked. I had 9 sessions I'm hair free, it took 18 months. But noticable loss after 4/6 sessions in that I no longer needed makeup at all to cover facial hair. I also had my chest and tummy done, together with Spiro I now have normal female hair distribution.

The big lasers cost $250,000 the Tria costs $200-500 depending on the country. The big lasers need trained people to use them, the Tria's are toys that anyone can use.  They are obviously equivalent!

Cynthia is having laser at the same place I did and it will be interesting to bring her in as she said she has a thick facial beard area.

I hate to say it but as in everything in life if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

A person with faint hair - go for it, but they also can get treated in normal beauty saloons with the little lasers they use. They don't work on people with 'hair' sadly.

Cindy.

I'll post this to Cynthias's thread to expand discussion.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,136464.new.html#new (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,136464.new.html#new)

Just a link to Cynthia's thread.

This stuff is important and very expensive so we need to discuss.

Bethnay we need to think of ways of getting you zapped under a care program maybe?

C

Quote from: Bethany Dawn on March 05, 2013, 09:04:11 AM
I have a friend that bought the Tria laser hair remover. She brought it over for me to try. She did a small test patch up on my sideburns this morning. It felt like a bee sting. I flintched on the first few hairs. I am still a bit reluctant on using this on my face but I think it should be ok as the power can be adjusted. Has anyone here tried the tria? And if so what are your thoughts on it.

Hugs
Bethany

Okay, I have a friend and former member here who has one of those she uses for body hair.

When she tried it on her face, at the high setting, she said it made her cry, and that she had to take Advil before trying again.

She did one session on her face, and it was particularly painful where the hair was darkest and thickest; sideburns and 'stache.

She has had some professional laser done before on her cheeks and neck.  I think I want to give it a try, but not on my face.

Quote from: Jamie D on March 06, 2013, 04:00:45 AM
Okay, I have a friend and former member here who has one of those she uses for body hair.

When she tried it on her face, at the high setting, she said it made her cry, and that she had to take Advil before trying again.

She did one session on her face, and it was particularly painful where the hair was darkest and thickest; sideburns and 'stache.

She has had some professional laser done before on her cheeks and neck.  I think I want to give it a try, but not on my face.

This so much.

Facial scarring. burns and blindness are not good.

I actually cannot think of having my face lasered by someone who doesn't know what they are doing. I can assure you I have had my face cleared. It's painful, it's great, I have a nice pretty face, I love it and I look in the mirror and it reflects my femininity and I feel awesome and nice. Sorry but I cry at the  thought of being scarred.

Actually I'm going on expand on that. And funny I feel quite emotional about it.

I'm vain. I like how I look. I take care with my make up and I get incredible and indescribable self enjoyment on seeing myself in the mirror.  I like how I present. I'm proud of that. It is a very big part of me.

I do go to the loo when I get to work and I do check my hair and make up. It is important to me that I look good. It is important to me

I like being me and I have no words to describe it.  Vanity is not a curse, for me it is being and presenting as me.

To risk burning my face off with a toy? Same as going to mexico for SRS, the clinics there advertise that they can make a hole between your legs for next to nothing. Christine McGinn or Marci Bower charge a fortune in comparison.

I'm saving my money.

Sorry if that all sounds odd.

The staff at the home where I live got wind of the plan to use the tria, and put a stop to it until they are fairly certain  that it's safe to use. I don't blame them for this. In fact I'm glad they did as I don't want to put my face or any other part of my body at risk for burns and scaring. But I know the real reason why they stoped it is just to protect themselves incase something bad happened. And they would have done the same if I had bought it myself. I hate the fact that they in essence don't let me make my own decisions but in this case they are right.

Now as far as the test patch yesterday goes I dont think think it was on the highest setting but since it was being operated by someone else, I'm not sure what it was on.

Please anyone that is thinking of buying the tria because of my post yesterday, do some research yourself. Don't be swayed by what I said. I would hate to hear of anyone getting hurt because of my initial praise of the tria.

Hugs
Bethany

Yeah ditto.

Cindy of course speaking a lot of heartfelt truths here. Thank you, Cindy :)

I am still going to get one of these, but will be using it on other parts of the body because agree about the face- ESPECIALLY for male type facial hair. Burns / scars scare the s*** outta me the most.

Bethany, did it burn her on the highest setting? If I were going to try it out at all at this point, it would be a small little test patch at first on medium setting. She dove right in at the high setting over the whole face huh? Dang girl!

The thing I agree w/ most, do your research! I would hate hate hate to hear of anyone getting hurt because of my posts. Thank you for mentioning that Bethany.

I had one zap at the highest seetting then had the person helping me turn it down. To what setting it was moved to I don't know. But at the highest setting it was just a bad bee sting I have no red marks or burns where it was tested.
A few minutes after being zapped the sensation of the sting was gone. Now I am only speaking for myself here. I would be willing to try it again on my face but in a spot like the sideburns, and take it from there.
I have no idea what it would feel like over the upper lip.

Well if its anything like the lightsheer that I've been getting, it would probably hurt like #%*$&. On a fresh untreated upper lip, I'm sure using the highest setting is asking for it. The laser is approved for men & women in Japan though, even on the face. It's also been in the market there the longest.

Glad to hear you didn't have any scarring. If I do try it at all on the face it won't be until after my 4th session when I hope to be much clearer.

Hi guys!
Like Cindy said a few posts ago, I've only recently started laser and although I can't remember the model that they use its big and grey/white and looks like a washing machine. Does that help?
HAhahaha, Joking! I'll ask what model it is next time I'm in.
Cindy is right on the money with the timing of hair growth, thats why it (unfortunately) takes so long and why people on electro need so many appointments, you need to catch every hair follicle at a particular growth phase in order for the treatment to be effective.
I've gone through the safety and potential scarring topics with my nurse/laser tech (who has been doing it for a long time) and one of the biggest risks (other than scarring and burns) is of hyperpigmentation from a combination of things. So basically, using too high a setting, frequently hitting the same spot, sun exposure (I always wear sunscreen whenever I walk outside now), all sorts of things that pretty much mean you need to know what you are doing, otherwise you can end up with blotchy patches all over your face. Permanently. Does not appeal to me!
Scarring <shudder> is the one thing that scares the hell out of me with it all. When we consider that its a "freakin' laser beam" that we are pointing at ourselves I really wouldn't trust myself with it, let alone someone that hasn't been trained or has much experience.
I can totally relate to the money thing, I am currently experiencing some "fiscal difficulties" and I think that in order to get a good result we need to fork out for it. You get what you pay for. This is our body we are playing with and in the same way that I could never consider shonky hormones or anything bought over the net (I mean really, it could be rat poison for all we know) and I truly believe that we need to take care of ourselves.
We need to budget for these things and for me $100 a month is chicken feed for the end result of having little to no facial hair. That works out to be about a coffee a day. I like coffee, I would love a coffee a day but I'd LOVE to have a clean hairless face!
Not trying to scare the crap out of anyone and going a bit medical/nursing on you, laser is super heating the hair follicle at a particular stage of hair growth in order to literally burn it to death. Consider the amount of energy required to do that and then think how risky that could be. I trust medical practitioners and people specifically trained to do such a job, particularly those who have years of experience (not to mention good recommendations) to do such things but I wouldn't trust myself.
In closing this rant, and apologies, it is a rant, I wouldn't recommend it. Next time I'm in I'll ask my nurse about the tria and other home setups and get back to you all. Not for a few weeks though :(
Hope I have been useful!

Cynths

I dunno if they just recently added this (I didn't notice before) but the FDA has cleared it to be safe to use on the face.

Well, I'm going to give it a shot.... I just ordered one (the new 4X) :D

I'm going read the manual extensively and then probably start at a lower setting than suggested on a small test patch first to see how it goes. I'll keep you updated!

Looks like a post of mine got deleted or went poof?

Weird.

Did I break forum rules somehow? If so, I'm sorry :(

I just got an email notification saying someone posted in the early am yet there was no new post.  Very weird.

I posted something about my first experience with the device and then it went poof!

I'll summarize again though...

Used it on my chest at highest setting (5) and this morning tons of hairs ejected when I shaved. No skin redness or irritation whatsoever. I didn't have many hairs there so it was more like a spot treatment wherever I saw a hair, it worked well on this part thats for sure!

Then I got brave and used it on the spots left on my cheeks, chin, and finally upper lip which has the most still there. I used setting 3 for the face. I smelled burning hair! My thought is, it's gotta be doing something- or at the very least helping to weaken the root. After all this is a real 810nm diode laser just like the LightSheer. The pain was much less than the "real thing" but next time I will probably try a 4 because my skin is tooootally fine- not a bit of redness. I did tear up a little bit for the upper lip though, it was painful like it should be! And I did use my numbing cream :)

I did have a little more trouble getting a close shave this morning which is familiar, but nowhere near the aftermath of the pro laser. I guess we will see if I get any ejections in the next couple of weeks. My thought is I will have to turn it up one notch. My fingers are crossed anyway. Ideally I would like to use the lowest setting possible.

My next pro laser session is set for the 20th so I'm not going to use it again until a few weeks after that... beginning of April or so.

I'll update if I notice any hair ejections from the face this week.

The site was migrated last night to its new server and there were posts and stuff going on. Most staff email links were cut and had to be restored and posts went and reappeared etc.

Don't panic just yet.

You should notice a considerable increase in speed etc and we have a massive increase in capacity.

Quote from: Cindy James on March 10, 2013, 06:06:54 AM
The site was migrated last night to its new server and there were posts and stuff going on. Most staff email links were cut and had to be restored and posts went and reappeared etc.

Don't panic just yet.

You should notice a considerable increase in speed etc and we have a massive increase in capacity.

Not a problem at all. I appreciate the improvements, it does seem zippier! :D

Lots more to come as well.

Just a little update

I guess it's been exactly a week since I treated with the tria... And guess what!?

Hair ejections! I was FINALLY about to go to bed when I exfoliated my face and noticed a few super short hairs showed up on the pad. I ever so gently tugged on a few upper lip hairs that seemed to be "growing" faster than the others (sign of a dead hair getting pushed out), and they fell out as well! There are more but I don't want to get greedy. No plucking!! :police:

So, it's working for my face on medium setting. Heck yeah!

Too excited not to post about it. Ok goodnight, susans!

One alternative to the Tria is the Silk'n SenseEpil. Their online store, http://shop.silkn.com/ (http://shop.silkn.com/) is selling with a 15% off promo code (CHIC) off all their products including replacement lamps. Keep in mind I can't vouch for the efficacy of the system as I've yet to personally use either product, but it does get decent reviews.

I bought & used one a year or so ago. It seemed to work however it did burn my face on high setting. Be careful.

Sammy, I would give it to you if I still had it. But I gave it to goodwill. It works, but it did burn my face some, upper lip area had tough hair & used maximum setting & it did burn me, I stopped using it.

The product works well, well made, just be careful if you purchase & use one. 

I love lasing...
I have all jet black hair....I'm a north American Indian
From the Alaska B.C. border

I was going to get the tria....

But my laser tech is going to do a full body pass for
An awesome price...she is an awesome woman...

It is safe to do a full body pass hehehe
So tria....is a good thought very good indeed...
If you don't have thousands to drop for a lightsheer

Sammy,

it was a year or so ago when I purchased & tried the Tria. I'm not sure of the model number. After it burned me I just stopped.

Good luck with it, maybe the newer model is more safe. It worked well everywhere except on my face, upper lip area was real sensitive.

Repeat here:

As I posted in other threads, Tria worked very well for me (black hair).

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,102684.0.html (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,102684.0.html)

I purchased it in October 2010, and I do not have noticeable hairs in my legs, armpits and beard area. Still I see a few fine and long hairs growing. As my skin becomes darker and darker in summer, using Tria is not desirable, and I save those fine hairs for another round of treatment in the upcoming fall. I am going to use Tria every six months to remove those fine fine long hairs.

For the first year, I irregularly used it, as I am usually busy doing other jobs. A merit of Tria is that you can treat by yourself whenever you have leizure time. You not need to make reservation, waiting in doctor's office. And it is far less expensive than professional laser treatment, but it give the same results, at least to me.

Remember that you need to be patient. It may take several rounds of Tria treatment to see any noticeable reduction in hairs. In my case, it took more than 1 year.

Barbie~~

Thanks for the info!

May I ask what was your regimen starting out for the beard area? Like, how many treatments in a month?

I am having session 5 of pro laser next week, and I've only got 1 more left from a package deal so I'm thinking I might switch to tria afterwards since I already have one (I've really only been irregularly using it on chest and forearms so far and it does seem to be working).

Thanks again for posting here :)

Quote from: barbie on April 21, 2013, 01:57:25 PM
Repeat here:

As I posted in other threads, Tria worked very well for me (black hair).

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,102684.0.html (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,102684.0.html)

I purchased it in October 2010, and I do not have noticeable hairs in my legs, armpits and beard area. Still I see a few fine and long hairs growing. As my skin becomes darker and darker in summer, using Tria is not desirable, and I save those fine hairs for another round of treatment in the upcoming fall. I am going to use Tria every six months to remove those fine fine long hairs.

For the first year, I irregularly used it, as I am usually busy doing other jobs. A merit of Tria is that you can treat by yourself whenever you have leizure time. You not need to make reservation, waiting in doctor's office. And it is far less expensive than professional laser treatment, but it give the same results, at least to me.

Remember that you need to be patient. It may take several rounds of Tria treatment to see any noticeable reduction in hairs. In my case, it took more than 1 year.

Barbie~~

Quote from: Jennygirl on April 22, 2013, 03:30:53 AM
Thanks for the info!

May I ask what was your regimen starting out for the beard area? Like, how many treatments in a month?

I am having session 5 of pro laser next week, and I've only got 1 more left from a package deal so I'm thinking I might switch to tria afterwards since I already have one (I've really only been irregularly using it on chest and forearms so far and it does seem to be working).

Thanks again for posting here :)

As I know, it take about a month for a hair to grow again. During the initial stage, you may treat your beat area once per month. Initially, it is a little bit painful, but it will less painful while you treat again and again. You can start at a lower level of power.

For larger areas such as legs, I could not treat all hairs once. I just shaved the hair one by one, and zipped at the point where the hair was just removed. You may treat your legs partially by every two weeks.

I did not shave my beard area during the last 6 months, and still see some fine hairs growing again. I may strike again as the summer is coming.

Good luck!

Barbie~~

I purchased and used a Tria laser 1 or 2 years ago, it worked fair however it burned my face some. Does any member have the newer model #4, if so any reports on it's performance?

$450.00 seems to be the current price, so it's expensive. I do not think the older model was as expensive.

Thanks

Francis.

I just started Tria-ing the face and neck areas tonight. It's been two weeks since the last professional laser session in my package (I had six pro laser treatments).

Now it's time to see if the Tria can finish the job by hitting it every two weeks. I have high hopes based on the amount of pain I just experienced with barely ANY visible beard shadow AND numbing cream applied. It felt like a toned down version of the LightSheer - which for anyone who's done their research... is exactly what it is ;) The actual laser inside is made by the same company.

The aftermath is nothing compared to the pro laser, though. No complaints there that is for sure.

Quote from: Sammy on June 13, 2013, 04:34:27 AM
I am actively sniping those Tria kits on e-bay at the moment :P By the way, what is the US retail price of it?

$450 via amazon

If I can get the same as 3 pro laser sessions out of it, it will have paid for itself.

Also... It's been about an hour and a half and my face is still slightly warm... Just like the pro laser.

Quote from: Sammy on June 13, 2013, 04:46:43 AM
Yeah, I know - unfortunately amazon does not ship to my corner of the European Union. I have seen them on e-bay for ridiculous prices like 600 USD + shipping. I also figured out that in long term it is cheaper than doing it outside of home, plus unlike with the IPL systems, which require rechargeable lamps, Tria is just "everything in the box" product - unless You screw up the battery.

Even then, most lithium cells are interchangeable with a little electrical & soldering know how. I'm sure if that ever happened to mine I would crack the case and hook up my own wall-wart power supply ;) And if I do have to do that, I'll be sure to make a youtube video of it as well. I think it's way cruddy when manufacturers embed a battery into a device... making customers feel forced to buy again after a certain amount of use has been reached and the battery dies.

I'm 1 month into treatments on arms, legs, torso, and underarms. (Warning: Never ever ever tria a mole)

Does anyone know if the effectiveness of treatments extends beyond the 8-week advertised limit? So, if I keep tria'ing until the thing dies, is each one still effective?

Quote from: Sammy on June 13, 2013, 06:52:22 AM
Can You "tria" those areas which are close to nipples?

Technically? Or "without severe emotional scarring"?

Lulz. Awesome question Sammy ;D

Quote from: Sammy on June 13, 2013, 07:08:01 AM
I believe "technically" one could tria a hedgehog too. I have no idea how much this thing hurts - that girl on YT ad is doing it very casually without any cremes and emotional response etc. If I do it close to my nipples, which I otherwise would have to pluck - not a big deal anyway, given the scarcity of my body hair - would I instantly regret this decision or just well... be kinda a bit upset?

Judging by my reaction to a moderately sensitive area (the back of the knee, or the armpit)...
I'd say, yes, regret would be immediate and complete.

I would recommend getting some anesthetic ointment from a local laser salon or doctor's office. It doesn't take the pain away completely, but it does help!

I use it there and for the little bit of random hairs on chest. It hurts a little but definitely less than underarms on the highest setting but there is also significantly less hairs there not that i had much anyway.

As use it on arms and legs on highest setting. As far as face, well i'm a sissy the lowest two settings with cream make me tear up so i'm getting face and neck professionally done. Overall i'd say the results aren't too bad but it does take longer to use but also much cheaper than having it done.

Week two with Tria v4 on the face on highest setting.. This thing works: I've been having ejections like crazy. I love the Tria. Still hurts like a mofo and I like that.... (means it's working)

By the way I cannot even imagine how painful this would be without having quite a bit of professional laser first. I highly doubt I will be back in there though, much to the chagrin of my doc ;)

Glad it's working well for you also. I still dont want to try on upper lip or chin again for awhile but still works great other places without cussing. Seems like the results for this and professional laser on face reduce my hair about a third each time so i would say pretty painful but effective and definitely worth it. I hope it doesn't wear out.

This sounds promising. I was at 3 hair removal procedures,  and if that tool really works well it should save me bundle of money in a long term. I will look at amazon, I hope they deliver to my country. At ebay it costs incredible 699usd! 

Holy crud this thing actually works?  Anyone with long term results?  Especially on beards.

You all are really making me want to get one of these, especially since the deals on groupon are getting kind of cheap and shady (lots of IPL, most deals now have a limit of 180 or 90 days as opposed to the 6 months they used to). Could anyone provide any updates? I'm so on the fence about dropping $500 on one.

@Jennygirl:
I really hope you make that tutorial or that I can at least find one elsewhere. I've fixed a lot of my own electronics, but I've never done soldering. That would go a long way towards feeling comfortable buying one of these things.

I think, mostly, I'd like to know how permanent the results seem to be. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but the Tria is expensive, and while I can't wait to get all the hair off of my body, being a good saver and smart consumer is a huge part of transition.

so does tria work better on very light skin?  And also even better when the hairs are lighter?

Quote from: SoapiSophie on September 27, 2013, 07:57:46 PM
so does tria work better on very light skin?  And also even better when the hairs are lighter?

Light skin, yes. Light hair, no.

Any proper laser treatment targets dark pigmentation, so if everything is light colored it will have no effect. Conversely, if you have dark skin it will target everything and burn! That's why the tria has a skin brightness sensor as part of its start-up routine.

Also, I've been using it on my face and I continue to get hair ejections :) I went in for another pro laser session in late August because I was going to the desert and did not want to shave, but it appears that the Tria is a wonderful complement. I've been using it on my upper torso and bikini line as well, and I've barely any hair left there!

Just last week I found an unused Tria 4x from my craigslist for $225. Before that I was using a modified One Touch Electrolysis to remove my beard hair. Works, but sloooowly, and left behind red spots or pimple looking things after use. <They heal up in a few days, no biggie

I'm hoping the Tria will help me spend less time on hair removal and also get me some results faster than the One Touch.

I'll share my experience once I see results!

I read through the book and wasn't too sure how often to use it at first. I heard somewhere about 2 weeks between treatments on the same spot, but that was just something online that I read and not from the instruction book.

Oh, and I got it for $225 because the original owner bought it, and then read that you shouldn't use it if you are pregnant. Well, she already had the child, but thought that she still would not be able to use it, sort of like how some medications work. I can only imagine that the "don't use if you are pregnant" is more of a liability thing and mainly applies to when you are carrying the child, but who knows. I'm just happy I got such a great deal! 

Thanks Emily! That's a beautiful name, my girlfriend shares it with you :D Thanks for your reply. I haven't tried the numbing, glad to hear (before I bought any) that it doesn't really help on the upper lip area. That area was really bad with my One Touch Electrolysis also. Much pain, and it would always make me have  to sneeze, lol.

I think I will use the Tria a bit more frequently than 2 weeks now. I would hate to go through all the hassle and not be using it enough. Since posting on here I read somewhere that the older models were 2 weeks and the 4x is 1 week, as apparently it is easier for people to do something weekly than every other week. 3 - 4 days sounds good too, and it's good to hear that you eventually became able to do it at 5. All I heard on here was people using it at 5, but I could hardly stand 3! I've found it's much easier when I have someone else do it for me.

Your face looks very nice and shadow free on your profile avatar, glad to see it is working for you! Can't wait to come back here and say how great it was for me :D

Quote from: -Emily- on October 02, 2013, 04:55:22 AM
I plucked some hairs out to make the area less covered and so the treatment was more bearable at the beginning. Of course, what I plucked could not be zapped, but they came out eventually and I zapped them too! Cheers and good luck :)

Yes. You already figured out how to use Tria efficiently and properly. For the beard area, it will take far more time than you initially expected, but do not hurry as that area can be burned and damaged, requiring time to regenerate.

barbie~~

I have the tria. I didnt use it on my face, I got the done by a pro. I did use it on other areas and it has worked very well for me. I'm the perfect laser candidate though, with pale skin and dark hair. It takes a while to use, but if you're patient and keep at it, it will work.

I've been using it on my bikini line, chest & happy trail, and just started armpits.

Bikini line is finally starting to get there, happy trail is GONE, any hair on my chest is GONE (wasn't much to start with there), and excited to have less armpit hair to deal with! Yay!

I decided to go back in for some more pro sessions on my face, because as Barbie mentioned the tria does work very slowly there... Too slow for me right now. I was getting hair ejections 4 or 5 days after using it, but nowhere near what my doctor can do with his full LightSheer setup. Probably 100 hair ejections on the spot in the office. You can't beat that!

What I do like about Tria on the face is that if done properly it seems like it's less load on the skin. Like, there is no recovery time after using tria on the face. It's red for a few hours and then good to go. After an office visit, it's literally a week to 10 days of feeling like I look like crap until I finally start to benefit from the results.

I do think it will be useful in the future to do maintenance / touch ups as needed on the face. It will be very nice to have when that time arrives :)

Quote from: -Emily- on October 11, 2013, 03:16:41 AM
Yes, it is similar for me with happy trail and chest hair (but I also had very little on the chest, to start with). I am a bit hesitant about armpits, because i am afraid it would hurt like hell and the area would get irritated by clothes and such as... So, does it? I agree about face that it is not that strong as reviews I have read from other girls here, but for me the swelling from lvl 5 is gone mostly gone within 30 mins and remaining redness is gone overnight (that's why I usually do that in the evening before my bedtime).

For me, the easiest part was actually arm pits. Actually there are no so many hairs in arm pits and you can greatly reduce hairs by treating just 3 or 4 times. It took less than 30 min for each session. But it is better to apply some moisture cream after Tria. For other parts, too, if your skin is sensitive, then you have better apply moisture cream after Tria session.

barbie~~

Yeah I just did my armpits yesterday on setting 3 for the first time. I knew I would definitely not be able to handle 5 the first time. 3 was totally manageable right after showering & shaving.

Yeah you are right barbie, the hair is sparse and coarse. What a weird combo! Oh well, easier to zap!

Quote from: Jennygirl on October 11, 2013, 03:46:32 AM
Yeah you are right barbie, the hair is sparse and coarse. What a weird combo! Oh well, easier to zap!

At first, I used a mirror to see and zap arm pit hairs, but later realized that I can see my arm pits directly, far easier to zap.

barbie~~

To those of you saying the Tria is not as strong on the face, if you don't mind me asking, is it still clearing your face up? Is it taking drastically longer than a clinical visit?

As long as it works and it doesn't take years, it still sounds good to me. I was under the impression that the Tria would take about the same amount of time as having laser done professionally, if only because you can treat aggressively with the Tria (and not miss the hair growth phase), but appointments need to be made with clinics and are several weeks apart.

I don't know, I'm not wholly enlightened on laser; but I can't help but wonder if the Tria is still okay for your face.

Quote from: Sybil on October 17, 2013, 06:56:29 PM
To those of you saying the Tria is not as strong on the face, if you don't mind me asking, is it still clearing your face up? Is it taking drastically longer than a clinical visit?

As long as it works and it doesn't take years, it still sounds good to me. I was under the impression that the Tria would take about the same amount of time as having laser done professionally, if only because you can treat aggressively with the Tria (and not miss the hair growth phase), but appointments need to be made with clinics and are several weeks apart.

I don't know, I'm not wholly enlightened on laser; but I can't help but wonder if the Tria is still okay for your face.

I think that visits to clinics are 4 weeks apart because there wouldn't be any point in doing it sooner. You zap all the hair you can on one visit, then need to wait a couple weeks for shedding and then a little while longer for other hairs to enter their growth phase, then you can zap those.

Quote from: Thylacin on October 17, 2013, 08:10:12 PM
I think that visits to clinics are 4 weeks apart because there wouldn't be any point in doing it sooner. You zap all the hair you can on one visit, then need to wait a couple weeks for shedding and then a little while longer for other hairs to enter their growth phase, then you can zap those.

To my understanding, the Tria laser suggests you should use it weekly. I think this is more of user-precaution on their part, since they expect users not to know when the growth phase is.

Thank you Emily, that reply really helps me understand better.

I am also a fan of the TRIA system. I bought mine late September and have been using it on my chest, happy trail, and bikini line every 2 weeks. I'm seeing great results with my chest and happy trail, the hair has become much finer and less dense in these areas. My bikini line is taking a lot longer, but I'm definitely seeing a change. I'm still hesitant to use it on my face though.

Wow. How did I not know about this?

It takes time, effort and $$$. Yet it saves money in the long run. Also, it is your time and effort. Not a miracle, but it makes the professional job easier and cheaper.

I think I am sold, but at this time of the year, I wonder if an even newer model is on the horizon.

A few questions.

Is the volume adjustable or can I tape over the speaker? That will annoy at least one neighbor. I guarantee.

Can the 4x run while plugged in?

Is the 300 charge thing a guesstimate, or does it lock you out at that point?

Could Nair work, rather than shaving (way fewer ingrown hairs, so, if you do not get chemical burn...)?

Those who used/use it, is the Tria worth it?

Is it worth starting on male pattern hair, or should one focus on female pattern hair?

Sheesh! Lots of questions. Sorry. This isn't life or death. Just curious.

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMIs the volume adjustable or can I tape over the speaker?

I don't think the volume is adjustable. You might not want to tape over it as there is a cooling fan that uses those mesh type parts. when the fan kicks in, usually after 50-100 goes on 5, the beep sounds less loud. also, if you played some music at a reasonable volume, the beep shouldn't be too annoying to others. maybe you could play some beeby electronic music and it'd blend right in  :laugh:

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMCan the 4x run while plugged in?

No it will not run while plugged in, the electrical specs of the battery seem to be printed on the the bottom so when my batter runs out, i might try and tinker with bypassing the battery, but this is Frankenstein possibly unsafe meddling that i couldn't recommend

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMIs the 300 charge thing a guesstimate, or does it lock you out at that point?

It does a special beep at 150 and at 300, but you can keep going. I've found that my battery, after doing level 5 only, starts to go down after about 300. I've read alot about lithium batteries and they don't like getting too low, so i baby my battery. I use it all over my face and it takes maybe 300-500 for that.

^speaking of my face: i had previously used a one touch One Touch Deluxe Electrolysis on my upper lip and chin, basically all the easy to get to spots. i'm not selling that product, just letting y'all know that i had already done some work. fyi i modified it to use pro needles and i also modified the trigger mechanism. it works, permanant removal.
^^sidetracked, back to laser. so i had already done some work on my upper lip and chin, but from what i'm seeing with the laser my neck is the first place ejecting hairs, and my upper lip seems to be pretty bare now. i never did much electro on the sides of my chin, and that area is currently at the point where the hair is becoming lighter and less vigorous... i'm maybe a month and a half in, using it every week, maybe 3 times every 2 weeks like emily

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMCould Nair work, rather than shaving (way fewer ingrown hairs, so, if you do not get chemical burn...)?

I haven't had problems with ingrown hair. i'm scared of nair. i've read you shouldn't pluck lasered hairs but let them fall out. you can continue to shave i believe

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMThose who used/use it, is the Tria worth it?

well, i got mine for $225 new off a local craigslist so for me, absolutely. i think it would still be worth it had i paid full price.

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMIs it worth starting on male pattern hair, or should one focus on female pattern hair?

I'm not too sure what you're asking here but my impression is the forehead hairline. For my head, what i need is an addition of hair in the corners of my forehead. i don't think the tria can help me with my hairline. i've heard of Latisse, a prescription drug you could ask your doctor about. the results from that are not permanant, they go away when you stop using it, but i've heard it can help around the corners of the forehead, although slightly, and probably not worth the $

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 12:54:20 AMSheesh! Lots of questions. Sorry. This isn't life or death. Just curious.

I hope my responses help answer your questions, if not, let me know and i'll clarify. hopefully some other people will share their experiences and thoughts too!

Have a great day!

Thank you Jojo for the info.

Only one question needs further clarification. By male pattern hair, I meant places like the beard where hair remains thick and tough, or body hair early in HRT before it thins and softens. Are those thicker hairs harder to remove?

Thank you again for your time and answers.

Quote from: Tori on November 09, 2013, 03:08:29 PM
Thank you Jojo for the info.

Only one question needs further clarification. By male pattern hair, I meant places like the beard where hair remains thick and tough, or body hair early in HRT before it thins and softens. Are those thicker hairs harder to remove?

Thank you again for your time and answers.

Well, it is more painful there, but I did pluck some hair out to reduce density and hence reducing the pain either :).

For me, hormones reduced alot of my body hair in less than a year. I wasn't that hairy to begin with though.  I hardly had any chest hair, and I have none now, with just hormones.

I've only been using the tria on my face. i figure it is the most important thing for me to fix up, armpits, legs, etc can be shaved just like any other woman, and the hairs are fine and light after the hormones. If my battery dies, i'd rather have the beard checked off than anything else.

One thing i forgot to mention. the EMLA cream is super expensive! what i've done is just used benzocaine, stuff for toothaches they sell in grocery stores for like $2-4 a tube. I put a small amount on, give it a minute or few, then wash it off. If you don't wash it off the stuff prevents the tria from working, you'll only get the bad beeps. It works, tho i've never tried the EMLA cream so i can't compare.

Just yesterday i did level 5 all over face without the benzocaine and i could tell it was more painful than with the cream.

I just got thinking... anyone else love the noises it makes? i'm only familiar with the 4x but the sound it makes after it approves your skin tone sounds like i just won at super mario, it makes me feel awesome, lol.

I got my Tria 4X about a month ago, and after a bit of trial and error I've settled down into a routine with and I'm beginning to see some results.

I am pretty hairy, and the hair is pretty thick, especially on my thighs, and my beard is pretty dense after a few decades of testosterone abuse.

I've used it the most times on my calves and face. After 4 hits on calves I've had a lot of hair rejection and you don't really notice what's left that much.  I can see this working out well.

After 5 times round on my face, starting at level 1 then progressing slowly up to now level 4, I'm getting some thinning of the beard, a few emptying patches, but with this I was resigned from the start to the long haul.

I don't use any cream, but an ice pack on the are to be treated reduces the pain for 5 or 6 hits. Reapply the ice pack and god again.

I get some redness when I do my face, but it's usually gone within an hour.

I just got a tria 4x this past week.  I was playing with it and didnt realize that it was on 5 and zapped one time on my chin.  It hurt like hell and I now have one spot with no hair!  Guess I can do the rest a little at a time on a much lower setting

Yep, these things are amazing- they really do work.

I am down to shaving my armpits at only week intervals. I've treated the area a total of 5 times on setting 4. There are only a few small patches left.

Wonderful that it's working for all of you, too!

Yeah I gave up and ended up joining the "Laser Hair Removal Club" locally.  I guess when that's over with I'll probably get a tria to battle my gorilla fur.  Everyone keeps saying "its like a rubber band snap".  Hmmm for me it was more like getting slapped in the face with a leather belt. 

For facial hair, the fastest option is clearly professional laser hair removal. For everything else, the Tria does just as good of a job. I think it would work completely for facial hair, too. But, it would just take much longer and that means more pain, too.

I am going in for my 9th pro laser session on my face tomorrow. I hope it doesn't hurt too badly, I had a bunch of hairs grow back on my upper lip over the past couple of weeks.

Quote from: Joules on November 21, 2013, 01:30:51 AM
I have a home Tria, I'm not in a hurry just yet and I can only kill about half of my beard with laser, the other half is gray.  Sooo, I just zap a few now and then.  My upper lip is almost clear of color, and the gray hairs have taken on an almost vellus look, they hardly show at all, even with just a bit of growth.  It's working well for me, but as said earlier by others, it's sloooow going for someone in a hurry.  If I get that far in transition, I'll have to do electrolysis on the gray hairs someday.

I would suggest You first looking into this option - scroll down till You see the post by Pippa.
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,153061.new.html#new (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,153061.new.html#new)
I am definitely looking into this - I have about 20 white hairs popping out on my chin from time to time and was considering doing some rounds of electro to deal with them and some annoying buggers which keep coming out on my upper lip, but now I wanna try this Pigmentine first. At least that would allow me to avoid interactions with electrologist and explaining on the phone why she should be taking me - she has very good repute but her site is very much female oriented (she was also selling discount vouchers and they clearly stated that this is a procedure for women only :(). I am sure, as soon as she would see me, she would realise that there is not a lot of work to be done, but I need to get there first. And 30 USD for a half an hour does not seem that bad...

I use to work for a medical laser company and got to see very well how the hair removing works (being on the engineering team),
the trick is to heat the area fast enough so that the low thermal mass hair follicle is overheated, but not long enough to overheat the skin,
so having your skin cold to start with helps as it gives you a much larger window to work with,
the lightshear laser does this by running chilled liquid through a clear window directly on the skin that the laser goes through,
so your skin is cold when the laser hits.
one plan was to use liquid nitrogen sprayed on the skin just before the laser fired, but we figured it was to hard for people to have liquid nitrogen on hand,

but you can run an ice cube on your skin right before you zap it with the laser and it should let you use higher power without hurting your skin or feeling as much pain.

this is the laser I have
http://www.lasersurgerycost.org/sdl60c-cool-tip-diode-laser-system-for-tattoo-removal-general-dermatology-permanent-hair-reduction-and-more.html
and it does remove hair, but is a pretty tiny area at a time, and kind of hard to use on myself,
I mostly use it to cauterize cuts now, and it works great for that, it takes a bit longer to heal, but things don't get infected that way either, 
and the Tria should work for that as well,

I keep track of where I have been by the red skin from where I have just been.
or I just get lost and give up for a few weeks.

Quote from: Sybil on December 14, 2013, 12:22:18 AM
I finally got mine today. I tried to zap at setting 5 on a few body parts and thought to myself, this doesn't hurt very much, I don't know what the big deal is. Then I tried my face. GOOD LORD that is painful. It hurts so much it makes my teeth tingle. I feel like I have to get a friend to do it to my face, I don't know if I can sit there for 30 minutes and do it to myself. It feels the same from levels 2 to 5 for me.

The manual advises against using the laser on "male" facial hair, but a lot of you have done it with success so I'm not too concerned. I am bit a worried about keeping track of where I've zapped, though. How do the rest of you who own a Tria keep track as you zap along?

I did not keep track. For legs, just shave one or a few hairs and zap the area where the hair was cut. For armpits,  shave the entire area, and zap randomly.

Barbie

Quote from: Sybil on December 14, 2013, 12:22:18 AM
How do the rest of you who own a Tria keep track as you zap along?

I don't know if I press harder than I should but once I remove the Tria there is white outline of where I placed the Tria. It is only there for a few seconds so I have to be quick and move the Tria so it covers half of that circle.

Do be careful if you are starting off with heavy male pattern facial hair. You could definitely burn yourself or create post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation which is no fun.

I highly recommend icing the area first and/or using a numbing cream as well.

Also don't forget to wear a strong SPF (30+) every day! Especially the week following treatment!

Good luck ladies!!! :D :D

Quote from: Sybil on December 14, 2013, 10:49:41 PM
Are these two statements related? Is the icing supposed to help? My facial hair isn't the worst ever, but it's definitely prominent. I was under the impression it was still okay to treat it with a Tria. Could you please elaborate?

I'm not certain if you're saying you could burn yourself because of improper technique or because of just having dense hair. Ugh, I just want to get this over with! I feel like I've waited forever already.

My experience is that facial skin is more sensitive, and the hairs there are deeply rooted, requiring far more Tria treatments than other areas. It will take several days or weeks for the facial skin to recover from the heat damage caused by Tria. This means that you should not hurry in treating your facial hairs by Tria. I would recommend slow, gradual, and careful treatment. Please check carefully whether your facial skin is fine in 2-3 days after Tria treatment. If you see some burning, then stop for a while until your skin looks recovered and healthy again.

barbie~~

i dont mean to dig up an old post but i was just wondering if you girls could give us an update on your TRIA treatments, for those of you who are using TRIA for the majority of your facial hair removal and not seeing a professional laserer.

how long has it taken to see 'complete' results (or at least an 80/90% reduction) and how regularly (eg once/week etc)

ive been looking into professional laser and living in rural Australia it is quite *expletive* expensive (basically i have the choice of 2 professional sessions or the TRIA for the same price). so i am doing my research on the best thing to do to get this darn transition ball rolling already!! :)

i was using the Silkn Flash n Go for the whole body and while its been brilliant for the body hair from the neck down, its not touched a single facial hair (was a gift so i can just sell it and use that money for the TRIA)

Quote from: Laurenza on February 21, 2014, 09:37:05 PM
i dont mean to dig up an old post but i was just wondering if you girls could give us an update on your TRIA treatments, for those of you who are using TRIA for the majority of your facial hair removal and not seeing a professional laserer.

how long has it taken to see 'complete' results (or at least an 80/90% reduction) and how regularly (eg once/week etc)

ive been looking into professional laser and living in rural Australia it is quite *expletive* expensive (basically i have the choice of 2 professional sessions or the TRIA for the same price). so i am doing my research on the best thing to do to get this darn transition ball rolling already!! :)

i was using the Silkn Flash n Go for the whole body and while its been brilliant for the body hair from the neck down, its not touched a single facial hair (was a gift so i can just sell it and use that money for the TRIA)

As it takes 1 month for hairs to grown again, you may divide your target area into 4 parts, and apply Tria at a part once per week. It may take from 6 months to 1 year to significantly reduce your facial hair. But, Tria is not recommended for facial hair, meaning that you need to carefully check the status of your facial skin after each treatment. If anything is wrong, stop for a while and continue after checking again.

Barbie~~

Hi Laurenza

The Tria is FDA approved for facial hair, and some information is given about it in the instruction manual. 

I bought one mainly to do my face (I was happy to take it slowly), but to do my body as well.

I've definitely seen a reduction of hair on my face after 4 months, although there's still a long way to go.  The reduction in density means that I can now zap at level 5 although it's just about at the limit of pain I can bear with a little help from an icepack.

I get a few hair rejections immediately after treatment, then more about week after which continue for about another week.  Two weeks between treatments seems to be best.

It's been pretty effective on my body, but there's still a long way to go.

I'm thinking of going for professional beard removal as I'm beginning to get impatient :D

I hope this helps.

Sorry, to perform thread necromancy, but I finally broke down and purchased a Tria, and thought it might be nice to share my experiences with it. I already started professional laser treatment to get my face cleared, but I can't afford to do laser on my whole body. I have experienced some hair reduction as a result of HRT, but I still have a lot of lot of fine but still dark hairs left in all the usual problem areas (and then some). What I am hoping to accomplish with the Tria is to get my body hair down to the point where I only need to epilate it once every week at the most, although complete removal would certainly be nice. ;)

So far, what I have noticed using the Tria, is that it is much weaker than a professional laser. Even at the highest settings, in most areas that I treat, a single zap won't cause any pain whatsoever. The exception is my face, which is notably painful with a single zap, but it's still nothing close to the severe pain and smell of burning hair that professional treatment caused. While initially I was pretty disappointed, after experimenting a bit I figured out that by ignoring the instructions and using the Tria in the same place multiple times in a row, I was able able to achieve a sensation much closer to what I felt with professional treatment. No burning hair smell, but it was still just as painful. Usually it took 3-10 pulses in quick succession to get this result. Basically I just kept trying until I felt a pulse that was close to my highest pain tolerance level. I'm pretty sure that the feeling was not burning skin, because my skin had no negative reaction to the treatment, and when I tested areas without any hair I felt no pain no matter how quickly or how many times I zapped. The downside is to this method is that it drains the battery pretty quickly, and it will take a few weeks to completely treat my body given how long the Tria takes to charge.

I'm going to keep going with this method and see what kind of results I get. I'm a little afraid I might trigger some sort of negative side effect from damaging my skin, but my skin is just so light I'm not sure that the laser does much of anything at all to it. I would definitely not recommend what I'm doing to anyone with even a small amount of skin pigment, because I think there is a very good chance you would burn yourself. When I accidentally hit a dark area of skin with a mole on it multiple times, that did feel like I was burning my skin, so be sure not to do that either. I'll post again in a few months to let everyone know how well the treatment is working. ;)

Quote from: Miyuki on May 04, 2014, 02:28:52 PM
Even at the highest settings, in most areas that I treat, a single zap won't cause any pain whatsoever.

Miyuki,

If you do not feel any pain, then it means that your Tria is not working at all, or you target a wrong area. In my case, I shaved a few hairs, and let Tria to target the exact points of the hair root where the hairs were just removed. Then, I felt a sting, and it worked.

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on May 04, 2014, 03:35:25 PM
Miyuki,

If you do not feel any pain, then it means that your Tria is not working at all, or you target a wrong area. In my case, I shaved a few hairs, and let Tria to target the exact points of the hair root where the hairs were just removed. Then, I felt a sting, and it worked.

barbie~~

I think it's just that in most areas my hair are so fine that the Tria is having a hard time heating them up enough. Doing multiple zaps does hurt (in some cases a lot >.<), so I think I what I am doing now is working...

For those of you who have used multiple levels,

Level 1 is pretty painful for me, and level 5 is just INSANE pain. Level 2 is really difficult for me, but possibly tolerable. Has anyone had any luck thinning hair at level 1 and being able to move up to level 5 when the hair isn't so intense/absorbent of laser? I really want to get lasering out of the way, and this has really been bothering me.

I managed to get rid of most of my facial hair with this:

http://www.remingtonproducts.com/womens/ipl/i-light-pro.aspx

It hurts like crazy and I still have to shave but it works for me.  I had one of those blue faces because of my beard. eeeeewwwww.

Quote from: Sybil on June 09, 2014, 03:54:44 PM
For those of you who have used multiple levels,

Level 1 is pretty painful for me, and level 5 is just INSANE pain. Level 2 is really difficult for me, but possibly tolerable. Has anyone had any luck thinning hair at level 1 and being able to move up to level 5 when the hair isn't so intense/absorbent of laser? I really want to get lasering out of the way, and this has really been bothering me.

Dear, but that is the way it is done :). You start by doing level 1 and slowly adjust the power as Your tolerance increases over the time. Really, I could not imagine zapping my face with level 5 from beginning - and as You said, level 1 feels pretty harsh on the face. IIRC, I got to level 4 in 3 - 4 months - as soon as they start thinning out and clearing up, the coverage density goes down as well and it gets more and more tolerable. I would not say that level 5 does not hurt now, but I can clench my teeth and get over it.

Don't waste your money on any home laser hair removal. It may work temporarily on very fine hair but honestly if you really want to get rid of that hair bite the bullet and do laser hair removal with a specialist. I know the idea of doing it at home where you are more comfortable is great but you won't get the same results.

Quote from: nicolegn7 on June 10, 2014, 07:18:38 AM
I know the idea of doing it at home where you are more comfortable is great but you won't get the same results.

Or it will simply take a longer period of time.

Quote from: nicolegn7 on June 10, 2014, 07:18:38 AM
Don't waste your money on any home laser hair removal. It may work temporarily on very fine hair but honestly if you really want to get rid of that hair bite the bullet and do laser hair removal with a specialist. I know the idea of doing it at home where you are more comfortable is great but you won't get the same results.

Its true.  I plan to go to a professional soon but in the mean time the home route is working for me.  I do agree 100% though.  Professional is the way to go if you can.

Quote from: nicolegn7 on June 10, 2014, 07:18:38 AM
Don't waste your money on any home laser hair removal. It may work temporarily on very fine hair but honestly if you really want to get rid of that hair bite the bullet and do laser hair removal with a specialist. I know the idea of doing it at home where you are more comfortable is great but you won't get the same results.

This kind of commentary is very confusing for me, since a good number of girls have reported success with the Tria.

Quote from: Sybil on June 10, 2014, 07:58:18 PM
This kind of commentary is very confusing for me, since a good number of girls have reported success with the Tria.

Well, success is subjective in this case I think. I definitely agree that many girls have reported that it helps- but there are none who have completely cleared their face permanently. That is why professional is still so important.

The battery of my Tria was completely dead, and I no longer use Tria.
I still see a few fine hairs growing out in my legs, toes and beard area. They are not so much noticeable, but I pluck them by using my fingers or tweezers whenever I see them in broad daylight. For armpits, shaving once just before the summer is enough.

I have no plan to purchase another Tria, as I have less hairs in legs and face than ordinary women here. Although East Asian women tend to have less facial and leg hairs, I noticed that they also have some fine hairs when looking closely. My wife has more hairs in her arms than me.

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on June 12, 2014, 04:20:48 PM
The battery of my Tria was completely dead, and I no longer use Tria.
I still see a few fine hairs growing out in my legs, toes and beard area. They are not so much noticeable, but I pluck them by using my fingers or tweezers whenever I see them in broad daylight. For armpits, shaving once just before the summer is enough.

I have no plan to purchase another Tria, as I have less hairs in legs and face than ordinary women here. Although East Asian women tend to have less facial and leg hairs, I noticed that they also have some fine hairs when looking closely. My wife has more hairs in her arms than me.

barbie~~

How long did it take for the Tria to die? I am having pretty good luck with mine, but it is not clearing things as quickly as I would like. Part of that is my low pain tolerance.

Barbie, my girlfriend would be insanely jealous of your lack of body hair. She is Greek so that means lots of hair that grows back fast. She insists that she gets to have her legs done first before I get any hair removal and I think that's fair :)

Quote from: Hikari on June 12, 2014, 06:28:01 PM
How long did it take for the Tria to die? I am having pretty good luck with mine, but it is not clearing things as quickly as I would like. Part of that is my low pain tolerance.

I guess it lasted about 3 years. You may try armpits fist to see a quick result.

baerbie~~

Quote from: Genzen on June 13, 2014, 09:30:42 AM
Barbie, my girlfriend would be insanely jealous of your lack of body hair. She is Greek so that means lots of hair that grows back fast. She insists that she gets to have her legs done first before I get any hair removal and I think that's fair :)

Strangely, my little daughter at age 9 has many fine leg hairs. I guess it should be temporarily. A belief here is that little girls with rich body hairs are so much loved by people, especially their parents. I think it is true.

Another belief here is that women with rich arm hairs tend to have a warm and kind heart, dedicating and considering others first.

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on June 14, 2014, 03:10:24 AM
Strangely, my little daughter at age 9 has many fine leg hairs. I guess it should be temporarily. A belief here is that little girls with rich body hairs are so much loved by people, especially their parents. I think it is true.

Another belief here is that women with rich arm hairs tend to have a warm and kind heart, dedicating and considering others first.

barbie~~

Then I suppose I have a warm and kind heart. ^.^

Quote from: Lara the Lover and the Fighter on June 14, 2014, 09:37:16 AM
Then I suppose I have a warm and kind heart. ^.^

Yes. You indeed look like that!

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on June 14, 2014, 09:04:25 PM
Yes. You indeed look like that!

barbie~~

Oh Barbie.  You do too!  You're awesome an inspiration to all of us.

Benzocaine is amazing, I have been able to get areas totally numb with a 20% benzocaine and 5% menthol solution. This has been letting me do things like use the tria at max power on my upper lip without feeling like I am sticking my face with a cattle prod.

I wish I had known this when I first bought the tria.

I'll chime in again here on the Tria.

I've been using it since October, so that's about 8 months. It works in the body pretty well and I don't have much hair left.

It has worked on my face too. I have much, much less shadow than I used to, but even then I still can't cover it with makeup unless I use heavy concealer.

I have a lot of white hairs too so I knew I'd be doing electrolysis eventually. Today I went to a clinic and signed up for 12 sessions of Yag laser and some electrolysis after that. The nurse was surprised at how effective the Tria has been, although it's been slow work and there's still a lot left to do.

We then did a few test shots and here's the surprise. I was expecting pain, but compared to the pain of the Tria the laser at the clinic is nothing.

The Tria will do great things for body hair and considering the price is a good investment just for that.

For the face professional is probably the best way to go.

I decided "da hell" and went down to level 3 on my upper lip - that is the only area where those little buggers keep popping out but they are not really that much visible anymore. Basically, I dont need any makeup to appear as having no facial hair, but I need to maintain steady weekly regimen on my upper lip and chin area. Cheeks and neck are clear. I am also contemplating to do 5-6 electro sessions to clear up white hairs and remaining stubborn upper lip hair. After that - we'll see...

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on June 19, 2014, 07:06:54 AM
I decided "da hell" and went down to level 3 on my upper lip - that is the only area where those little buggers keep popping out but they are not really that much visible anymore. Basically, I dont need any makeup to appear as having no facial hair, but I need to maintain steady weekly regimen on my upper lip and chin area. Cheeks and neck are clear. I am also contemplating to do 5-6 electro sessions to clear up white hairs and remaining stubborn upper lip hair. After that - we'll see...

Are you having any luck at level 3? I needed to put the thing all the way to 5 to get my upper lip hairs but other hairs seemed much easier to clear for me.

I dont know yet... but I plucked out some of that hair and a lot of them were without follicle (dead). I would not say that I had very little luck on upper lip, because I have in general 15-20 hairs on each side of upper lip, they grow very slowly and hair itself is very fine (it used to be quite thick and coarse), except... my upper lip keeps spamming follicles fro some reason (or maybe those are hairs which I plucked out some time ago and now they simply resurfaced).

Quote from: Hikari on June 18, 2014, 12:45:16 PM
Benzocaine is amazing, I have been able to get areas totally numb with a 20% benzocaine and 5% menthol solution.

Hi Hikari, were you meaning that you made up this benzocaine and menthol solution yourself.

I just wanted to add my experience here.  I bought a Tria back in 2010 and used it for over year.  It's a real laser, and it permanently reduced my hair, but it has limitations.

It's battery powered, so you have 15 - 20 minutes to treat a hand-print-sized area.  Then you have to wait for it to recharge (1.5 - 2 hours if I remember).  And the "pulse width" is very long, so the laser has to be moved slower than a commercial laser.  So you have to be very patient, and just don't expect to treat large areas with it (like a whole leg).

It's a very weak laser.  I always used the highest setting, but compared to my commercial laser treatments (Alexandrite and Diode mostly), it took many, many more "zaps" with the Tria to achieve a noticeable result.  Even after 6 - 8 rounds of treatment, the Tria mainly lightened and softened hair (where as commercial lasers had finished destroying the hair altogether, probably because they can move up to higher "fluence" settings).

It's super painful (at the max setting).  With a commercial laser, the pulse width (the time the laser is "on") is really short, so you can "grin and bear" the snap-like pain and it's done.  With the Tria, its' soooo slow (like a constant burning sensation, rather than a snap). I thought it was much more painful overall.  And that was with using EMLA.

So overall, I don't recommend it, unless you are treating very small areas (like the back of your hand or knees) or the odd stray hairs that were missed by commercial laser treatments.

Throwing my two cents into this one too.

I have had one of these since the start of March. Been using it every Friday on Legs, Happy Trail, Bikini Line and yes my face. I have had 4 Pro Laser Sessions on my face so its already thinned quite a bit.

But I will say like others have stated, this thing hurts like nothing else on the face. Feels horrible.

So far my legs are quite a bit less hairy, granted they weren't to start with. Happy Trail is almost gone it seems, face it is working on but will take a few months I think.

Overall I like it, and recommend it if you can get it.

Quote from: mfox on March 11, 2015, 01:56:41 PM
I just wanted to add my experience here.  I bought a Tria back in 2010 and used it for over year.  It's a real laser, and it permanently reduced my hair, but it has limitations.

It's battery powered, so you have 15 - 20 minutes to treat a hand-print-sized area.  Then you have to wait for it to recharge (1.5 - 2 hours if I remember).  And the "pulse width" is very long, so the laser has to be moved slower than a commercial laser.  So you have to be very patient, and just don't expect to treat large areas with it (like a whole leg).

It's a very weak laser.  I always used the highest setting, but compared to my commercial laser treatments (Alexandrite and Diode mostly), it took many, many more "zaps" with the Tria to achieve a noticeable result.  Even after 6 - 8 rounds of treatment, the Tria mainly lightened and softened hair (where as commercial lasers had finished destroying the hair altogether, probably because they can move up to higher "fluence" settings).

It's super painful (at the max setting).  With a commercial laser, the pulse width (the time the laser is "on") is really short, so you can "grin and bear" the snap-like pain and it's done.  With the Tria, its' soooo slow (like a constant burning sensation, rather than a snap). I thought it was much more painful overall.  And that was with using EMLA.

So overall, I don't recommend it, unless you are treating very small areas (like the back of your hand or knees) or the odd stray hairs that were missed by commercial laser treatments.

^wow, you know your stuff! I agree 100% with everything mfox said. I was using a Tria and a modded Onetouch for some time. I finally broke down and went with professional laser, and I'm very glad I did. Much faster, and less painful. Worth the money to save time and get it done with the best technology available.

edit: mfox i love your cat avatar... so hipster! i hope you're fortunate to be friends with that cat irl  :D

Another 2 cents.

I've had one for about a month. I'm not really seeing results yet, but based on other reviews from people that have used it longer, I'm holding out hope that given more time I'll see what I'm looking for.

On the body hair, I can set it to 5 just fine. It still stings a little, but no more than a bee sting. I haven't tried the pits yet though. I'd expect that to sting a bit. I do find it funny that their ad shows a women calmly doing her pits with this thing. Insanity!

For facial hair I can do a 4 on some areas that have already been thinned out by electrolysis, but that's just on the jaw line and cheeks. For the upper lip, I've been using a 3 and that's almost torture. I don't feel the bee sting feeling up there. It feels more like someone lit my face on fire. As a result, I don't cover the whole upper lip or sideburn area ever. It also seems to be totally ineffective on the bottom of my chin. I've tried stretching the skin to make it more level and it still does the bad beep. I have their ideal skin and hair color, ghost white with pitch black hair. I could be Snow White if I didn't look like a guy. I think I may go back to a professional for the face. I just wish they'd start on the upper lip and sideburns instead of saving them for last. Maybe if I flat out tell them I'm trans they'll be more willing to do that.

The manual does say that it works on the face, but it also says to never ever use it on a man's facial hair. I think it'll be fine once it's thinned out to about as much as a woman would have though.

Please can you share the numbing technique you used for tria (if considered successful!). I've been using emla cream (2 applications, covered in between for approx 40 mins) but it still isn't a very comfortable experience... (that's an understatement btw!)

Numbing? I've never used anything like that. I'm interested too now. It may make it more bearable.

I've been using emla cream and waiting 30-45 minutes and an icepack. It was still really painful on the face until about 12 sessions. Also avoid caffeine in your system helps and also an anti inflammatory like ibuprofen for some people but I didn't notice.

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on November 21, 2013, 02:39:15 AM
...I wanna try this Pigmentine first.

Hi Emily, did you end up trying the pigmentine product. If so, what did you make of it.

Quote from: sweetkellie on April 17, 2015, 04:28:29 PM
Please can you share the numbing technique you used for tria (if considered successful!). I've been using emla cream (2 applications, covered in between for approx 40 mins) but it still isn't a very comfortable experience... (that's an understatement btw!)

Instead of getting caught up in numbing (as emla is expensive as well), I've decided to just use the lowest tria level, and do much more often - as I can take this level without much issue on most of my face.

Anyone tried this approach, and if so, did it work. Haha, just a touch concerned this approach might stimulate growth rather than stop it!

Quote from: sweetkellie on April 28, 2015, 04:27:45 PM
Instead of getting caught up in numbing (as emla is expensive as well), I've decided to just use the lowest tria level, and do much more often - as I can take this level without much issue on most of my face.

Anyone tried this approach, and if so, did it work. Haha, just a touch concerned this approach might stimulate growth rather than stop it!

My experience tells that it does work for face, but take longer time, as the hairs there are thick and more resistant.

barbie~~

Quote from: sweetkellie on April 28, 2015, 04:22:31 PM
Hi Emily, did you end up trying the pigmentine product. If so, what did you make of it.

Nope, I did not try it out - eventually I ended up with plucking out white hairs :). Someday I will probably go to electrologist to fix that issue, but atm there are very few of them so they do not really bother me that much.

Quote from: sweetkellie on April 28, 2015, 04:27:45 PM
Instead of getting caught up in numbing (as emla is expensive as well), I've decided to just use the lowest tria level, and do much more often - as I can take this level without much issue on most of my face.

Anyone tried this approach, and if so, did it work. Haha, just a touch concerned this approach might stimulate growth rather than stop it!

I did this for a bit (zapping upper lip with power level 3) and it seems a viable long-term strategy. But in the end I realised that I can clench my teeth and bear level 5 zaps and then redo them after a day or two. But I have to agree, those pesky hairs on upper lip seems to be extremely resistant.

Have been having great success with Tria Precision. I've found that using emla with a Tegaderm dressing (approx 5x6cm) works really well. A Tegaderm dressing is absolutly essential imo - I tried film wrap, but that doesn't 'contain' the emla in one small area and at a few mm thickness of emla on the skin, but rather causes the emla cream to spread out in all directions. Then after two hours emla application, I just focus on that small 5x6cm area. On my skin, I've found I can go over the same small area multiple times at power level 3 (for approx 15 mins, till the Tria battery runs out) with no problem at all. I'm finding even grey hair is being significantly affected using this technique. Using the emla like this is also adequately numbing.

Just an update, it's been about two years since I did a session on myself with the Tria and chest/stomach are still completely clear.

Quote from: michelle666 on December 22, 2015, 06:18:36 PM
Just an update, it's been about two years since I did a session on myself with the Tria and chest/stomach are still completely clear.

How about other areas?

barbie~~

For those of you who do use the Tria, did you see your hair fall out ~3 weeks after using it?

That is the trend for me with professional laser. My hair comes back, of course, but it sheds about 2-3 weeks after being zapped. It stays gone for 1-2 months (varies a lot).

I ask because it might be really useful as a touch-up to help keep the hair away.

Quote from: barbie on December 23, 2015, 03:09:55 PM
How about other areas?

barbie~~

I got my face done by a pro and it's still clear after two years. I did some public hair with tria and all clear there too.

Anyone experienced being able to use a tria completely pain free, over an area that was previously really painful. Like, what I'm trying to find out, is, as the hair stops growing, does using the tria in those areas eventually being completely pain free to use (like it is, for example, when fired on the upper cheek, because of there being such a small amount of hair in that area).

I ask, because though I've had a very considerable amount of hair reduction on the face - it still hurts just as much, if numbing cream not used.