Hi girls, I was hoping you could share some of your experiences with hair removal methods, as reading up on it is mostly making me very confused.
So I have fairly pale skin, with mostly black facial hair, though there is a small concentration of pale (blonde?) hairs, especially around the mouth/chin area (though I am a bit sun burned at the moment.. I suppose I should wait until winter for best results).
From what I have read, the best way to go about it would be to get some sort of laser treatment until the majority of the (black) hairs are gone, then have electrolysis for the rest? Is that a correct interpretation?
Lastly, I have found that clinics near me mainly offer IPL, which I am told is not too effective. A clinic a couple of blocks away also offers something called ' SHR / Soprano XLi (Super Hair Removal) ', anyone have any experiences with that? If not, what have you tried that worked? What type should I look for?
I am a student, so if I have to pay $200-500 per session I want to do thorough research first and make sure it actually works.
Thanks!
Most like i did use laser to get a fast clearing. Then finish up with electrolysis for the lighter hairs and then with regrowth. Electrolysis is the only permanent removal system. Laser will keep things quiet for a few years but will slowly come back.
Izzy
I just went through my 7th laser sessions and 95% of my hair is gone now (:
I have 'type 3' skin type which is darker than what you have. The darker the hair, and lighter the skin the more effective. I would highly recommend either a diode or alexandrite laser for you, but definitely not IPL.
I also have a Tria home laser machine (~$450) which actually works for me too (I've tried it on other areas, and it's FDA cleared for use on the face too, although I haven't used it on the face yet because I had already started professional laser sessions).
It was only $100 a session for me for a full face clear (sideburns, chin, upper lip), and you can also get package deals too.
Quote from: mind is quiet now on September 05, 2013, 09:25:30 PM
Most like i did use laser to get a fast clearing.
Izzy
How fast is fast?? I can pluck my entire face in about 30 minutes to an hour and eliminate shadow. But my skin still looks rough there. I'm hoping the laser will make the whole area where the hair was smooth like a woman's should be. Will it? How many seesions? I'm hoping two. I know I'lll need more, but I'm thinking one or two will kill shadow. I do not have a lot of hair and it is not coarse. My ex used to say my hair was downy soft unlike a man's facial hair. But in two weeks Ill have the money so I'm ecstatic.
BTW OP do not do IPL. it is just light. Not really a laser. I don't know much about it though. But it should be like $300 for three sessions. Maybe even six.
Nah, so few sessions will only reduce your hair. You see, hair, however dark, is immune to being permanently killed by laser for much of its life cycle, and that's a pretty long cycle. Outside the short vulnerability window, the hair might burn and fall off, but it'll come back. I'm not sure it's completely impossible or just highly unlikely that hair outside the right phase will die, but either way, to even have a chance to attack every dark hair when it's vulnerable, you probably need at least 5 sessions. 2 will only leave your face patchy; something like that.
At 7 sessions, I still had enough hair everywhere to have a noticeable shadow, and it's only recently, at my 11th(?) session that my upper lip is clear enough for a little bit of plucking at the darker survivors to keep my upper lip okay-looking. Now I don't really have an ideal profile for laser, for sure, but since the upper lip and chin are the most stubborn areas, I think it's simply wishful thinking to believe those places to be even kind of clear before you reach 5 sessions at least. Not to mention that normally the technician will start you off with a lower, probably insufficient, power level, out of fear of complications. Heck, both clinics I've gone to have chickened off on my skin despite it being almost without any signs of anything having happened to it within an hour or two after the treatment each time.
And yeah, once hair stops growing through a pore, the pore will eventually shrink. Should at least.
I did my research and waited and finally brought an electrolysis machine and began doing it myself. Its been a long process but wow does it work. The trick is to do your homework and buy a decent machine. Anything with the name Apilus on it is a professional machine. They are not cheap but you can always re sell them because as I said they are good stuff.
Quote from: Katie on September 06, 2013, 10:42:13 AM
I did my research and waited and finally brought an electrolysis machine and began doing it myself. Its been a long process but wow does it work. The trick is to do your homework and buy a decent machine. Anything with the name Apilus on it is a professional machine. They are not cheap but you can always re sell them because as I said they are good stuff.
I am sorry but I cant imagin that being easy as you need to target individual hairs grats on doing it though I could never. I am curious how much 2000$ or more?
Also seeming Ana E your a student budget laswer is cheaper and findint the right place you can save. Dark hair light skin is also the key to a good laser treatment. This will however cost a lot of money.
When I see plucking and lasers and such I just cringe. I did my hair removal the old fashioned way with an electrologist. She saw me through most of my transition as well as hair removal. I started off with what I would consider light facial hair. I was never very hairy to begin with. But boy oh boy it did take a long time. There are hairs that will be dormant for a long period of time and follicles can only be destroyed when they are in a certain active state. An electrologist is trained to know the difference.
I also remember hairs under my chin that were growing just under the skin and the skin had to be gently picked until the hair was available for treatment. I could never in million years picture myself trying to treat a hair like that with my own hands, I remember my electrologist told me the dangers of people plucking hairs which may cause the follicles to distort in ways that make electrolysis impossible,
People gender another person mostly from the neck up. You only get one face and one chance. I would have been disappointed in my own transition if I had pock marks or subsurface hairs afterwards. Even when I had electrolysis about 99% complete I was already making arrangements to have dermabrasion done to my face to smooth it out. In fact I was on a beauty regimen that bordered on rocket science. I wanted my skin to come out nice and smooth and it took a lot of effort and still does to have the soft glowing feminine facial skin.
Quote from: Joanna Dark on September 05, 2013, 09:36:23 PM
How fast is fast?? I can pluck my entire face in about 30 minutes to an hour and eliminate shadow. But my skin still looks rough there. I'm hoping the laser will make the whole area where the hair was smooth like a woman's should be. Will it? How many seesions? I'm hoping two. I know I'lll need more, but I'm thinking one or two will kill shadow. I do not have a lot of hair and it is not coarse. My ex used to say my hair was downy soft unlike a man's facial hair. But in two weeks Ill have the money so I'm ecstatic.
BTW OP do not do IPL. it is just light. Not really a laser. I don't know much about it though. But it should be like $300 for three sessions. Maybe even six.
I had mine done by the cool glide system, I paid for a block of 6. Had 2 a month for 3 months, then she gave me one extra for free. And it keeped the major parts gone for almost 4 years but after that they started to come back in force. As i said i had them zapped as needed with electrolysis. I think the money was well worth the benifit. But if you have the time and not caring to go full time in a hurry i would spend the money on electrolysis.
Izzy
Is the "nono" worth investing into for the rest of body hair? Like body, arms, legs? Every time I shave I break out and Nair so far is the only thing my skin tolerates but it's so messy and only lasts a couple days.
Quote from: Jasriella on September 06, 2013, 01:48:15 PM
Is the "nono" worth investing into for the rest of body hair? Like body, arms, legs? Every time I shave I break out and Nair so far is the only thing my skin tolerates but it's so messy and only lasts a couple days.
Check out reviews for the nono online, there are mostly negative ones. Does seem to work for some people I guess. If you feel you can trust their return policy (many complaints about not being able to get money back) you could try it.
Quote from: Alice Danielle on September 06, 2013, 03:02:15 PM
Check out reviews for the nono online, there are mostly negative ones. Does seem to work for some people I guess. If you feel you can trust their return policy (many complaints about not being able to get money back) you could try it.
3,269 of 3,348 people were dissatisfied with the product and their customer service about their refund and return policies according to Amazon......
Thanks for the heads up.
I'm probably going to be trying out the Clean & Easy Deluxe Home Electrolysis Kit sometime in the next few months. It's cheap enough that I won't feel bad throwing it out if it doesn't work, and most of those who reviewed it poorly sounded like they were incapable of reading instructions. I'll let you know if it works, since the price alone makes it worth considering.
I just looked back at the kit before posting this, and the front page has much, much more favorable reviews than I remembered. Maybe I'll have to order one even sooner.
I did a pretty big review research for a friend, recently. Apparently the two big sellers are the Tria home laser machine and the Remington home IPL machine. Zap per zap, it appears the Tria is moderately more effective.
However, it's said that its horrible design makes it a big pain. People are complaining about the weight of the hand unit (FYI a man complained about this and how it made it hard to reach farther with it), the very short battery life, impossibility to use it while it's plugged in and long charging times and the very small treatment window hidden by a very large frame, all making the experience a huge pain in the butt. Many have said that the Tria may be quite fine for small areas like the face, but that it's definitely inadequate for the rest of the body. Reviews overall gave a very controversed image of it.
In contrast, reviews about the Remington were in average much more positive. Of course, it's IPL, so you need to change the lamp every 7500 zaps (if it's before they give you one for free) and it takes more treatments to reach the wanted results. However overall people seem to like it better for body hair removal.
Despite the fact that she wants it for her body and the reviews seemed to indicate the Tria isn't for large areas at all, my friend ended up going for the Tria. I hope for her sake that the reviews were wrong.
And do not do at-home electrolysis. I've seen one member here who described how she used it, and she obviously did it all very wrong, and didn't seem to realize burns aren't supposed to happen, ever. If she's happy with things that way, good, but I can't recommend it. No, actually, I must recommend against it. Electrolysis takes superior dexterity and specific training to be performed properly and with minimal risks. People don't go to esthetician schools for two years for nothing, you know. Actually many people aren't even accepted because of their lack of dexterity.
Even professionals don't do it on themselves, due to the danger of possibly twitching from pain and the uncomfort and additional difficulty from being on themselves and even maybe using a mirror which makes them struggle with left and right. The issue isn't the machine working, it's that you probably cannot use it properly, especially not on yourself.
Quote from: Katie on September 06, 2013, 10:42:13 AM
I did my research and waited and finally brought an electrolysis machine and began doing it myself. Its been a long process but wow does it work. The trick is to do your homework and buy a decent machine. Anything with the name Apilus on it is a professional machine. They are not cheap but you can always re sell them because as I said they are good stuff.
I have to assume you're doing your body hair and not your face. I can't immagine taking the chance of damaging my facial skin by using any electrolysis equipment at home. But maybe legs, chest, and dark arm hair might be more safe. ??? And I didn't think anyone could see the all the individual hairs in order to do self electrolysis.
I did the same research when looking for an electrologist. The Apilus Platinum and Apilus Platinum Pure are about $3500, but I think they're also the best professional machines. They make my electrolysis fast and fairly comfortable since it operates in very short bursts of energy at 27htz, which also makes them super fast. I have two hour sessions and actually fall asleep while the facial work is done.
Based on my research when you have dark skin and light color hair the electrolysis is better but if you have light skin and dark hair laser is a better choice..
Quote from: Horizon on September 06, 2013, 07:18:12 PM
I'm probably going to be trying out the Clean & Easy Deluxe Home Electrolysis Kit sometime in the next few months. It's cheap enough that I won't feel bad throwing it out if it doesn't work, and most of those who reviewed it poorly sounded like they were incapable of reading instructions. I'll let you know if it works, since the price alone makes it worth considering.
I just looked back at the kit before posting this, and the front page has much, much more favorable reviews than I remembered. Maybe I'll have to order one even sooner.
You better stock up with replacement stylets too, because those things bend way too easily. I have this one, but because I was a bit too clumsy both stylets "died" before I managed to get some visible results. Though, those hairs which I zapped on my leg have not grown back yet - and a month afterwards the scars from my attempts went away too :P. Be careful with that - it works, it is strong, slow and can scar easily. Practice on less visible areas, use low settings and get replacement stylets :)
To answer your questions I got lucky with my machine I got it for just over 500 dollars. On the other hand the current gen model is over 3000. The platnum model is over 7000 dollars.
I have been doing my legs yes. There are going to be places that I cannot get at but hey I will just have to shave or trade chair time in the future with someone. Oh I brough a pair of loupes for doing legs.
As far as my face yes I do do that. Laser got rid of most of my hair years ago but not all. Did I make mistakes you bet ya. I got some burns but you know what they heal life goes on. My mistakes were basically having the power turned up to high because all I carred about was getting rid of the hairs. As time went by I learned to turn down the power so I didnt get burns. Theres an old statment if you do something 10,000 times you become damm good at it. Well I have done that much and if I was not lazy I would go read the counter on the machine.
I enjoying doing it so much I am thinking of getting the license.
Am I a pro? Nope I dont have the license. Did I want to pay thousands of dollars for a pro to do it? Nope. Contrary to what some might say this is not rocket science. It involves trial and error just as one would experience going through a training program.
Would I say that you should heed the advice of someone here saying only a pro can do it? Well let me tell you I have met countless trans people and I found that there are those that do and those that dont. Most dont and the strange thing is the ones that dont are often the ones you find at support groups professing all the dangers of hormones, surgery, ect. ect. What was even more interesting an observation is these are the people that have not lived through the process they are claiming is so dangerous. Well girls I lived through it I had all the surgeries. I survived. Hell I never even went to a therapist. Go figure.
Katie
Quote from: Katie on September 07, 2013, 12:16:37 PM
Well let me tell you I have met countless trans people and I found that there are those that do and those that dont. Most dont and the strange thing is the ones that dont are often the ones you find at support groups professing all the dangers of hormones, surgery, ect. ect. What was even more interesting an observation is these are the people that have not lived through the process they are claiming is so dangerous.
This is so true! I have got a lot of reviews of why home laser is not good for me and I can only do it on Friday evenings so my face would recover during the weekend and why IPL is so much better (it turned out those persons never had either...).
Ya found that out too. I used to work for the state doing HIV prevention targeting trans people. That meant I was constantly at support groups and all that. I would sit there with this smile on my face as I listened to a constant stream of misinformation or BS.
My favorite was the recurring theme about how dangerous hormones are. Strange thing is I met countless trans people taking hormones and not one person I met ever experienced problems. Note they were taking the standard dosage ranges. Or another was the danger of going to Thailand. Just try to overlook the countless trans people that have already gone there and survived. Also overlook the fact that their medical skills and facilities appeared to be the same as what they have in the USA.
Is it dangerous to zap the hairs on your face? Well you know you could burn. Yes that's true but it heals. Every cut or burn I ever got growing up healed. Surprising isn't it? I submit to you that driving a car, riding a bike, going out into the real world the first few months of transition, and taking a shower are all probably far more dangerous that anything you could do to yourself zapping the hairs on your face. Hell just plucking the hairs can cause infections.
So it all boils down to making a decision. That I will leave up to you the person considering this or that.
Katie
Quote from: Katie on September 07, 2013, 12:30:38 PM
Or another was the danger of going to Thailand. Just try to overlook the countless trans people that have already gone there and survived. Also overlook the fact that their medical skills and facilities appeared to be the same as what they have in the USA.
Oh, I heard that one too :) - there was even a reference to mythic Q&A internet group comprised of "Survivors of the Thailand butcher-surgeons"
Yes and another common trait of the people that claim how dangerous it is to go to Thailand is that they have nowhere near the money to get the surgery here in the USA. So that means they are a long way off from getting the surgery. Oh I forgot to mention that these people often would be driving a nice car, or smoked, or had other indicators of having money but spending it on things that were odiously more important than srs.
Now on the other hand the girls like me that I know that have had srs. They did WHATEVER it took to reach that goal. Perhaps that's also why I was willing to take the risk of buying an electrolysis machine and doing the work myself. I am still alive and my burns have healed.
Katie
Sigh, I give up. Whatever. Don't complain if you get yourself permanent scars.
I have the tria laser and love it! The areas that I've used it in have had very little regrowth. I actually used it to remove a small tattoo that I had on my hip. Painful as hell, but its gone now.
o.o I never knew tattoo removal sed the same laser as hair removal. That's surprising.
Quote from: A on September 07, 2013, 01:54:31 PM
o.o I never knew tattoo removal sed the same laser as hair removal. That's surprising.
I'm not sure if it is the exact same. I tested a small spot on it first on medium power, hurt like hell and blistered up in about a second. ONce that spot healed, the ink was gone. It took a while to heal, almost a month.
I started with electro years ago but I was not consistent. Had 4 laser treatments which felt like someone was taking a torch to my face, that worked but not as good as I had hoped. So, I am back with electro because I feel it is a sure thing. I always scout out trans friendly electrolysis places. It is taking a long time though. :-\ I think I will have a few laser sessions after most of my face is cleared via electro.
I only did laser up to now, had in total about 10-15 yessions I would estimate - spread over 13 years. In the beginning it helped a lot because of the fast effect. Hurt a lot, too. I always went to professionals for that. I think the laser got all the hair I had on the upper lip and cheeks, but it seems to have a hard time with the chin and the cornder of the jaws. And since I am annoyed now at being 13 years post op and still have hair issues, I will probably do 2 or 3 laser sessions in rapid succession and then go for electro for the rest - though I may cut the laser part of that down, it seemed not to have done any good the last 2 times. I did not have hair on the cheeks or upper lip for the past 6 years in which I actually did not laster these parts either. I told the laser people to only do the chin and jaw because the rest was ok and thus it was only half the price of the regular face treatment. So I would say that laser at least can keep hair away for at least that range, probably longer. I think there are no studies that prove or disprove any assessment of really long term effects. I hope it will work - but its not a certainty - but neither is it a certainty that "only electrolysis can stop hair permanently", IMO.
Interestingly, I have a light skin, dark hair mostly, same hair color on upper lip and chin - so WTF is one part going away and the other not? Who knows...
What definitely sucks about laser treatment is that it will only work for me in winter as in summer I get plenty of speckles and a brownish skin and then it does not work or has bad side effects.
You know, just using sunscreen will prevent your issues in the summer. Tanning is unhealthy anyway.
And uhm, there are several reasons why some hairs are going tro be more reluctant than others:
1. Depth. The longer hair is under the skin, the harder it is to burn to the root.
2. "Topography". Where there is roundness or an angle on your face (chin, jaw), it's much harder for the technician to do the lasering efficiently, and it's easy to do a spot wrong.
3. Separations. Many laser technicians will separate your face into sections, sometimes drawing them with a pencil, and always keep the same. The boundaries between those sections are likely to be forgotten most often.
4. Simple stubbornness. Some areas, notably the chin, are just freaking resistant. It's like that.
Also, why did you spread your laser treatments over such a long time?
Hi, A
* Sun lotion only works partially. It does not help well enough I believe with the speckles, just the tanning. I like the tanning in summer by the way. At least since I am not so much into the gothic look anymore ;)
* Yes - I think it mostly is the "topography" and stubbornness. No sectioning is done nowadays as there is only one section on each side of the face.
* The long term spread - wellll - various reasons. One was that it worked amazing in the beginning and allowed me to just shave lightly and not have any noticeable hair and that was great at that time, so I went only once that got worse again. The main issue in all of this was money. I started transitioning as a student and later did some crappy jobs, then studied at university - I never earned more than some hundred Euros in a month and lived in a shared appartment. Laster treatments at first were 200-400 Euros for a session, so it simply took me a long time to get the money. Later it was a bit of neglect mixed with money issues (still was not earning more than 1000 a month) and issues with light sensitivity. Even good sunlotion did not help enough when I was out with the skischool teaching kids on snow in high altitudes, so I had to carefully plan laser sessions and often failed to do so. Admittedly also a bit of depression kicked in at some point and I was neglecting everything overall a bit.
Recently I kind of got knocked in the behind and with presently earning well enough I want to get this crap done as soon as I can to finally get over this stupid iron ball on my feet ;)
I see... By the way, I pay more or less the equivalent of 25 € per session on my face, because they charge per 15 minutes of work, not per area. Maybe you could find a better place too. I regretted deeply my first contract, at ~2000 € (40 % discount!) for 7 treatments, which was a total, deep and awful swindle. Shop better than I did.
Ah yes - I forgot to mention that - presently I pay about 60 EUR per treatment, the times when laser was novel are over and it is common now and thus cheaper. 25 EU is unthinkable to me though. A skilled medical person will charge that for worktime alone almost. I can imagine some places will be as low as 40 or 50. So recently money is less of the issue - in the last 3 years the dominant issue was that I was buried in work at a low pay (like 50-60 hours a week at 1000 EU a month of which 700 went into rent and 100 into transportation - in that case even 40 EU are quite an investment ...
Another issue actually was that I was trying to run away from everything trans and have as little to do with it as possible. Told no one anymore, didnt go to support groups, didnt want to visit doctors and all that and only did what was really needed, endocrinologist for pills and blood checks and occasional laser treatments. Well - it did not work, I came to the conclusion after "just" 13 years that I have to take a step back to be able to walk forward and return to the topic and here I am (reasons stated elsewhere, but mainly it is about that bubble not working out with occasional failures in passing plus some issues unresolved like some face hair and a voice problem)
Uhm, skilled medical person... Laser requires thorough training and education about the risks and all, and at the clinic I go to they don't let any employee do laser if they don't get their certification from an evaluator that comes specifically for that, from far away. But having an actual doctor or nurse or other qualified health professional do that is overkill, really. Any esthetician with the right diploma and the laser training does the job more than fine. It's easier to do than electrolysis, and honestly, given the right information, material, techniques and some proper judgement, to be honest, pretty much anyone can do laser.
Also, wow, that pay is really awful. Gotta love countries that don't have a decent minimum wage.
I am satisfied with hair removal by Tria. We discussed this product several times before.
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,102684.0.html
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,136864.0.html
It is interesting that I still see a few very fine and long hair grow in my legs. They are not so much noticeable, but I just pluck using my fingers.
barbie~~
A - I think I did not get this right. I meant with skilled medical person not a doctor, but a person as you described - who received proper training to use the device, how to do proper treatments afterwards, what to do if things are not right - and have a medical doctor behind the whole setup to check on the instruments and such regularly. This is where I go presently. They are skilled or rather experienced persons who are not nurses or doctors, but there is a doctor running the whole thing. He certainly gets better pay, but the people who do that work after the training and all that, they probably are not paid so well, but I hope well enough to not be able to offer this treatment for 25 EU. But I am no economist - I just have not found anyone doing this cheaper and still look trustworthy ;)
In my experience, the trustworthiness of a clinic in its image is worthless. The first place I went to was like that. They claimed to have a doctor who overlooked everything, to have the most trained and skilled technicians... but the doctor was only there for confirming people's medications and laser contraindications (which my new clinic does by simply calling the pharmacy) and otherwise only did the doctor jobs like botox, really. He was never directly or indirectly involved in laser treatments.
And the "superior" technicians, really, were nothing short of disappointing. They used insufficient power settings which rendered many of my treatments near useless (they only got the neck and cheeks, mostly - they never put the power high enough to really affect my upper lip or chin), they left a large mark of barely lasered skin where they had made their pencil lines (which they had the great idea of always putting in the same place)... the only, only advantage there is that their patented (expensive at 1 $ / mL) moisturizing and post-treatment balm is amazing.
The extra money (probably 8 times the price) only serves to fatten the doctor and the investors. Just see how they attracted customers (foolish people like me) by putting a discount of up to 60 % every month... and still charge several times the reasonable price.
Really, it was simply a scam. I don't know your clinic, but I have a LOT of trouble imagining that they're charging you a remotely reasonable amount.
Hmm - sounds like they really are ripping you off there. I guess I never thought of 60-70 EUR as that expensive for such a treatment and could not imagine to get that cheaper, so maybe I just should look. I consider going to the local support group maybe and ask them about that, though I fear that they do have rather personal opinions that do not focus on money. Many still do not believe laser works long term anyways, so they usually rather give you an adress of an electrologist - which I probably will need anyways now after laser seems to have run to its limits.
Well, you can't lose anything by going. Worst case, you'll gain the knowledge that you don't like the trans people in your area.
... that I still dont like the trans people in my area ;) - no, just kidding, I liked many of them back then but not so much that support group. I am a tad bit worried about going there actually as it is in the back room of the queer organization here. I am not sure if I will meet people there that I know or knew and that never figured out my past... well, as I did not meet any of them anyways for years, they likely will not think of me either. Otherwise it may be a bit of a mess and I hope I will not tangle myself up in stupid lies ;)
Not to necro this thread, but I just thought I would chime in to say that I am quite happy with my Remington iLight Pro's results.
I picked up one that had been used in an Ulta display on Ebay for $160. It was in mint condition when I got it, and although I know it's not FDA approved for facial use, it worked for me very well.
I have very light skin, with dark hair. The highest setting gives a mild sunburn effect that faded for me over-night. It is not a pleasant sensation by any means, and the smell of burnt hair takes some getting used to.
If you intend to treat your face, either wear eye protection (there are protective goggles that you can get on Amazon), or have someone else do your treatment while you're eyes are covered completely and closed.
Treating each area every two weeks, it takes a while to really notice the effect, but it works, and works well. And the best part is, I've managed to save countless amounts of money. :)
That's really interesting. Out of curiosity, where are you at with lamps? Do they give out often? Have you had to spend a lot on new lamps?
I have now had 5 lazar sessions and am clear from hair just one or 2 hairs left told that one more should do it am dark haired told it very s on hair type and can tack up to 15 sessions to clear completely if hair is light brown
Quote from: A on October 05, 2013, 03:23:09 PM
That's really interesting. Out of curiosity, where are you at with lamps? Do they give out often? Have you had to spend a lot on new lamps?
I have been getting the lamps on Ebay for $25.00 each with free shipping. I picked up a case of three, and I am half way through the second one.
They last quite a while, actually. I was surprised.
So, so far....$160 for the IPL itself, and $75 on lamps.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
How many face treatments does a lamp do, for instance?
Quote from: A on October 05, 2013, 06:19:14 PM
How many face treatments does a lamp do, for instance?
probably quite a few. I do face, bikini area, inner thighs, feet, hands, chest, belly, and a couple other small trouble areas with each treatment. The face hurts the most, BTW....even more than the "tender bits".
If one were only doing the face, I can't imagine how long the lamp would last. A very long time, considering you really shouldn't treat the same area more than once every two weeks.
Used a professional electrologist because of my super pale skin and very light red hair. Lots of sessions and I'm the super-omg sensitive type so it was more or less like 100 hours of hell. That said, no noticeable scarring from it and I'm really free of facial hair. For the legs and whatnot? Well, I'm just using Nair and shaving. There's no *WAY* I'm doing 200 hours to remove all *that* noise.
I almost bought that NoNo but everyone I talk to tell me hell nono! I've spent the better part of this month looking for a safe DIY permanent hair removal that's reliable, and I think I found it.
I just spent $270 on the Silkn Flash&Go. I read up on a few different websites on their reviews and all I could find bad about it is the cost, and it doesn't work for dark skin people. Puts me in the clear and beings I can afford it I'm taking the risk. Optimal results of total hair loss take abou 3 months but fortunately after that I won't have to pay for it again like shaving or waxing and it's painless.
I'd love to get one of the hand-held IPL devices, I saw a Remmington brand one for around $200. Sadly they don't deliver to Canada and none of the local stores carry any type of IPL device.
i spent a few hundred dollars, bought my own laser, made by tria , doing it once a week for 8 months ish i was hair free on my face.
Quote from: Anastasia E on September 05, 2013, 06:24:22 PM
Lastly, I have found that clinics near me mainly offer IPL, which I am told is not too effective. A clinic a couple of blocks away also offers something called ' SHR / Soprano XLi (Super Hair Removal) ', anyone have any experiences with that? If not, what have you tried that worked? What type should I look for?
I have heard really good things about Soprano. You are lucky you found a place that has one.
Okay I just gave my first test run of my Flash&Go and I'm.....umm.....yeah I read the directions and it says specifically not to use it on tattoos because the system judges skin pigment and adjusts the power needed and HOLY CRAP! My tattoo on my left forearm is now 3D lol, damn that burned. I didn't even pay attention to where I gave it a test run like it says in the instructions and ouch *facepalm.*
On the plus side it's not uncomfortable at all on the armpits. You have to shave before use and my armpits are always shaved. It was a little startling at first because it pops when you pull the trigger and might sting a little at first but nowhere near as bad as waxing. Next up my legs.
Thank you sooo much for starting this thread, I learned a lot.
In South Korea we have the Iaan Clinic. It's a laser removal center. I was picturing myself consulting with them for face and chest (I'm lucky, I don't have a lot of hair to begin with). The trouble is that I'm 50 years old, light skinned but grey haired. Electrolysis for permanent removal? Done.
I'm reading the warnings from the older girls, to have it done by a professional. I will look.