OK I had checked out the websites, talked to people. I also had a days leave. Walked in this morning and saw the receptionist. Hi, I want to know about laser hair removal, price and times. She checked the diary. We have a cancellation this afternoon if you wish to have an initial consult with a therapist. She will do a test patch and advise on how many treatments blah blah.
Fronted up in the afternoon, in drab and unshaven (yuk). Nice woman, a nurse, checked out my skin, we did a survey and I came out as a type II borderline type III. Seemingly suitable for a good outcome. Why do wish to do this, you are just bored of shaving? "No I'm transgendered and on hormones. Oh good thanks for telling me, we will need to do a total reduction in that case. We talked about pros and cons, costs and effectiveness, how many cycles etc. And what my desired outcome was. She explained that many guys just don't want to look as if they never shave, they shave an 10 mins later :laugh:. I explained I didn't want facial hair. She replied that all woman have facial hair and getting to that point of female facial hair expression should be the goal. OK says I.
So we do a ptach on my neck. First zap and I twinge. I'm ok just didn't know what to expect. We did all the area below my chin, in 10 min sessions. some topical hydrocortisone and ice to bring the swelling down. But it was perfectly OK pain wise (brave girl wimp wimp).
I'm going in during my lunch hour tomorrow and we will do the Mo and chin :o, I'm sure no one will notice. Just like I didn't notice my bald neck when I got home :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Yippeeee
Cindy
Sounds good Cindy.. We must have a chat about this..
Hi Kelly,
Definitely. But save up the pennies :'( :'( :'( :'(. It ain't cheap.
Cindy
You big brave girl you.
Back in the day when laser was but a distant dream I had conventional electro. I didn't have a lot of hair thankfully - but even so to get it all cleared in what I considered a reasonable time scale I still ended up having between 6 and 9 hours a week at first. - Oh and forget poncy EMLA cream too - that didn't become available until I was over halfway through anyway. In the end it took me over 18 months, although thankfully after about 6 months the duration of the sessions did slowly begin to decline.
You don't know the meaning true pain until you have endured a full two hours of needle electrolysis without any numbing. No wonder I went through my SRS without taking any painkillers. Compared to upper lip electrolysis it was a mere scratch! :laugh:
the salons claim their high charge is to cover the cost fo the laser machines but they rent them and the per hour cost won't be that high so basically they charge and we pay a vanity rate.
and we will pay for quite a while as they have to wait 5 weeks between sessions to get all the dormant hairs.
What sort of machine did she use?
My salon had Sonata machine for both male and female but have just changed to a medium size Polaris for females and MtFs on E and have a huge Polaris machine for males and people wanting rid of tattoos. Those leave a massive blister over the tattoos and goodness knows what the pain must be like.
A Duet IV on setting 24 and decreased to 22.
I have seen the clinical consequences of laser tattoo removal. Another really good reason never to get a tattoo IMO.
I've also seen the consequences of a badged Hells Angel "deciding" to quit HA and go to another club. Very effective removal. Acid, paint scrapers and an angle iron. Sadly he had several tattoos. He sort of survived.
Cindy
That's really great Cindy. Hope it continues to go really well for you.
Kinda feel for that Hell's Angel. It's easy to forget they often have feelings. :laugh:
I also once called a skin clinic, asking about the cost. Ca US$300 for chin. US$500 for face. Ca US$700 for legs, and etc. It typically requires more than 5 times visits. Moreover they said I should grow my hairs before getting treatment, which I can not endure.
For this reason, I am considering purchasing Tria laser hair remover (US$495). I think this might be more cost effective. Has anybody tried it?
Barbie~~
Right on Cindy!!! Congrats... That's great!!! :icon_chick:
Woot. Go Cindy!
Quote from: CindyJames on September 29, 2010, 03:26:01 AM
OK I had checked out the websites, talked to people. I also had a days leave. Walked in this morning and saw the receptionist. Hi, I want to know about laser hair removal, price and times. She checked the diary. We have a cancellation this afternoon if you wish to have an initial consult with a therapist. She will do a test patch and advise on how many treatments blah blah.
Fronted up in the afternoon, in drab and unshaven (yuk). Nice woman, a nurse, checked out my skin, we did a survey and I came out as a type II borderline type III. Seemingly suitable for a good outcome. Why do wish to do this, you are just bored of shaving? "No I'm transgendered and on hormones. Oh good thanks for telling me, we will need to do a total reduction in that case. We talked about pros and cons, costs and effectiveness, how many cycles etc. And what my desired outcome was. She explained that many guys just don't want to look as if they never shave, they shave an 10 mins later :laugh:. I explained I didn't want facial hair. She replied that all woman have facial hair and getting to that point of female facial hair expression should be the goal. OK says I.
So we do a ptach on my neck. First zap and I twinge. I'm ok just didn't know what to expect. We did all the area below my chin, in 10 min sessions. some topical hydrocortisone and ice to bring the swelling down. But it was perfectly OK pain wise (brave girl wimp wimp).
I'm going in during my lunch hour tomorrow and we will do the Mo and chin :o, I'm sure no one will notice. Just like I didn't notice my bald neck when I got home :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Yippeeee
Cindy
Welcome to the club. :) It does work, if you stick with it, but it is faster and ultimately cheaper than going all-electro.
Quote from: barbie on September 29, 2010, 01:22:01 PM
I also once called a skin clinic, asking about the cost. Ca US$300 for chin. US$500 for face. Ca US$700 for legs, and etc. It typically requires more than 5 times visits. Moreover they said I should grow my hairs before getting treatment, which I can not endure.
For this reason, I am considering purchasing Tria laser hair remover (US$495). I think this might be more cost effective. Has anybody tried it?
Barbie~~
Not sure where they got that info, but you actually want to shave the area to be treated the night before to clear the hair above the skin. Not go in for a treatment with a fews days growth. Otherwise, you'll be wasting the laser energy which will be absorbed by the colored hair above the skin, not below, which is how you kill the follicle. Now electrolysis requires the hair to be grown out a bit so it can be grabbed with the tweezer after the heat or electricity (or both) are used to kill the follicle.
Quote from: CindyJames on September 29, 2010, 04:44:30 AM
I've also seen the consequences of a badged Hells Angel "deciding" to quit HA and go to another club. Very effective removal. Acid, paint scrapers and an angle iron. Sadly he had several tattoos. He sort of survived.
I've heard that trying to hand back your Matalan card caries similar blood curdling consequences, although I could be wrong/lying :laugh:
I had my test patch laser session the other day after fairly extensive IPL and all that I can say is that if you have sensitive skin, Arnica gel is a very good idea. Much better at cooling the area than aloe vera ;)
I just came up with a new name for a band... The Fried Follicles :laugh:
Sorry... bad humor... *runs to hide*
That is awesome Cindy!
Quote from: Virginia Marie on September 29, 2010, 06:49:12 PM
I just came up with a new name for a band... The Fried Follicles :laugh:
Sorry... bad humor... *runs to hide*
So you should :laugh: :laugh:
Welcome to the club Cindy. :icon_flamed:
I have had four sessions so far, and it is definitely a good idea to have a close shave before hand. I didn't and the extra hair length made it a lot hotter. The pain goes, but the smell of burnt hair lingers!!
Yours in singeing, Sandra ;D
bye
Sounds Great Cindy. Are you doing the whole cost out of pocket? And, are the other costs suggested in the thread within an order of magnitude of what you are seeing? -mS
Congrats Cindy! :) I hope laser works well for you.
Quote from: barbie on September 29, 2010, 01:22:01 PM
For this reason, I am considering purchasing Tria laser hair remover (US$495). I think this might be more cost effective. Has anybody tried it?
Barbie~~
.
Barbie: You do grow your hair out when doing electrolysis. You don't grow your hair out when doing laser. You'll definitely want to be fresh shaven for laser.
.
I've tried the Tria. I would say don't waste your money. First of all, it's not intended for use on the face. Second, when I did use it on thicker hairs on the upper chest area that are similar to facial hairs, it hurt like holy hell. :icon_omfg: (Usually I have a high pain tolerance. Electro doesn't bother me much..but the Tria on thick hairs was painful.) You can use some topical emla or something to dull the pain, but it can get rather expensive to do that. Also, on the highest setting, you only get about 30 minutes of use before needing to recharge for 6 hours or so. Lastly, unlike professional laser treatment...the Tria laser is not powerful enough to produce any shedding of the hairs...so it's difficult to tell whether it's working or not. I could stand the extreme tedium of overlapping that tiny little laser if I knew it worked...but I just didn't see any benefit from it.
Quote from: mistressstevie on October 01, 2010, 10:38:36 PM
Sounds Great Cindy. Are you doing the whole cost out of pocket? And, are the other costs suggested in the thread within an order of magnitude of what you are seeing? -mS
Hi mS
From discussions I had with a couple of clinics is that there are no set charges. It depends on how much time will be needed. In my case I got two quotes, one was $200 a session but they were vague with what a session covered. They also didn't do out of work hours sessions. The one I'm going to is charging $100 a session. Each session is a third of my face, so three sessions at $300 covers one total beard zap. How many totals is understandably unclear. I was told probably three to five for complete hair removal. There are no other costs unless you include moisturiser, which I use daily anyway. I also mentioned that I would want my chest, tum andmy and back, lasered. She said there would be a discounted price for any extra work.
Laser will not work on blonde or grey hair and dark skin is a big No, the skin will burn. You also have to avoid sun exposure, and are not use to sun beds. Risks that were explained to me are irritation, possible scaring, possible rose-wine or albino pigmentation. I had to sign a waiver. The therapist did expalin that she had not seen any pigmentation problems but it was listed as a possible side effect.
I'm paying for this myself, there is no medical benefit scheme in Australia that covers it. All costs are in Australian dollars, which is pretty close the the USD at the moment. At a personal level in selecting and going through with this, is that I felt very comfortable in the clinic, the receptionist, my first point of call was friendly and professional. The therapist I took to straight away, she came over as a caring person, again professional in her outlook, is a trained nurse, and when I told her I was TG she didn't miss a beat. When I told her, chatting as we did zaps etc, that I had a number of TG friends in Adealide who will be interested in the outcome, she immediatly said that the clinic would be more than happy to have them as clients and that respect and privacy was a key protocol in the clinic.
I felt very much at ease.
Hope that helps
Cindy
Quote from: justmeinoz on October 01, 2010, 08:17:29 AM
Welcome to the club Cindy. :icon_flamed:
I have had four sessions so far, and it is definitely a good idea to have a close shave before hand. I didn't and the extra hair length made it a lot hotter. The pain goes, but the smell of burnt hair lingers!!
Yours in singeing, Sandra ;D
Hi Sis,
Yes the on line protocol said not to shave so they could judge the area to be zapped. She did shave the area herself before zapping me. Definitly a close shave in future. The smell :o Like flies being zapped in those UV light thingmajigs.
Hugs
Cindy
Quote from: Kay on October 02, 2010, 12:52:17 AM
I've tried the Tria. I would say don't waste your money. First of all, it's not intended for use on the face. Second, when I did use it on thicker hairs on the upper chest area that are similar to facial hairs, it hurt like holy hell. :icon_omfg: (Usually I have a high pain tolerance. Electro doesn't bother me much..but the Tria on thick hairs was painful.) You can use some topical emla or something to dull the pain, but it can get rather expensive to do that. Also, on the highest setting, you only get about 30 minutes of use before needing to recharge for 6 hours or so. Lastly, unlike professional laser treatment...the Tria laser is not powerful enough to produce any shedding of the hairs...so it's difficult to tell whether it's working or not. I could stand the extreme tedium of overlapping that tiny little laser if I knew it worked...but I just didn't see any benefit from it.
Thanks, Kay,
Oh. It is so expensive ($495), and I thought it migh work far better than Epila, a similar product that I purchased at ca. $150 (used one). If its efficacy is dubious, then I might have to do what I have repeated once or twice per week. Just shaving with a razor. It takes less than 3 min. while I apply conditioner in my hair. For hairs in my chin, it takes longer time as I pluck up all tiny and thick hairs by tweezers nearly everyday. I change the tweezers every one month as it becomes less sharp. The cost is just ca. US$3.
Barbie~~
Just had my upper lip and lower lip and chin done.
I never screamed. ::)
Felt like it though :embarrassed:
Cindy
the new Polaris I have had makes me yell Stop! in places.
the 4-5 times to clear it all is looking like a marketing ploy as I've had at least 5 and still got quite a few dark ones.
the ones that are hardest to kill and annoy me most are at ends of lower lip as they add to the line effect of the skin crease that is so male.
Quote from: lilacwoman on October 07, 2010, 05:33:09 AM
the new Polaris I have had makes me yell Stop! in places.
the 4-5 times to clear it all is looking like a marketing ploy as I've had at least 5 and still got quite a few dark ones.
the ones that are hardest to kill and annoy me most are at ends of lower lip as they add to the line effect of the skin crease that is so male.
The therapist has been quite open in saying she doesn't know how times will be needed. I'm OK with that. I never said stop but when she took my goggles off she did comment on the tears in my eyes (sympathetically). Hopefully the first pass is the worst pain wise.
Cindy
Good luck. I have been going every month for almost 3 years. Still need about 30% more to go. :(
Quote from: VictoriaMichigan on October 08, 2010, 08:13:21 PM
Good luck. I have been going every month for almost 3 years. Still need about 30% more to go. :(
Are you on HRT? Seemingly that makes a big difference
Cindy
bye
Hey girls...I just had my 4th treatment done Saturday. I was told the pain get les with each visit. WRONG...More pain this time than first. I think the tech turned the laser up or something.
I have had alot of infected hairs this time too. But the end result will be worth it. The more I have to shave before doing my make-up, the more I hate it..Cant wait to get it gone. I just saw a new home laser machine call the NoNo something advertised on TV. A 60 day money bak guarantee. Anyone heard of it??
I have had 4 treatments on my face as well. And I can tell you that the laser that they use on me does NOT work on blonde or gray hairs. My treatment consists of the whole face and neck. IT takes about 10 minutes. And it is working great for me. Ill need about 3 more treatments. But then again it is so cheap these days it really does not matter if i need 50 treatments... I pay 60.00 per treatment. I know that when I went for a consultation at a place in Beverly Hills, i was told 350 per treatment. 60 is a way better number!!!
I start my first Laser treatment Saturday. Has anyone had a GentleLase used on them?
That's what my girl uses. Apparently its gentler on the skin and doesn't hurt as much, she warned me it will still hurt some.
Hey girl...Havent heard of a gentle laser, but where I go they have one with a cooler built in.
Ive had 4 and 2 more at least to go. And yes, it does hurt....But worth it...My prob is gonna be the light/grey hairs I will want gone as well..This place assured me on my last visit, of the 2yr
guarantee to get it all...If I have to keep going back I will...Good luck!!
Quote from: Christy Edwards on October 14, 2010, 11:45:37 AM
This place assured me on my last visit, of the 2yr
guarantee to get it all...You have GOT to be kidding me right? @ friggen years
Let me say something, the laser tech is using a very low intensity level on you. They are stretching that ->-bleeped-<- out. Working you cuz it dont take that many treatments....and that pisses me off that they are milking you. Are you in LOs angeles. If so please let me hook you up with the place i get mine done
TO ALL IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, THERE IS A PLACE, LASER HAIR REMOVAL, CELEBRITY LOOK THEY ARE EXTREMELY REASONABLE. 60 PER TREATMENT AND IT HAS ONLY TAKEN ME 4 TREATMENTS AND ILL ONLY NEED 2 OR 3 MORE. THEY CARE ABOUT THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
5065 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Neighborhood: Hollywood
(323) 663-2112
Yay Cindy, so happy for you.
And sounds like you have found a great clinic.
With some luck hope to start some laser early next year....that strong aussie dollar is hurting my chances though, i hope it drops some.
Hugs
Shelly
Quote from: CindyJames on October 07, 2010, 04:59:01 AM
Just had my upper lip and lower lip and chin done.
I never screamed. ::)
Felt like it though :embarrassed:
Cindy
A little trick that helps is to have your laser tech, push down with their finger on the same spot after the laser just hit. The pressure from their touch, will help overcome the pain from the laser. It's basically tricking your nerves. Like when you bang your foot and grab it tightly, the pain goes away for a second. It sounds stupid, but really works.
weird. the laser that they use on me, it stings but not much. It sounds like to me a breaker popping, then this gas blasts me and then a millisecond later the laser does its deal.... oh yeah, there is cream that they can put on your face 2 hours before the treatment and it will COMPLETLY numb the face, wont feel a thing! ASk them about it
What was that about it not working on white hair? My beard is almost completely white.
Randi
Quote from: Randi on October 14, 2010, 04:53:31 PM
What was that about it not working on white hair? My beard is almost completely white.
Laser doesn't work on white hair. The laser use the pigmentation (colours) in the hair to convert to heat. White hair = no pigments = no heat => doesn't work.
Thanks for the info. I am in NC....I will tell them next time about pushing down with their finger.
Also about some numbing cream....My beard has to go...I dislike prep time before doing my face everyday...Again thanks..Christy
Superkitty looks lovely today.
Quote from: JennX on October 14, 2010, 04:37:02 PM
A little trick that helps is to have your laser tech, push down with their finger on the same spot after the laser just hit. The pressure from their touch, will help overcome the pain from the laser. It's basically tricking your nerves. Like when you bang your foot and grab it tightly, the pain goes away for a second. It sounds stupid, but really works.
We go real fast. The only slow down is the recharge time and that is minimal. So it's zap, zap, zap. Fry those Follies. The laser power is judged by her experience and my pain threshold. She (obviously) doesn't want to scar me or cause too much oedema.
I don't know if settings are universal I'm on setting 24. As for how many treatments I think she has been honest in saying I don't know. The amount of T still present and my cycle on HRT will all affect it.
I had a long hard look today 48 hrs post the first cycle, there is a definite reduction. Some areas better than others and it is patchy.
I also have grey which probably won't respond, and any white is a no no. Sorry Randi, if you have white electrolysis is the only option.
But one comment I would like to make.
No matter the pain, the time and the cost:
It's totally awesome to keep moving forwards >:-) >:-) >:-) >:-) >:-)
And the reaction at work to a zapped face? Priceless.
Cindy
Thanks Cindy. I plucked all of it earlier this year & it came back white. Progress is my favorite dance step-one step forward and two back. Eventually I hope to get where I want to go.
Randi