I have had 8 sessions of laser on my face.  So far it has worked amazingly and i would say i am 99% free of dark hair and am having electrolysis to remove the blonde ones.

My upper lip still has a definite shadow although it's not totally-in-your-face-visible and though no hairs are growing through it still requires makeup to cover it.

I presume this must mean there are still dormant hairs within the skin but am then wondering why i only have it on my upper lip area and not the rest of my face.

Once all the hair has been killed will the shadow go or will there always be a remnant?

I've been working on this for eight months, and the shadow is pretty much gone, but there remains stubble after a couple of days, which is really annoying.  Only about half the hair is active at any time, and what you see is what will show up eventually.  It does gradually disappear as you continue treatment. 

Today is electrolysis day for me, and I'm OK with the pain, but hate coming to work.  I am just sure that I am obvious and gross.  Not really the case, but another phobia of mine.

To me it seems like upper lip hair is especially resilient. I have been using the tria and while I have certainly reduced the hairs and the shadow is gone from the outer edges of my upper lip, by the middle the shadow is noticable enough to need some makeup. Thing is other areas clear much easier than this, I have probably done 20+ sessions on my upper lip for a like 70% reduction but, the chest and breasts have had 5 sessions and are like 90% cleared almost all the hairs left are small and clear only a handful of dark ones remain....

I guess the body prioritized the upper lip or something?

I'm not sure if there is any hair there :/  Its been about 4 weeks since my last laser, usually would have had regrowth by now.  I was hoping that the blueish tint would disappear once there was no hair left.

need a veteran of laser to come weigh in!

I had six sessions of laser plus a couple touch-ups, and I have zero shadow anywhere, though there are maybe half a dozen stubborn hairs that still grow in (at this point I just pluck them).

Cis women get that upper lip shadow too, though, and it's from the downy little vellus hairs that are perfectly normal on women's faces. Drugstores sell kits to wax/bleach/Nair that off specifically b/c there is a market in cis women who want to remove it. So the bad news is, it might not be *male* facial hair at all; the good news is, if it isn't, no one will be suspicious based on that alone. (You know your face better than anyone else, of course. If you think it's still male facial hair, that's a separate issue, and it might just be very stubborn hairs.)

I exfoliate as much as possible, it's greatly reduced my upper lip shadow along with my laser sessions. I've had 5 sessions total. It's still a bit there but I can finally take pictures without it being noticeable.