I had laser done to my face 2 days ago. My chin and upper lip were swollen for a while but are mostly fine now. Is it safe to shave? Obviously it's too early for any hairs to fall off but I have a date tonight and I don't want him to notice my stubbly upper lip and chin. Can I shave? Will it affect anything? I don't recall them ever saying that I couldn't shave, this time she just told me to exfoliate for 5 days...

Kind of urgent, would really appreciate any and all responses!

Yep, you can shave, it's fine. Just be gentle and stuff since your skin is sensitive, you know, like any other time you're shaving. Lots of moisture/cream.

Oh, and if your hair is very dark and your skin is light, the hair may appear more prominent until it falls out since it is dislodged and stuck in the skin. Hopefully you have concealer if that's an issue!

Quote from: Sybil on August 23, 2014, 12:24:43 PMOh, and if your hair is very dark and your skin is light, the hair may appear more prominent until it falls out since it is dislodged and stuck in the skin. Hopefully you have concealer if that's an issue!

Oh f-word me...

Thanks for replying, hope it doesn't turn out looking worse than before the session...

Personally I have never had issue shaving after, even the day of. But as Sybil alluded to, there are hairs stuck under the skin. In my case this lasts for 1-2 weeks!!! Its TORTURE!

What suggestion do you have for hiding these?

So far I've had mild luck with a darker foundation. But it doesn't work fully. Thankfully I have less growing in above my upper lip but still an issue.

Makeup is just about the only solution. While it's "shedding" it'll appear as prominent 5 o'clock shadow, and it can take over a week, too.

after my first laser my face has looked like a chess board for the last 5 days.... hope your date was a more of a success than my first session

The date went ok, I don't think he noticed. I used a little bit of my mom's concealer but I didn't think it improved anything that much.

What's annoying me now is that I look worse than I did when I shave... Like just now, it's like I can't even cut some hairs like I could before... My cheeks are bare with a handful of straddler hairs but my razor can't cut them, it's like they're under the skin?

My chin has "bald spots", which looks really bad too but isn't noticeable unless you're staring really close... Not sure what's going on? This is my 4th session, during the prior ones I didn't go out as much so I just stayed home and watch the hair grow and then shed... But now that I leave the house daily I notice just how weird everything is... When will things go back to normal? It's been 7 days so far... My skin still feels a little bumpy around the areas I have hairs in... =(

It can take up to about three weeks, Mermaid. That sort of stubborn hair post-laser is a pretty good sign; you'll be dealing with the area one day soon and suddenly notice that much of it is completely gone and/or severely reduced. Until then, it can be annoying -- but so worth it.