How I coped with the pain. I have a bad tendon around the ankle,  I use to grab that and squeeze, pain to take pain away  worked for me. Now I can hold a conversation with them, well could if I wasn't so afraid of moving when they went across the top lip.

@Ameliato: I would be red for a little while so in winter you would notice I have done something, if you saw me soon after. I found drinking around 1L of watersoon after helped in getting my skin back to normal colour. I also have problems burning and staying burnt so my skin does tend to recover pretty quickly. So while drinking the water works for me, as always YMMV

Until you shed, the hairs that will shed may seem to appear a but darker. So, you may have extra shadow for a week or two before you see WAY less shadow.

The redness fades surprisingly quickly, a few hours is right, but it does feel like an instant sunburn for a while after which may make you think the red will last longer than it ultimately does. I wouldn't fret it.

As others have eluded, it does not all come out after one session, patches tend to remain. And I mean patches. Like it may look like the tech missed entire sections if you let it grow out. It is weird. And those patches may hold out for a few sessions, too.

Here are a couple examples. The first is what I natrually grew. Pretty burly. My beard used to grow fast!


This next one is after my first session and shedding, and then letting it grow out for a week because I was curious to see what was left. This was a day or two before shaving it all and going in for my second session. As you can see, gray hair is untouched, but a LOT of the dark was zapped away, and yet, little patches were untouched. I wish I got more angles because it left some interesting patterns. I was told, the area below and behind the jaw can be more resilient than others, it certainly was for me.

I remember going in not expecting much pain because I've read some other people's experiences and they said it doesn't hurt. But Holy ****, I was VERY wrong. So wrong that I was tearing up so bad that the tech offered me tissues :x

I have had quite a few lazer sessions and can honestly say it was always pain free.
Oh dear my pants are on fire.

Well at least it was pain free between the zaps.

Day 2. Now it started to itch like nobody's business! I was told not to scratch because of an infection risk. How fun! Well, at least the afterburn has ceased.

I have to say, I have very bad dysphoria about my facial hair, but this is still right on the edge of my ability to cope. I will continue the treatments, but had it been even slightly more, I probably couldn't.

And yeah, I have extremely black and visible stubble today. No chance of not getting gendered anything but male.

Quote from: ameliato on January 20, 2015, 09:38:36 PM
Just a question for anyone who can answer. How long is it noticeable that you have had a session after it is done? is your face red for days, hours, sore, bumpy, etc?

Thank you for your responses.

I'm usually red for the rest of the day after laser and then my face is still a little puffy for about 2 days. After the first day no one really even notices. I just had my 8th session yesterday and no one at work has ever said that I look any different. maybe thats just because I work with all men who are totally clueless about these things.   Women would probably be more likely to notice though.

Quote from: zog on January 21, 2015, 07:17:45 AM
Day 2. Now it started to itch like nobody's business! I was told not to scratch because of an infection risk. How fun! Well, at least the afterburn has ceased.

I have to say, I have very bad dysphoria about my facial hair, but this is still right on the edge of my ability to cope. I will continue the treatments, but had it been even slightly more, I probably couldn't.

And yeah, I have extremely black and visible stubble today. No chance of not getting gendered anything but male.

DO NOT, I say again, DO NOT scratch it. Another thing is you might also have a small breakout around the area that was zapped since your skin is not accustomed to being zapped yet. This is fairly common, but not everyone breaks out after a zap session.

One thing I recommend for your next session to reduce the itch and possibility of a breakout is to gently exfoliate (preferably one with moisturizer) as soon as you get back from getting zapped. This definitely helped me in reducing both of what I mentioned.

Quote from: TDawesome on January 22, 2015, 04:59:53 AM
DO NOT, I say again, DO NOT scratch it. Another thing is you might also have a small breakout around the area that was zapped since your skin is not accustomed to being zapped yet. This is fairly common, but not everyone breaks out after a zap session.

One thing I recommend for your next session to reduce the itch and possibility of a breakout is to gently exfoliate (preferably one with moisturizer) as soon as you get back from getting zapped. This definitely helped me in reducing both of what I mentioned.

My place sold me a special moisturizer (don't know if it was for laser treatment, or just a prettied up bottle). The day after some times I would still feel raw. I would rub that into my face to help ease the burning a few times a day while at work.

I do electrolysis (thermolysis) but will be going for laser in a few weeks when my electrologist is on vacation.

How is the pain from laser compared to electrolysis? They may have to use the YAG laser since I have darker skin.

After my first 5 sessions my face was red and puffy for about 4 days (sensitive skin) by the 5th day, it was mostly gone. I have to say those early sessions were super duper painful. I cried at the end of most of them since back then my neck and face were being done and my beard shadow was really heavy. Under the chin, right on the jawline and sideburns hurt just as much as the upper lip for me. The upper lip was actually not as bad in comparison because I would manage to get a super close shave where as the other areas it was a lot tougher to do a close shave cause of the weird angles my hair would grow in. 

I haven't read through the thread but light exfoliation after your laser session helps clear whatever dead hairs are left behind. When you start shedding you're better off exfoliating those hairs vs plucking them out I think, even if they come out very easily I wouldn't want to risk damaging the follicle imo. Plus exfoliating helps with reducing shadow too.

After a year's worth of laser sessions I'm like 90-95% clear.

Isn't damaging the follicle the point?

Plucking can cause ingrown hairs and pulling them from the root makes it harder for laser to do its job because plucking ruins the follicle, it has to be intact so it can be properly lasered.

I used to tug the hairs lightly 5-6 days after a laser session. You really don't want to pluck them because that means the hair wasn't necessarily treated due to being in the wrong cycle of growth.

Generally speaking, don't pluck at all. If you're as impatient as I am, you could probably get away with doing light tugs on the hairs. If the hair is dead, it will slide right out. If there is any resistance at all, just leave it in for the next round.

Quote from: Lady_Oracle on January 22, 2015, 09:37:50 PM
Plucking can cause ingrown hairs and pulling them from the root makes it harder for laser to do its job because plucking ruins the follicle, it has to be intact so it can be properly lasered.

No, I mean laser and electro are supposed to destroy the follicle so the hair doesn't regrow. And you really don't want it to regrow.

Plucking is bad I agree because the hair grows back stronger.

Quote from: ImagineKate on January 22, 2015, 10:27:23 PM
No, I mean laser and electro are supposed to destroy the follicle so the hair doesn't regrow. And you really don't want it to regrow.

Plucking is bad I agree because the hair grows back stronger.

My eyebrows are totally disagreeing with you right now.  They aren't bushier then when I started plucking them.  It's the same principle as waxing, it doesn't really kill the hair, just pulls it out.  If you want to kill the follicle, it needs to be left inside the skin for enough time for the chemical reaction to eat away the root of the follicle.  Targeted folliculitis essentially.

I've heard that plucking your brows causes increased facial hair growth, but can't attest to any validity to that statement.  I take Biosil, to make my hair grow faster and because it's good for my skin and nails.  IMO razors are so much faster and easier to use, and don't disrupt laser/electrolysis.

Eyebrows grow slower than most other hair on your body.

Plucking is also bad because of the trauma to the skin, especially where you might be receiving laser/electro.

It can cause hypo or hyperpigmentation. Not fun at all!

My hair grows like a frickin weed, luckily confined to my head. Unfortunately not restricted to the sides of my ears Anyone else have those little tufts? I hate em!

Quote from: Jennygirl on January 23, 2015, 05:49:53 PM
Plucking is also bad because of the trauma to the skin, especially where you might be receiving laser/electro.

It can cause hypo or hyperpigmentation. Not fun at all!

My hair grows like a frickin weed, luckily confined to my head. Unfortunately not restricted to the sides of my ears Anyone else have those little tufts? I hate em!

I used to pretend those tufts were part of my fairy and elf look LOL

Hyperpigmentation is, however, no joke unless you want a new birth mark or brown spot.  I had six laser sessions and signed the consent form that clearly warned about it as a known complication and recommended daily UV sun protection.  I was not that disciplined and regrettably have some new brown spots added to my collection.  Hope you all are smarter about prevention. 

Day 5 and I'm still yet to shed any of the hair. I don't know if it's safe to try shaving, but I'm pretty sick of this black stubble.

Yep I do everything I can to keep my skin healthy in between laser appointments. I stay out of the sun, exfoliate, constantly moisturize and shave the hairs. My pores and overall complexion has improved a lot thanks to laser so thats been a nice plus, so it makes me look a tad bit younger   

hey zog have you tried exfoilating? That helps remove those fried hairs left behind if not you should start shedding about a week and a half to two weeks in, I know it takes awhile  but you should be able to shave those hairs off by the 7th day.