Hi Aussie ladies. Just thought i'd share my experiences recently with my hair removal journey.
I started seriously doing hair removal about June last year.
It all started with a bunch of research and shortly following the research I made the decision to purchase an IPL machine (semi-professional). Its the E-One Clinic. Its not laser, but its IPL. All of the reviews appeared to be positive and Im pretty lucky, most of my hair is dark and I have fair skin. The E-One isnt cheap. $2k. That buys a lot of laser sessions and a fair few electrolysis sessions. Now the E-One is great. I have had good results, its just very slow. It takes around 6-10 seconds to recharge after every flash, and each flash unit only lasts for 3000 flashes (new ones are $200). I also feel that it works much better on my body and legs than on my face.
I made the decision around November 2015 that I needed to seek out some more professional assistance with my facial hair. At first I went to a dermatology clinic near Broadway Shopping Centre. Now they told me they did laser, but it is in fact a Sciton BBL machine (IPL). The treatment was fairly painless, until I went to pay for it. $400 from memory. I felt that I did a poor amount of research prior to this appointment. In December I traveled to Canada for work and I was there for 2.5 weeks. I did some research whilst I was there and found a laser clinic in Ottawa that did in fact have a Candela Gentlelase alexandrite laser. So I made an appointment and even though it was roughly $200AU I happily paid it and went in for my session. WOW it was pretty painful. I have now learnt that there is pre-session preparation you can do (numbing cream), and post session care with aloe vera gel and ice packs. I had none of these offered to me when I went for my session. My face was very red, very swollen and took 2.5 days to return to anything that resembled normal for me. I had a heap of pustules from my follicles being zapped, and I generally felt pretty horrible about the experience. However, about 2 weeks after the trauma... I had a HEAP of hairs fall out. It was quite an excellent result.
I then did some research around what laser clinics are available for me near home in Sydney. I also did a bit of research on numbing creams. There is Emla cream which is 5% lidocaine. Now thats great, but I did some more searching and found a product that I ordered online from the states called Deeveeant "PowerNumb" which contains 5% lidocaine and 5% prilocaine. It does a fantastic job and the only place that I felt any real pain in my laser sessions since using this cream every time is my upper lip.
I found a laser clinic online in the Sydney CBD (City Laser Clinic) that had Candela Gentlelase alexandrite lasers. They seemed pretty cheap ($70 for full face and neck). So I went along and found the ladies there to be VERY Trans friendly and exceptionally good laser operators. Whats even better I found, was that the first visit was $70, and then each 2 week subsequent visit is only $35 (until you end up spacing out the visits to 4 weeks). So I have had 8 treatments so far there, and Im now at the point where I have maybe a dozen stubborn dark hairs that continue to regrow. I have a bit of grey hair on my chin, cheeks and neck - so its probably time for me to start electrolysis, and the electro can deal with the last stubborn dark hairs too.
The staff at City Laser Clinic are very good. The post care is fantastic, they provide the aloe vera gel and ice packs and allow you to take your time recovering from the laser session. I wouldnt hesitate to recommend anyone going there!
