Hi everyone,
I am pre HRT and looking to start facial hair removal. I've read a lot about laser v electrolysis and want to ask for others experience with each process and the results.
I have light brown hair and am wondering if I should be looking at one process versus the other or to start out with laser and catch whatever is left with electrolysis.
Also, wondering how long into hair removal people have gone before it's been noticed by others.
Thanks in advance
Tammy x

Quote from: Tammy on June 06, 2017, 11:08:07 AM
Hi everyone,
I am pre HRT and looking to start facial hair removal. I've read a lot about laser v electrolysis and want to ask for others experience with each process and the results.
I have light brown hair and am wondering if I should be looking at one process versus the other or to start out with laser and catch whatever is left with electrolysis.
Also, wondering how long into hair removal people have gone before it's been noticed by others.
Thanks in advance
Tammy x

Hey Tammy,

Do you have light or dark colored skin? If you have light then go laser. Otherwise, you're stuck with electrolysis.

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I have been getting electrolysis for over 8 months. About every other week I go for a one hour session. Light brown hair may not be treated with laser as it works best on dark hair on light skin. Laser is quicker but hair regrows. Electrolysis is permanent but your face has 30,000 - 40,000 hairs. A good electrolysis session will get rid of 250-300 per hour. Laser is not as painful as electrolysis.

Laser may not be very effective on light brown hair, and it is useless on grey hair. I have light skin and dark hair along with some grey. I started laser treatments in Jan 2017. After three treatments dark facial hair has been significantly reduced. Laser treatments on my upper lip are extremely painful. It is too soon for me to judge if it will truly be permanent.

I started electrolysis for the grey hairs in Jan 2017. I do two one-hours sessions per week, and my grey hairs are definitely thinning out. Although my first few electrolysis sessions were somewhat painful, I have actually fallen asleep during some of my recent sessions. I believe electrolysis is the only proven permanent hair removal process.

I am hoping the laser will take care of my darker hairs so that I will only need electrolysis on the grey. If you decide to try laser first, make sure it truly is laser and not IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). My experience is that any treatment with 'IPL' in the name is at best temporary, the hair will come back.

So far none of my coworkers have made any comments about my decreasing facial hair. I have also not had a haircut since mid-December 2016, and they have not commented about that either.

I had only one comment. I was growing for electrolysis and somebody I worked with me asked if I had american indian blood as by then my facial hair was getting pretty thin. Prior to that, he never mentioned it because I was clean shaved and even after a full day, what facial hair I had wasn't very visible. It took three days of growth for somebody to notice.

So I have natural brown/blond hair with about 70% grey. It does work on brown hair. I found the laser did help get rid of the non grey hairs and electrolysis did the rest.

Ok so my thoughts on laser

Three main factors will determine the success of laser hair removal:

Up-to-date laser technology – using the correct laser wavelength, not IPL ( which is sometimes mistakenly called a laser. ). Look for the Elite MPX equipment which is the latest out there.

A thorough, trained and experienced operator to set and change the parameters according to the hair colour, thickness, density, skin type and last but not least comfort level.

Consistent scheduled appointments to ensure treatment of the greatest percentage of hair in the active growth phase.

Electrolysis

Well this is the sure thing and its time consuming and can be pricey depending on the amount of hair you have.

I currently do a 2 hour session a week and punching up to 3 hours to just get it done.

If you can do laser  done with the right equipment it will save you in the long run.

Huggs Niki Marie

I have been doing enough laser to keep the dark hairs from being too visible.  I don't really expect it to be a permanent solution.  And, since the majority of my hair is white or gray, I knew from the start that I'd have to rely on electrolysis to do the job.  But laser was helpful to keep the shadow under control.  The nice thing about laser is that it can cover the whole face in 20 minutes.

However, now that I am on HRT, my skin reacts more to light, and I have melasma on my cheeks.  The laser tech said I should not do any more laser until the fall, due to sunlight exposure.  So I am doing electrolysis only, an hour a week.  In a one-hour session, she can cover a square inch or two.

With the slower growth rate on HRT, my first day of not shaving is not really noticeable.  By the end of the second day, it is pretty obvious.  It doesn't really affect my routine.  Preparing for today's electrolysis session, I last shaved on Saturday morning.  Sunday, I was attending a firefighter convention (in girl mode - I'm full-time) and no one noticed.  Monday evening, I was at our local fire department's weekly practice.  The stubble was pretty obvious, but I'd warned them that they had drawn the short straw and would have to put up with me having stubble on my face.  No one commented.  I yam what I yam.

Thanks so much, everyone. This is great info and I'm very appreciative. I'm fair skinned with light coverage hair everywhere else but my face, grrr.
My wife has had both laser and electrolysis and is strongly pushing me to choose laser because of the pain. I'm just not convinced from what I've read on the internet that laser will cut it for facial hair. But hoping that maybe it'll work for the majority of my face and cut costs, time and pain!
I guess I need to also ask a professional but it seems to me they do either laser or electrolysis, not both, so are probably going to try and sell the services they actually do.
Maybe worth trying a few sessions of laser and seeing how it goes???
Tammy x

Quote from: Tammy on June 06, 2017, 07:12:13 PM
Maybe worth trying a few sessions of laser and seeing how it goes???

Definitely.  It takes about six sessions a month apart to do the job.  Even then, I don't think they claim a 100% success rate, so you will likely need to finish up with electrolysis.  But every hair you get with the laser is one less zap later.

Quote from: Tammy on June 06, 2017, 11:08:07 AM
I am pre HRT and looking to start facial hair removal. I've read a lot about laser v electrolysis and want to ask for others experience with each process and the results.

I think the only valid answers would be from those who has half of their hair removed via LHR and the other half by electrolysis.  That is to say, there's probably no valid answers to the question of "which is "better"/more permanent, LHR or electrolysis?"

Personally, I a few laser sessions in the beginning (a Groupon deal ) but then have had electrolysis for several years now.  My facial hair is permanently gone.  And I don't mean I still get a hair or two every few weeks.  I do mean "gone". My public area, front and back, has taken longer, probably because of the lower currents used in that area, but they're approaching that state as well.

The obvious (big) downside of electrolysis is the time/number of visits required, and thus the cost.

As an update, I had a laser hair removal consultation this week. They use a Cynosure Elite laser and believe they should get good results so I've signed up to start in a weeks time, very excited! Expecting that electrolysis might be needed to get those left behind but happy if I can clear most of it with laser!

If you can find the right quality laser and operator and have compatible skin/hair type, laser obviously saves a ton of time and pain.  MTF facial hair is a very different root type and density compared to body hair, so your best answer may depend on which area you're talking about. 

Having done both at 3 clinics (2 with a great reputation, one was an IPL ripoff) I now know what worked for me.  Laser thinned majority of hair on upper body and legs, and nearly all armpit hair.  Went back with electrolysis for the rest. 

Laser reduced genital hair by half and was almost worthless on my beard.  "Laser hair" is thin but visible hair that re-grows a year later and still has to be taken out with electrolysis if you want excellent results.  After seeing that happen I halted laser on my face and went for pure electrolysis. 

For the face, hair removal isn't just about stubble and hair above the skin.  The goal is to eliminate the root.  Skin is translucent, each root changes the color of adjacent skin - and is much smoother once the roots aren't forming all those little craters.

There is a lot said on both sides of this issue every time it comes up. My experience has been that 6 laser treatments has removed the dark hairs from my face with no regrowth yet. At 55 I had significant grays which I have tweezed out exhaustively. All growth on my face now, with the exception of the occasional gray, is of the vellum type and is very light and blonde or white and not really noticeable without magnification. I haven't shaved in a month. If I do get regrowth I will still be far ahead of the game and it cost me less that $1000.

Thank you, both, for your feedback. Much appreciated!

Hey, thought I'd share my experience. I'm 22yo and have had 13 sessions of LHR (all with Alexandrite) technology. I was unhappy with the results, I still have a lot of dark facial hair left. I then went for 28hrs of electrolysis. With the amount of dark facial hair I have remaining I am switching back to laser and am considering doing ipl in between sessions to see if that will be effective for my facial hair. I am getting desperate and just need it gone. My experience is not typical but I've been at it for 1.5+ years at this point.

Quote from: maybeventually on July 30, 2017, 04:43:43 PM
Hey, thought I'd share my experience. I'm 22yo and have had 13 sessions of LHR (all with Alexandrite) technology. I was unhappy with the results, I still have a lot of dark facial hair left. I then went for 28hrs of electrolysis. With the amount of dark facial hair I have remaining I am switching back to laser and am considering doing ipl in between sessions to see if that will be effective for my facial hair. I am getting desperate and just need it gone. My experience is not typical but I've been at it for 1.5+ years at this point.

IPL is a waste of time, and at 13 sessions of laser I think you're at the end of the line with it's effectiveness. I would ramp up electrolysis if you're serious about reaching the finish line. 

Quote from: maybeventually on July 30, 2017, 04:43:43 PM
> I then went for 28hrs of electrolysis. With the amount of dark facial hair I have remaining I am switching back to laser and am considering doing ipl in between sessions

At 28 hours of electrolysis I was just getting started.  Mine is essentially complete after a couple hundred hours of thermo-electrolysis and no regrets.  Keep in mind there are 2-1/2 methods of electrolysis and all methods require a skilled operator.  Thermo electrolysis, or galvanic electrolysis which is much slower, and blend is a mixture of the two methods.

Ever seen one of those "Learn _____ language in 24 hours!" books at the airport?  Those are great for visitors, but not for natives or permanent residents.   

Quote from: maybeventually on July 30, 2017, 04:43:43 PM
Hey, thought I'd share my experience. I'm 22yo and have had 13 sessions of LHR (all with Alexandrite) technology. I was unhappy with the results, I still have a lot of dark facial hair left. I then went for 28hrs of electrolysis. With the amount of dark facial hair I have remaining I am switching back to laser and am considering doing ipl in between sessions to see if that will be effective for my facial hair. I am getting desperate and just need it gone. My experience is not typical but I've been at it for 1.5+ years at this point.

I had IPL on my face and it just kept growing back...I was told I was getting medical grade laser at the time. When I went back to my original laser I found the difference immediate and in 2 sessions of laser most of the IPL regrowth was gone and has never come back. I had about 70% dark and 30 % light grey hair and the laser took care of about 90% of the dark. After 17 session (5 ? of which where IPL) I don't have enough darks to bother with.

IPL did a reasonable job on the lighter body hair all but eliminating at dark hair on my chest with the exception of around the areola where they stayed away from due to possible sensitivity but all that did is leave a couple of hairs that could grow long and look ugly...I fixed them!!!

From what I read, laser is permanent hair reduction. Some may grow back and if you're a good candidate, then possibly 80% hair clearance. Which is why I decided to to laser before electrolysis. Saves a bit of money and time. If they do grow back you would have had to do electrolysis anyway and you're probably going to need less. So fingers crossed. However electrolysis is the only permanent hair removal that has been proven.

Quote from: ElizabethK on August 17, 2017, 05:36:38 PM
I had IPL on my face and it just kept growing back...I was told I was getting medical grade laser at the time. When I went back to my original laser I found the difference immediate and in 2 sessions of laser most of the IPL regrowth was gone and has never come back. I had about 70% dark and 30 % light grey hair and the laser took care of about 90% of the dark. After 17 session (5 ? of which where IPL) I don't have enough darks to bother with.

IPL did a reasonable job on the lighter body hair all but eliminating at dark hair on my chest with the exception of around the areola where they stayed away from due to possible sensitivity but all that did is leave a couple of hairs that could grow long and look ugly...I fixed them!!!

How long time to wait between each  laser sessions?
Could do it every week ? Or 2 times a month?
Thanks

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