i ask my laser consultant how much time it takes to do one laser hair removal session on face and she said 10 mins..am surprised.any clue its ipl or cheap machine..am wondering how much time is taken to do 1 face session..kindly tell

If your hair and skin are ideal, all of your beard will be killed, and it takes a few days to shed.  Over the next 4-5 weeks a bunch will grow back.  Then you do another session.  I've heard people do up to ten sessions on their face.

My beard is mostly blond/white, so I couldn't do laser.  I'm  doing it the painful slow way.

Bari Jo

It depends on the machine they are using as well.  Some have a wide angle head that can treat a large area very rapidly.  My first sessions took about 15 minutes, now we're down to under 10 but it's mostly cleared.

If you're worried about it being an IPL machine, call and ask what kind of machine they have.  Look it up on the internet (or post it here) and you can figure out if it's a laser or not pretty easily. 

First session with Laser was about 10 or more minutes but I am down to almost nothing and now it takes no longer than 5 minutes,,,but I have had about 20 session including 7 IPL sessions where they "stroke" the machine over the treatment area...it hurts way more than some of the new lasers...Hope that helps

Literally 5 minutes of actual treatment time

My first session took longer, probably 20 or 25 minutes (but we had to stop several times cuz it hurt like a bitch). The second one was 10 mins.

My IPL session on my face was about 30 minutes total in the office, but only about 10 to 15 minutes of actual treatment.   The thing with ipl as opposed to laser.....Laser is a coherent light of a single wavelength.  (I'm a bit of a light nerd.  Have spent most of my life studying light and what it is, and why it behaves the way it does and things). So since laser can be a single wavelength, it can better target other hair colors because they can adjust the wavelength to resonate with the color of your hair a little better, and it can more effectively destroy the hair follicles.  Whereas IPL is simply a super bright flash of broad spectrum light of many different wavelengths.  Which based on my understanding of how light works, and how it targets the hair follicles, it is my understanding that there is some benefit to using a broad spectrum light, and that is that for people like me who have varying colors of hairs, I feel like more hair follicles can be attacked by the broad spectrum light than would be by a coherent single wavelength laser light.  I think both methods are very good for what they do.  Might not be as thoroughly permanent as electrolysis, but takes much less time per session, and you can remain pretty much clean shaven for the most part unlike with electrolysis where you have to leave some hair for the technician to pull on which can suck for those of us with a ton of dysphoria around our facial hair.

Quote from: Bari Jo on September 28, 2017, 03:46:54 AMI've heard people do up to ten sessions on their face.

I did more than 30, and I still ended up doing electrolysis.  I think the laser helped a lot, but they will sell you on the idea that 5 sessions and you're clear.  Good luck with that.   

Quote from: LaRell on September 28, 2017, 07:54:37 PM
My IPL session on my face was about 30 minutes total in the office, but only about 10 to 15 minutes of actual treatment.   The thing with ipl as opposed to laser.....Laser is a coherent light of a single wavelength.  (I'm a bit of a light nerd.  Have spent most of my life studying light and what it is, and why it behaves the way it does and things). So since laser can be a single wavelength, it can better target other hair colors because they can adjust the wavelength to resonate with the color of your hair a little better, and it can more effectively destroy the hair follicles.  Whereas IPL is simply a super bright flash of broad spectrum light of many different wavelengths.  Which based on my understanding of how light works, and how it targets the hair follicles, it is my understanding that there is some benefit to using a broad spectrum light, and that is that for people like me who have varying colors of hairs, I feel like more hair follicles can be attacked by the broad spectrum light than would be by a coherent single wavelength laser light.  I think both methods are very good for what they do.  Might not be as thoroughly permanent as electrolysis, but takes much less time per session, and you can remain pretty much clean shaven for the most part unlike with electrolysis where you have to leave some hair for the technician to pull on which can suck for those of us with a ton of dysphoria around our facial hair.

I've read that IPL could be a waste of money, and can tell you my own experience with it:

I had 1 session on my beard and around 4 on chest. The 1 session did nothing for the beard while the first session of laser did a lot! For the chest, the IPL did work a bit more and I started getting patchy, but I had to stop the treatment to cut down expenses and the hair is growing back. You are supposed to have at least 12 sessions but there are no guarantees that it will be successful or permanent. I'm not too worried about the body hair since I know HRT will take care of some of it.

My advice would be, laser for the beard and if you need to do your body then consider IPL for that. The advantages of IPL is that it is cheaper and doesn't hurt (laser hurts like a bitch) but again, it's not as powerful as laser so for the beard area where the hair is thicker and there is more hormonal concentration, do the laser.

Quote from: rmaddy on September 28, 2017, 07:58:46 PM
I did more than 30, and I still ended up doing electrolysis.  I think the laser helped a lot, but they will sell you on the idea that 5 sessions and you're clear.  Good luck with that.   

Wow they got you for 30 sessions. I stopped at 15. At around my 10th session I started electrolysis on the white and grey. Then gave up on laser.

Everyone needs to understand that there is a lot of hocus pocus going on with hair removal. They are not your best friend even though they act like it. They want your money and if they can get you for 30 sessions instead of 15 well that's more money for them. Another 15 sessions for me would be another 5k. And 5k = 70 hours electrolysis.

Many are sold on the fact that laser is quick and fast. Much better than sitting for 70 hours  plus driving back and forth possibly 70 or more times! Depending on how many hours you do each session. But it is a fact that electrolysis is really the end all be all to a clear face.
.

It was less that I was taken and more that they had a flawed business model.  They guaranteed full clearing in six paid sessions, and promised to continue treating for up to two years if they did not succeed.  I went every 4-6 weeks for 2 1/2 years.

There were definitely diminishing returns, but my body hair was totally gone by the end.  I shave my underarms about once a year and find 2 or 3 hairs.  I agree with you though...the face is going to need electrolysis.  Mine certainly did.

I can only speak from my own experience. I have had maybe 20 session of laser including about 7 IPL treatments...all on my face. The IPL did nothing for my beard removal and I stopped making progress. At the time I did not know I was getting IPL I thought it was laser but I knew my beard reduction had stopped. I returned to my original laser place and have had 4 subsequent laser so about 13 actual laser sessions in total so far and I am now down to $55 per session every 3 months.....maybe. I noticed with the IPL on my face that the very little that was removed was permanent and came back around the 1 year mark and almost looked like it had stimulated new growth.

I have also had about 40 hrs of Electrolysis about 10 of which was with the same person who did the IPL. Her technique for Electrolysis was very poor and I have had to have this redone. Electrolysis always seems the best way but the skill of the operator is far more important than it seems to be with Laser.

Simply because you are having electrolysis does not mean you are getting permanent hair removal. The mechanism of it can produce a result of removing the hair but the key for us is to ensure that it is permanent. If the wrong current is used or not enough or the probe is not inserted correctly can all cause ineffective permanent hair removal. My tech whom I consider very competent will tell me that her "1 zap 1 hair permanently removed" ratio is about 80%. She strives fro 100% and will no longer do any more than about 1hr 15 in any one session because she says her concentration begins to slip.

My experience tells me that proper laser used correctly can make a significant permanent reduction in your overall beard there by reducing the amount of time required for Electrolysis, for me I probably saved around 100 hours in the chair due to laser. IPL seems to work much better on body hair. I have a home IPL unit which I have used for 7 weeks effectively on my underarms and have very little in the way of hair left. It seems to have removed about 90% so far.

My sessions were about 30 minutes, full face and neck. Very thorough even measuring and marking the right angles of more feminine sideburns.

The first 4 sessions it seemed like they did one entire pass over 15 minutes and then used a stronger one over trouble areas.

I just posted a full review of the place i used.

10 minutes sounds too fast unless your beard is really light and patchy. Even my last session was at least 15 minutes and there was barely anything left.