I'm 18, have light skin/dark hair, and I've been thinking about eventually getting laser for my face (I'm pre-everything). Is electrolysis less expensive? Does it hurt a lot more than laser? What's the best option in y'all's opinion? I think electro takes longer, because they have to do each individual hair, but it is permanent, and isn't as many sessions as electro, right?

The best way to go about it IMO is to start laser then finish with electrolysis. Both are equally painful in different ways imo. It would be best to start HRT before starting laser so you won't have regrowth.

Quote from: kanad3 on April 11, 2018, 07:44:07 AM
The best way to go about it IMO is to start laser then finish with electrolysis. Both are equally painful in different ways imo. It would be best to start HRT before starting laser so you won't have regrowth.

Thanks! Do you know anything about body hair regrowth (stomach, back, etc) or is that for another topic?

Light skin/dark hair is the perfect combination for laser. There are many places that provide this service, but make sure they are really using a laser and not IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). Although IPL will literally burn off any hair above the skin, in my experience it does not have much affect on hair regrowth.

Facial laser hair removal is painful, but the treatment covers your entire face and neck in about 30 minutes. You may notice some redness and swelling that lasts for an hour or two. After about two weeks the hair will begin to fall out (shed). Most of it will eventually grow back, but after repeated treatments the vast majority of it should be gone for good. I had my 9th facial laser treatment last week, typically done 8 weeks apart. Before the last treatment you could see some dark hairs near my upper lib and corners of my mouth. Hopefully fewer of them will be returning. The laser salon I am using is not cheap. Ideal Image charges about $5000 for this service. I am also a customer at Milan Laser for my legs and stomach (about $4500 total for both areas) and they are noticeably less expensive than Ideal, but still not cheap.

Electrolysis is much more time consuming, but it is the only real option if you have light or grey hair or have dark skin. I had a moderate amount of grey, so I am doing both laser and electrolysis. To clear a full beard can take 200 - 400 hours of electrolysis. Prices are highly variable, but I found a wonderful lady who only charges $35 per session (up to an hour). Each hair typically has to get treated more than once to kill it, but it is a proven method of permanent hair removal. So far I have had about 120 hours of electrolysis. In combination with the laser treatments my facial hair has been significantly reduced, but I still need to shave every 2 - 3 days. I am hopeful that by the end of this year shaving will be a memory instead of a frequent activity.

Quote from: Jessica_Rose on April 11, 2018, 08:00:45 AM
Light skin/dark hair is the perfect combination for laser. There are many places that provide this service, but make sure they are really using a laser and not IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). Although IPL will literally burn off any hair above the skin, in my experience it does not have much affect on hair regrowth.

Facial laser hair removal is painful, but the treatment covers your entire face and neck in about 30 minutes. You may notice some redness and swelling that lasts for an hour or two. After about two weeks the hair will begin to fall out (shed). Most of it will eventually grow back, but after repeated treatments the vast majority of it should be gone for good. I had my 9th facial laser treatment last week, typically done 8 weeks apart. Before the last treatment you could see some dark hairs near my upper lib and corners of my mouth. Hopefully fewer of them will be returning. The laser salon I am using is not cheap. Ideal Image charges about $5000 for this service. I am also a customer at Milan Laser for my legs and stomach, and they are noticeably less expensive, but still not cheap.

Electrolysis is much more time consuming, but it is the only real option if you have light or grey hair or have dark skin. I had a moderate amount of grey, so I am doing both laser and electrolysis. To clear a full beard can take 200 - 400 hours of electrolysis. Prices are highly variable, but I found a wonderful lady who only charges $35 per session (up to an hour). Each hair typically has to get treated more than once to kill it, but it is a proven method of permanent hair removal. So far I have had about 120 hours of electrolysis. In combination with the laser treatments my facial hair has been significantly reduced, but I still need to shave every 2 - 3 days. I am hopeful that by the end of this year shaving will be a memory instead of a frequent activity.

Oh, wow. Thanks! I didn't realize there was that much of a difference, and that electrolysis takes that long. Laser does then seem like the better option, especially considering I would have quicker noticeable hair reduction. I really appreciate the feedback! Like I was asking kanad, do you know anything about hair growth when on HRT? At 18/19, I don't know if the hair growth (like on my stomach, chest, etc, it's not a lot at all) will stop, or if I would need laser for that stuff, too.

How HRT affects body hair growth is highly variable. It does tend to slow the growth and many people have reported some reduction in coverage. If you don't have a lot of hair to start with it is possible HRT may have enough of an affect that you will not feel the need for additional treatments. However if you are a bit more like Sasquatch or Chewbacca, I would say the odds are high that you will want those areas treated. Sure you can shave, but if your hair is dense the shadow will be visible. Since your body hair is sparse, I would definitely concentrate on the facial hair first and give HRT six to twelve months to see what it does for the rest of your body hair.

Quote from: Jessica_Rose on April 11, 2018, 08:22:06 AM
How HRT affects body hair growth is highly variable. It does tend to slow the growth and many people have reported some reduction in coverage. If you don't have a lot of hair to start with it is possible HRT may have enough of an affect that you will not feel the need for additional treatments. However if you are a bit more like Sasquatch or Chewbacca, I would say the odds are high that you will want those areas treated. Sure you can shave, but if your hair is dense the shadow will be visible. Since your body hair is sparse, I would definitely concentrate on the facial hair first and give HRT six to twelve months to see what it does for the rest of your body hair.

Ahhh okay, then do we just shave our whole bodies?? Honestly, I would want to get to the point where I would have the growth rate of hair of a ciswoman, because I don't really believe in shaving (but I probably would because I love smooth skin). But thanks for the information!

I suspect even cis women have body hair growth rates that are all over the charts, it all depends on genetics. HRT will most likely slow it down, but whether or not it will be slow enough depends on your personal desires.

I had moderately hairy legs and HRT did thin it out by maybe as much as 50%, but that was not enough for me so I started laser treatments on my legs. The treatments are done every 5 weeks. After the first treatment NO visible hair returned. It was still there, but the growth rate was so slow it had not become visible by the time of my next appointment.

Jessica_Rose, great advice!  Your experience sounds very similar to mine.

I have light skin/dark hair, and started HRT a little over two months ago.  I started doing laser on my face right when I started HRT....and other areas (to keep my options open for surgery in the future) now and will wait to see the effect of HRT on my body hair growth before committing to treatments elsewhere.

The place I go to, I pay $130 per laser session for my face.  I take a motrin before I go, as well as a light application of lidocaine cream.

I do shave my body hair every week, but it's well worth it for me.

Thanks Sammy!

Initially I did not think laser and electrolysis was too painful, except for my upper lip. A few weeks ago my doctor doubled my estradiol and within a days my skin became much more sensitive to pain. The folks at Ideal Image gave me a prescription for 'triple anesthetic' cream that contains Benzocaine, Lidocaine and Tetracaine. About an hour after application you can't feel anything touching your skin, but the pain still comes through loud and clear. I even had to start using it for electrolysis around my lips.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey!

Quote from: Jessica_Rose on April 11, 2018, 01:16:42 PM
I suspect even cis women have body hair growth rates that are all over the charts, it all depends on genetics. HRT will most likely slow it down, but whether or not it will be slow enough depends on your personal desires.

I had moderately hairy legs and HRT did thin it out by maybe as much as 50%, but that was not enough for me so I started laser treatments on my legs. The treatments are done every 5 weeks. After the first treatment NO visible hair returned. It was still there, but the growth rate was so slow it had not become visible by the time of my next appointment.

Oh okay, thanks! See, I'm more worried about the areas that ciswomen don't normally have hair. Chest, butt, back, etc. It seems like it would be very expensive for laser on those areas.

My chest hair thinned out dramatically, probably 95%. I used to look like Tom Selleck (sadly only in the chest hair department), but now there are only a few grey hairs with about a dozen dark ones. I'll just do electrolysis on those. I also had a moderate amount of back hair which really bothered me, so I went to Ideal Image laser for that as well. I think if I had waited for HRT to help me out that it would have also provided significant reduction there. The hair on my rear was always sparse, but it was dark. It thinned out by 70% - 80% and became much finer.

Quote from: Jessica_Rose on April 12, 2018, 05:11:41 AM
My chest hair thinned out dramatically, probably 95%. I used to look like Tom Selleck (sadly only in the chest hair department), but now there are only a few grey hairs with about a dozen dark ones. I'll just do electrolysis on those. I also had a moderate amount of back hair which really bothered me, so I went to Ideal Image laser for that as well. I think if I had waited for HRT to help me out that it would have also provided significant reduction there. The hair on my rear was always sparse, but it was dark. It thinned out by 70% - 80% and became much finer.

Oh wow, okay. That's good to hear. I'm glad then, because at 18/19, I should at least have similar results. Thanks again!