My long term relationship with laser hair removal is still going strong. I suspect it's a love that will endure throughout time... Where to begin?
Well I decided to do laser hair removal because I hate body hair (it makes me feel unfeminine) and I also felt I was spending a LOT of time grooming to get rid of body hair.
I had my arms, full legs, armpits and brazilian done.
Before laser - I shaved, waxed, depillitated (I'm not sure if that is a word... but I mean emjoi, the one with lots of tiny tweasers), used those creams (total waste of time)... I even tried using a single tweaser for hairs on my legs once. It was a long exercise.
None of those were good enough. Shaving - well that's clearly temporary and produces more hair anyway. Plus I somehow always felt manly doing it hahhaha. Waxing - well it hurts for starters, and more so - you have to let the hair grow back before you can get it done again. Gross. I already said I didn't like hair. The creams I won't even bother talking about. The emjoi - well you can't use that everywhere now can you. And in most cases... it bloody hurts. Ohhh and I shudder just thinking about the times where it caught my skin and I had to pull it off. ohhhh shiver down my spine.....
Also - I used to get ingrown hairs a lot (particularly bikini area) and they are just horrible. AND Because my hair is dark - even if I shaved or waxed - I'd still have those little "dots"... does that make sense? Like there was always that little bit of something you could see there - and I HATED IT. I also hated having any kind of red dots come up. ARGH.
(Ps laser gets rid of all of this. Boo yah.)
So... thus I came to the option of Laser hair removal. None of my friends had done it, so I didn't really have anything to go by. I remember doing research... but for some reason I can't remember what research that was. I think I just asked friends of friends if they had had it done... (most hadn't) and then I resulted to checking out heaps of websites until I found one that felt right.
Check out http://www.avana.com.au/
So I found my place, called up and made an appointment. I was like 15 mins late because I couldn't find the place. This one is in Canberra and if you know the area - it's on Ainslie Avenue - but I didn't realise that that actually has the Canberra Centre right in the middle of it (so the road somehow continues on the other side....). I circled for ages and then had to call them to ask. So yeh it's near the fountain on the side of the Canberra Centre that has the library and theatre etc - it's in that little U-shape road bit that used to have the clapping cube in the middle. Note "used to" - that's now on the other side of CC.
I went in and the lady was SO nice. I believe her name is Jennifer and I feel super bad that I can't remember that for absolute sure - cause she is so lovely and I was seeing her often over like 2 an a half years... you'd think I would remember her name. I'm terrible.
She sits you down and basically explains the whole procedure to you, costs involved, and then does a test go on your skin so you can see how it feels. This is of course with zero commitment.
So I'll break this up into different parts to explain it:
- Pain
This is a funny one to explain, because it's different with different parts of the body, and for girls, with different times in your hormonal cycle.
On the most part - it feels like getting snapped with an elastic band. Not so bad you might be thinking... but you need to remember that this is not a single snap - this is continuous snaps!
It hurts more for areas with thicker hair - so for me that was underarms definitely. Also hurts more for like skiny areas and bony areas - so for me that was arms... and knobbly bits like ankles etc.
The pain is definitely tolerable. It's only painful for a second and then you are fine. PLUS - if you really are sensitive, you can pay a wee bit extra for this numbing cream. I never used it.
There was only one time where I actually was like "ouch that really hurts" - and that was when she was doing my armpits, and I don't really even know why it was more painful at that time... probably something to do with hormones. That was maybe my fourth or fifth session.
Does it hurt in umm "sensitive lady areas" - yeh it does. Sorry ladies. But again, it's bearable, and I still thought my armpit hurt more. - Before your appointment
So if you were getting a wax - before your appointment you have to make sure that your hair is long enough.
Not the case with Laser.
In fact, it's quite awesome.
Probably the day before/morning before - you shave the area that is going to be lasered. If you haven't already thought of it - this is awesome. Why? Because it means that you can basically shave all the time in between - and you never have to let the hairs grow back. mwahahahaha you can be hair-free throughout this entire process. - Process
So check out the picture I attached below.
No - that isn't my arm hahahaha.
Ok so that's basically what the laser thingy looks like. You wear those sexy sunnies like they give you when you go to the dentist.
You'll notice it's not the biggest machine hey - it is however on a cord that comes from a biggish machine.
Also - this leads me to the next point - because it's pretty small - they have to draw on you so they know that they didn't miss any bits.
She drew on me with a highlighter, basically lines down the area so that she had little rectangles to do. (don't worry she wipes the highlighter off after) It looks funny though.
The machine makes this weirdo "whoosh- clunkk" noise each time she presses the button. "Whoosh clunkk... whoosh clunkk..... whoosh clunkk"
Oh whoops I forgot to talk about getting your gear off. tee hee *blush*. So you go in, and there is just the admin area, and then a slidey door into the actual laser area. She locks the front door and pops a bell on it (should someone want to enquire or whatever). Then you go into the slidey door, put your stuff down, and she goes into this further slidey door cupboard kind of thing while you get your gear off. She is extremely good at giving you ample time to do this. Then you go sit on the chair thingy and place the towel over your lap. For me because I was getting legs, arms, brazilian, armpits - I would be sitting on the chair wearing a singlet top or a bra and nothing else.
Then she comes out at just the right time when you are all seated and covered etc. I don't know how she does it... but it was always just the right timing!
Ok so she comes out, gives you your trendy glasses to put on, and then you guys decide where you want to start first. Some people prefer the more painful bit first, others build up to it... whatever. I didn't really care.
For smaller areas she doesn't have to draw on you - like armpits... they are done in a jiffer. Full legs however required some drawing.
For your delicate lady area - she gives you like this kind of soft paper thingy to put down over the area so you don't feel so exposed. Though really, you are. hahahhah. But you know that the door is locked so at least you feel safe in that respect. Plus she is super respectful and somehow makes you feel comfortable despite being in an awkard situation.
For this area, you just sit as you would normally - you might have to have your leg out a little, but not really. Oh and if you would like there to be hair in certain areas... landing strip etc.. she can easily accommodate for that.
Umm and if you need the um back area done, you just flip over and she does that. Again, she somehow makes it not so uncomfortable (though of course it's still uncomfortable.. but you know what I mean). She usually would amp up the conversation about movies or something at this time, so there is a bit of distraction.
Oh that reminds me - they do say you can bring in music to calm yourself, or a magazine to read. I never did either. It felt weird to read a magazine with someone so close in your vicinity. I just made conversation instead.
- I couldn't figure out how to get the bullets to work
- oops
- .......
- AftercareSo if you had a hair that you hadn't shaved... after the laser it looks kind of "fizzled". It's kind of nice to see cause you know that the process worked.
But otherwise - you probably can't really see any difference right after the appointment.
So these fizzed hairs will just drop out. Not in a dramatic way... just randomly when you aren't looking hehe.
What will happen next, is you will see kind of umm "stubble" form. This is the bits of the hair that were under the skin, and now need to be pushed out. This is kind of a crappy time. Yep you can exfoliate, and this helps with some of them.. but they are a different kind of thing than your usual hairs... or dead skin. It's funny cause I got a bit fedup with them and got out the tweasers to take some out - and you pull on it... and it just kind of comes out. Weird? Like there is no "pull" to it at all. Nothing is holding it in, it is simply being expelled by your skin.
The "stubble" period goes for a week tops I think. And I only got it the first session I had - after that it didn't happen again. It's worth enduring - but probably something to keep in mind if you want to have your face lasered. Stubble moustache not sexy.
So after stubble stage (first week-ish) you go into NO HAIR stage. This is awesome. Cloud 9. Then about 6/7 weeks in... the cycle gets you to that stage where the hair grows again. You can just shave those suckers away. You'll have to shave for the appointment anyway. Each session you have... you'll notice less and less hair regrowing at this six week period. It's awesome.
After the laser process itself has been done, she slathers you with this moisturising shielding and calming stuff. It feels really nice, and if your skin is a bit warm from the process, this does it a treat.
This stuff is also really important because you can't go out into the sun when you are having laser done. You are much more susceptible to getting burnt etc, so you have to put sunscreen and cover up.
This is something to keep in mind when you are thinking about when you want to start doing laser.....
So you know it will take quite a span of time - when should you start your first session? First thing in winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That way you don't have to care about the sun whatsoever - and by the time summer rolls around - you are hairfree and fantastic.
How many sessions? Well they say 4 to 8 but it took me about 10, maybe even 12. But it depends on your hair growth and how picky you are....
The time it takes for each session is hard to say - it depends on how much you are getting done. For me they were like 1.5/2.5 hours. If you were just getting your armpits done... probably 15 mins.
After my first session... when I got through stubble stage etc... and reached the regrowth stage... OMG I was so shocked already.... at least 2/3's of my hair didn't grow back. WOW. And after each subsequent session... less less less. I love you laser hair removal.
Total overall cost for me to get full legs, brazilian, armpits and arms.... I don't know. At a guess.. argh.. I don't really even want to admit it to myself. Possibly $7000. Possibly $8000.
Lets just say each session was at least $600 for me.
And this is all with discounts too. You get a discount for the more "items" you do. So it's a buy in bulk discount. I think 30%.
Your first treatment is 50% off.
I didn't do this, but I really really really should have - if you prepay for a certain amount of sessions - you get another big fat discount on top of it... like 20% or something. That would have saved me heaps... but I was unsure how many I would need, and I didn't have that much money all in one go.
Ok so from memory (and don't quote me on this) - per session underarms is like $100. Brazilian $150, Full legs $750... arms I can't remember. That's before discount.
So you can see how this adds up.
Keep in mind you are doing a session every 8 weeks too - so you really have to budget for this.
I"ll be honest - it really did put me in debt. BUT.
Yes it cost me a fortune, but I feel like the benefits totally outweighed that. No more ingrowns, now more upkeep, no need to think about "have I shaved my legs?" "can I wear this singlet top?" - nothing. I never even think about it. And I have nice smooth and soft everything - no lumps on my legs, no little black bits on the armpits, no red marks, no nothing.
It's been a couple of years since I had it done... and still no real regrowth. I get the occasional single hair come up somewhere - I just twease that sucker off.
I would probably go back for a "retouch" (where they just do like single hairs, little patches... and the price is substantially cut). But I don't feel I need that just yet.
It feels so good to never have to worry about it. So So so good.
PS: Something I forgot to add - laser works best on people with fair skin and dark hair. A friend of mine who has red hair was very very VERY disappointed when she couldn't have it done :(
UPDATE 22/09/2015: Thought I'd add a follow up on this one. I STILL HAVE NO HAIR. Pretty good huh!!
I get the occasional one single hair on my leg or something... and I pluck it out. But otherwise, I have not needed to do ANY shaving or waxing or anything since having this done.
If people tell you that your hair will grow back in "two years"... I'm evidence that it doesn't. Perhaps one of the "lucky ones" with my fair skin and dark hair.
Getting this done was one of the best decisions I ever made and even though it was really expensive at the time... so worth it.
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