Does proper laser hair removal really work?

[Speckledpasta]

I get terrible shaving rash and ingrown hairs so have to shave as little as possible but I also hate body hair and it gets me down.

I bought a Phillips lumea last summer but despite using it exactly to instructions it hasn't worked at all.

If that didn't work, would proper laser therapy at a clinic be any different? Looking for experiences of those who have given it a try please

If it makes a difference my skin tone is very light, hair colour light/medium brown

Do it!!!! I have had it done and it was the best money I ever spent. Cost a fortune back in 2012 but I haven’t shaved since. I get the occasional stray hair that I pluck out and that’s it. I also had awful ingrown hair which I used to pick at and it turned I to inflamed spots and I never wore shorts and that completely disappeared too. It was so worth it for me

It works best on fair skin with dark hair I think.
But YES it worked for me. I had a wild bush, I kean wild, creeping down my legs, thick coarse hair. I had laser about 15 years ago and get the odd wisp, but that's it. Bloody life changing.

It's worked so incredibly well on my legs and bikini line. The hair itself needs to be dark though, it won't affect light coloured hairs.

Definitely worth the money! I got my legs / top lip / under arms done. Game changer. I also got my bikini area done & it worked well - although surprisingly I had some blonde hairs there. They didn’t go

I am 4 sessions in - underarms and face
I wish I'd done it years ago - I must have had to shave maybe twice since starting it and no more plucking / nairing / waxing face!

I have the lumea and it's worked really well for me but I have pale skin/dark hair, so it might be worth looking into the differences between the lumea and professional machines to see if they are likely to work better for your hair/skin combo before paying out.

Pale skin dark hair here. Worked so well. So worth the money. My legs and bikini looked amazing after just one session.

Yes I'm hoping if I book into a good clinic for an assessment they'll be honest and not just try to flog me the treatment knowing it won't work!

Well I think you've all convinced me

I had a course on my chin hairs and it did nothing. Disappointingly!

Absolute game changer. I had SHR rather than IPL which is supposed to be more effective and less painful so see if anywhere near you does that.

How many treatments for the face upper lips and costings and does it work better on one part of the body than the other?

I've read that lazer treatments often requires re-treatments, is that true?

Almost certainly not, long term.

Ooh interesting thread, I’m also thinking about this. Both my bikini line and underarms I get terrible shaving rash too, horribly sore and dry. How many sessions does it usually need? If I was having both of these done I’d probably get lower leg done too, might as well … expensive to do all 3 areas but I think it would be worth it.

I had 6 initial sessions on my underarms, about 6 weeks apart, then a top up a few months later. I had my final session November last year and haven't had any regrowth, apart from two annoying white hairs that were obviously too light, the rest were very dark brown. Wish I'd done it years ago. I also had six sessions on my legs, but have a dozen or so hairs still growing, can't decide whether to book another session or just pluck them myself as they're so few and far between.

I'm four sessions in and I'd say regrowth on bikini/chin/lip is about 5% what it was. Legs are down to about 10%. I have very fair skin and dark hair. Wish I'd done it 20 years ago.

I'm in desperate need for my chin and upper lip done, roughly how much has this cost anyone that's had similar done?? I know different areas and clinics will charge differently, just wondered how much people have spent and was it worth it?????

I used lumea, I have dark hair pale ish skin and it took 6 or 8 sessions for a noticeable change however i didn't maintain and it's 85% grown back. The best thing is that it got rid of strawberry bumpy legs and that green moustache effect. It's been least effective on armpits, bikini and chin.

It worked best on my legs then arms. And oddly my sideburns as I have a hairy face.

I've just bought the lumea only done 2 sessions so far and not noticed a difference so thinking I may have to go the professional route To. My hair is very dark tho amd pale skin. Did you get your money back on the lumea as it didn't work?

I have dark skin and dark hair - too dark for lumea to be effective. I spent a lot of time researching laser hair removal and had around 10 sessions on my underarms and bikini line more than 10 years back. My hair growth drastically reduced to the extent I have been able to walk out with a sleeveless top without shaving/waxing ever since. There was fine hair though which thickened slightly when I had my children and I am now going back to it to get rid completely.

The cost now is less than a third of what I paid ten years back so I would say 100% go for it. Face is less receptive due to hormonal growth - be prepared for this to take a while before you see response

Following with interest. I saved up to get my whole face done (well, eyebrow area not included) as I'm hairy and hate it. I also thought it would eventually cover itself the cost seeing as I get threaded every month. However after more reading I've since read it's not permanent like I initially thought, and seems you need regular lifelong maintenance sessions, is that correct?

I had it done (terribly, I even got my money back, if you're in the Cambridge area, PM me for where not to go) about 3yrs ago.

However, even though they did a shit job, the bits they didn't miss have got no hair growth. I would definitely recommend it, just can't be arsed to put myself through another 8 full body sessions to get the odd patches. So annoyingly, I do still have to shave, albeit random spots.

I spent a lot (over a £1000) and years later I'm still going as the woman doesn't want to admit defeat, my body hair looks dark but I do have some red hair genes and it's just not working on me, very disappointed as I was looking forward to being smooth!!

I've had it done and rave about it but my practitioner said they don't do blonde / light hair as it doesn't work as well

No, I don't think they do a guarantee

If anyone is in the market for a barely used lumea....

I've bitten the bullet and booked an assessment session and will report back