Bikini line maintenance. What do you do? Anyone tried laser/ light treatments

[wetweekend]

Mine is like a jungle.

I hate immac types things and they never work. I have dark hair and it always shows even after using a cream. Shaving is obviously not a good solution and I can't afford waxing.

I want a more permanent solution - I've seen laser and light treatments that claim to make a big difference but they are expensive. I am willing to do it if it works.

In the mean time, how can I keep it under control? (currently tweezing but is too much of a faff)

wetweekend, waxing??? just started up a thread about how painful it is!!

i know someone who epilates! she is mad!

yes i bought a course of light/lazer treatments to get rid of bikini line and undrrarm hair.
unfortunately the salon lost its licence for machine. then i moved. then salon got sold and new owners were not aware of lots of outstsnading courses etc.
upshot is, i only had 2 treatments and it didnt work. no refund to date either. pooooooo.

anyways, in mean time, i now cut them really short instead with dps lekkie razor. b/c they are short, not shaven, i dont get ingrowns (yuk).
my hair is not partic course or dark tho.

worth a try? is way cheaper than sketchy salons running off with your dosh!

Yes, bloody painful, L&Z

tranquilamanana, that's awful.

I like the idea of trimming short but no ingrown hairs. Might try that for a couple of weeks.

Thanks

waxing leaves ingrowns.
ingrown hairs are fecking horrible.
the pain is momentary. id put up with that if it werent for the ingrowns.

once a year that is, when i can be arsed to even think about any of this shit anymore!

I backcomb my up into my nickers and then do a French plait! Lots of hairspray!

PMSL

oddly, i got the shaving-short idea froman ex in ibiza (a genuine ibicenco boyf, no less ) who used to use the flippy up bit from the lekkie razor (thats the bit i use btw) to do his chest and upper leg hair

well, i say 'shock'... i was a bit [eyebrow raised] at the time. but v little really shocks me

onlyWotz, I'm at that stage too, hence this thread

I never realised how useful someone's Ibizan ex-bf sould be

Buy shorts-style knickers and swimming costume?

scrub twice a week to mimimise ingrowns?
great cheap all over body scrub: baby oil and salt mixed to paste consistency, a few drops of tea tree and lavender oil for antiseptic effect.

waxing remains best solution. for cost effectiveness (if you can wax yourslef that is) do homemade sugar wax (1cup sugar and half a lemon juice melted over very slow heat and then let it cool). spread and remove with sheets.
if you sprread too much, you simply wash it off.
Buy cotton wax sheets from body shop. you can soak, wash and re-use many many times.

I had mine done with laser. Absolutely worth every penny. I had 4 sessions on my bikini line and 3 on my legs. I could use one more on the bikini and 2 more on the legs. But with what I've had, I need to do a minor shave on the bikini line once every few months, where before I had heavy dark hair (growing half way down my thighs) that needed shaving/hair removal cream every week. My legs needed shaving literally twice a day during the summer and now only need a shave every 2 or 3 weeks and even then that's not really necessary.
I had mine done in Acton (West London) and would highly recommend the place. But otherwise, just make sure you use a place that comes recommended. And check to make sure the individual operator has been doing the laser work for a few years at least.

tranquilamanana - I do exactly the same, soooo much better than all those unsightly looking angry spots.

Sofia - god iam so jealous. i wish after forking out all that moolah that i could say the same [grrr]
oh well! good thing im blondish... not too wiry or dark or dense even...
i still wouldnt mind it all gone forever tho (well, not all, oh you KWIM )

sofia does your skin stay the same colour after the laser? it doesnt get redish or brown after?
thats been my main worry

Beehive - similar to Amy Winehouse

Makes my pants a bit bulky though

Tranquila, have you tried complaining to the governing entity (whoever regulates that type of treatment) and also to local newspaper. I'm sure if they think they will be getting negative publicity or the health board crawling around, they will pony up the missing treatments.

In fact this site is a laser clinic that gives you lots of information on how to make a complaint about a laser clinic (guess they are confident about the service they provide).

Tranquilamanana I was thinking the same things as SofiaAmes - I'm sure you have thought of all your options but it seems outrageous that nothing can be done.

don't want... it depends on which type of laser they use. I have fairly pale, but very freckley skin. I used the weaker type of laser (epilight) and it did not leave any marking. My freckles on my legs were a little checkerboarded where the freckles were faded for a few months, but as soon as I got into the sun, it evened out and you didn't notice it anymore. My understanding is that if you have pale skin and dark hair you can use the stronger type of laser without problems and it is a little more effective long term. However, if you have darker skin (or freckles) then you shoudl use the weaker laser. The girl who did my treatment was pakistani with quite dark skin and showed me where she had treated herself and there was no visible marks at all on her.
A good clinic will do a test spot if you want it, to make sure that you won't have reactions to it.

By the way, I didn't get any ingrown hairs after the treatement and the redness was gone within an hour. I certainly can't say the same about any other method I tried (shaving, waxing, depilatory).

if you cant afford waxing, then, how do you intend to afford laser treatment?

Laser is only marginally more expensive than waxing, but lasts a lot longer. (worth saving up for) And hurts a hell of a lot less.

i get waxing done every month or so. legs, arms, bikin, underarms.eybrows and tache threaded. never costs morethan 35. to get one session for underarms would cost 65. 8 sessions, ,,,, maybe over the course of twenty years i'd be saving money.

bloody hell cylon, where do you live? 1972??

Had bikini lazered. Absolutely fantastic. There are different lasers. Some work less well on dark hair so need to check. I went to one in Romford, can recommend it.