Anyone had Laser Hair Removal done ?

[Scatterbrain]

Well - after another painful bikini wax I've decide to look into laser hair removal !!

Anyone had it done ? Is it very expensive ? Does it hurt a lot ?

I've booked a free consultation with an Aculight place near me - let me know if you've got any horror stories !!!

Thanks

My dh has had large expanses of tattoos removed by laser and I think it's the same process. It's a little painful (a lot if you ask him), but I don't think it's anywhere in the range of childbirth. It's not cheap. When I looked into it for myself, they said you had to have light skin and dark hair for it to work the best. I lived in la and had a permanent tan at the time so I didn't have it done.

scatterbrain, a close friend has had it done . She was VERY hairy and it was really successful, but expensive. I seem to recall she spent about £130 a session, once a months for several months but she is completely delighted with the results. Her treatment was for facial hair

I've seen it done, and it wasn't painful exactly, though rather sting-y and there is a smell of burning hair. It's very, very quick though. I think it's fantastic but it is expensive, you need about six to eight sessions for a permanent effect. You need light skin and dark hair, and your hair can be very short when you get it done (ie you can shave your armpits) as it works best that way as the energy goes directly into the root of the hair.

Hi Scatterbrain, I had some laser hair removal and the results were fab. I had a few upper lip hairs done - I used to bleach them and they werent that bad but my fake tan kept colouring them darker (I sound like a witch but Im not really). So I had them lasered away along with a few broken veins on my nose that were making me appear more of an alcoholic than I really am. The salon I went to did a few hairs for free and told me to go away and think about it before parting with any money - always a good sign. I only had a couple of treatments and that was 8 years ago but there is still no hair growth - brilliant AND my fake tan smooths on nicely.

Well - I've done it - had my patch test, paid up front and booked it !!!

Got to have six 30 minute sessions, about 6-8 weeks apart - costing almost £800 - but as am currently remortgaging have cunningly lost the £800 in my complex calculations !!!

Definitely smelt horrible - but only felt mild sizzling sensation ! Can't wait to get it done now - and she thought I might not need the whole lot on bikini so might be able to get underarms thrown in too !!!

Will keep you posted - am so naughty yet so excited !!

Oooh - I like the idea of underarms. Wonder if I can sneak that on the joint credit card...

Scatterbrain, please let us know how it goes. I am very tempted to get my bikini line done but am a bit nervous about the side effects (do you get ingrown hairs...main reason I stopped waxing). Are you in London? Just wondering about recommendations of places to go in west london.

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Will definitely keep you all updated - allegedly you don't get ingrown hairs as the treatment actually kills the hair follicle. I get them really badly from waxing - which is one of the reasons I was keen on this option.

Also - I had heard the increased growth story elsewhere and asked the woman and she said it must be a hormonally related condition - such as menopause/pregnancy or a condition such as anorexia - which causes the body to actually produce new hair follicles as it is confused and thinks it needs more hair to warm the body up.

Despite being a sceptical scientist I believed her !

Sofia - I'm not in London but I found the clinic from the aculight website (www.aculight.co.uk) and I went for aculight on the recommendation of my waxing lady who has also had her bikini line done - last year very successfully.

Very interested to read this. Can't say that I have ever even dared to go for waxing and am instead an ifrequent user of immac however I would absolutely love to go for a permanent solution now matter the cost. Please keep me posted.

I don't quite get how the laser could stimulate more hair growth. Hormones certainly do or in my lucky case I had the reverse while pregnant (the hair on my legs virtually stopped growing). I've also noticed much slower body hair growth since getting the Mirena Coil presumably due to the progesterone in it.

I have had it done. The whole process takes years, as you have to wait for the hair to grow back after each treatment. I have had underarms, bikini and lower legs done.

The cost? Don't know, but it has run into thousands, probably very close to £4k. I have had to stop treatments during 2 pregnancies. I still need to go back to get some bits done, as I have patchy hair growth some bits like a boiled egg and then a little tuft of hair!

The pain? Yes it is painful, I used to take painkillers before going. It is like hot (HOT) elastic bands being flicked against your skin. Sometimes your skin can blister if it is too hot. I found it better to do it in summer as I could wear loose clothing and let the air cool down the hot treated areas.

I am brunette so I felt quite hairy, but that is just because the hair was dark. It is very expensive, I must admit I don't feel good about spending that amount of money and I would NOT recommend the two places I went to.