<p>After years of waxing and plucking, I am thinking of laser hair removal for my face. Some questions for those of you who have had it done. Do you have to let the hair grow in first? How many treatments do you need? Are you satisfied with the results?</p>
<p>I don’t know about laser treatments, but have you tried threading? I have friends that swear by it. (It’s not permanent, but supposedly less damaging and longer lasting than plucking, without the pain of waxing.)</p>
<p>I was told by my dermatologist (who offers laser hair removal) that it is NOT effective for those wiry little hairs that seem to sprout on ones chin after a certain age. Electrolysis is a better way to go for those little son of guns.</p>
<p>I’ve had 3 laser treatments for my bikini line and I am going for my fourth soon, and I may need 2 or 3 more. My sister had 4 treatments and that was enough for her. Everyone is different. It hurts like a s.o.b. but I still think waxing hurts more. The torture last longer for waxing, I think, where the laser torture is pretty fast. It feels like a hot rubber band being snapped on your skin. Yes, I suppose I am somewhat masochistic. The results are worth it for me.</p>
<p>I did the laser for my bikini line two years ago and it is wonderful. I had about 5 or 6 treatments then one more a year later for touch up. One of my daughters did the laser for the upper lip (and had excellent results) and she had about 4 or 5 treatments. One has begged me for laser hair removal on her legs for a college graduation gift! We are still discussing this.</p>
<p>I’m really curious about this, too. I have had 3 or 4 electrolysis treatments and just about everything grew back. With electolysis, you do have the let the hairs grow in before treatment.</p>
<p>I have had both electrolysis and laser therapy for hair removal. I never saw any significant improvement with the electrolysis. The laser therapy did work pretty well. It does take several treatments, and it is a little pricier than electrolysis. It hasn’t taken care of 100% of it, and I have been told you often need follow up treatments on an ongoing basis (once a year or so) just to take care of anything new. I think it was a good investment.</p>
<p>The best thing is that laser therapy hurts a lot less than electrolysis!</p>
<p>If you are pursuing this, you might sign up for Groupon or Tippr or SocialLiving.com for your city; I have seen a lot of 3 treatments for $80-100 on the cities I am set up for, though I have not tried it.</p>
<p>I did try electrolysis in the 80s and did not see any difference.</p>
<p>I had the laser done on my upper lip - took about 5 sessions but it worked very well. But it also depends on your complexion/hair type - I have dark hair and light skin so its more effective than on someone with dark skin and light hair</p>
<p>Pandora, what is the prep for the treatments?</p>
<p>I didn’t have any prep for my laser treatments. I was told that I was not allowed to wax for a few weeks before but that I could shave. Afterwards, you have a little redness and swelling but it goes away quickly (within an hour or so).</p>
<p>I had laser done on my upper lip maybe 10 years ago. The only prep was a topical anesthetic called EMLA (lidocaine and prilocaine). The results were great and I never had any follow-up treatments. Unfortunately, in the past year most of the hair has come back.</p>
<p>Don’t waste your time with Intense Pulsed Light (IPL). It’s been touted as a pain-free alternative to laser, and some places even advertise laser hair removal but use IPL. I went through the entire five treatment series for my underarms, but didn’t lose a single hair. If it can’t even handle very dark hair on very pale skin, it’s pretty useless. :mad:</p>
<p>I want my daughter to do it and she has the perfect complexion for it. However, she was told you have to let the hair grow for a week or so first and that’s a huge deterrent, especially for the facial area. Seiclan, I’m surprised that you were told you could shave and that it still worked. Good to know.</p>
<p>I wasnt told to not shave for a week first…the only preparation for me was some numbing cream which helped take some of the sting off. They shave the hair off the area where they will be lasering, and then they start zapping. The lasering itself only took about 30 seconds (for upper lip, I’m sure legs for example will take longer). The area felt hot for a few hours afterwards, but overall its not that painful</p>
<p>Brown skin - dark coarse upper lip hair - got laser removal done …needed 5 sessions. So far it looks really positive. I am told it will last for good but even if it only works for 3-4 years , I will be very happy that I do not have to worry about have a moustache anymore for quite some time. 
Paid about $100 for each session…I was also advised electrolysis by another woman at the same clinic but I decided to go by laser, and im glad I did.</p>
<p>I’d be wary of the Groupon coupons for local places. There was such a coupon in my area recently and I went on-line to check out the “spa.” It’s run by a urologist!!</p>
<p>I don’t want to take any risks with my face.</p>
<p>My daughter has had laser treatment on her armpits & legs (but hasn’t finished the series). They told her to avoid waxing, but shave the day before treatment. Apparently the laser “follows” the hair down into the follicle, so it works best with the hair being cut off at skin level. If you wax, there’s no hair to follow. If there’s too much above the skin, there is more heating, so it’s less effective & hurts more. They told her that if it hurts, put pure aloe vera gel on it. She said it stung a little while they were doing it, but didn’t feel the need for the aloe afterward.</p>