Hello all,
Bear with me, for I’m a newbie. I spent a few hours reading through the wealth of information in these forums, but I couldn’t search for the specific keywords that found me a solution…
I just went through my first LHR. I actually did most of the body and some bits of the face with a package discount. I did some research regarding the kind of questions I should ask, get a feeling about the place (20-year-old clinic, went through 4 generations of alexandrite lasers, technician is certified, etc.), asking about what kinds of lasers and treatments are appropriate, how to take care of my skin before and after treatment, and so forth, and asked for a consultation yesterday. Of course, not being an expert, I might have left some crucial questions out. Sadly I hadn’t read HairTell before!
Because I liked what I was hearing, I went today for my first session (I was lucky, someone skipped an appointment, because, like many similar popular places, they are usually full).
Generally speaking, I was enthusiastic about the experience, and was actually going to write about it and share it on a different forum. While doing so, I followed up some links, and it seems that one customer of this clinic (it’s in Lisbon, Portugal) was involved in a scam by them two years ago. Allegedly, they had sold her a LHR package but did a session of IPL instead. Since this particular woman could tell the difference between IPL and LHR, she complained about not getting the treatment she paid for. She had gotten a discount coupon through Groupon, so she complained to Groupon as well as to the authorities. Groupon’s representatives joined the discussion and agreed to look into the issue, refund that person’s money, and so forth.
A few months afterwards, many people saw this complaint (it was posted on Facebook) and followed up. They said that they definitely had a LHR session. They correctly identified the GentleLase machine and were sure that it has been used. They were generally quite happy with the results. Nobody ever “offered” them to do IPL instead of LHR. Some others piped in, doubting who they should believe in, and also not being sure if they had gotten LHR or IPL after all.
The clinic is obviously around and continues to do business through Groupon and similar discount websites. One would assume that such a complaint (specially to the authorities) would have been investigated. Then again, it might; we have no way of knowing, and that might be the reason there was a LHR machine on the clinic few weeks after this episode was reported.
Now I have never done IPL before and this was my first laser session, so I have no way to compare one to the other. It never occurred to me that we should make sure that we are getting the treatment we paid for. It was just by pure chance that I did, indeed, remember that the machine next to me had “GentleLase” written somewhere on it, and that it does look like many of the pictures of a GentleLase alexandrite laser that I have seen on the web, but… how do I know? I wasn’t staring at the machine while I was getting lasered (I had goggles on, or, for the back part, I was looking down), so the technician could certainly have taken a different device without my noticing her, and just do some cheap IPL with a wand. Or, well, just because a machine has “GentleLase” written on it, it might not be the right machine at all. At least I was quite sure that it was turned on, with a control panel on the LCD, when I started and ended the session.
So… what I was looking for is a description of what one should expect while going through a LHR session with a GentleLase. And then see similar descriptions from an IPL session. Then I could compare, and, eventually, complain!
What I can describe (and please note this is rather a very unscientific description!) is something like this:
- I was told to get shaved the day before and use no lotions/perfume/oils/whatever
- When entering the room and told to strip down, I was concerned that the room was a bit too cold. I got a blanket, but was told that the laser heat would soon make me warm. I was a bit skeptic about that, but, indeed, that was certainly the case. The heat was not overwhelming (the room was well ventilated) but it was certainly nice to feel the skin warming up
- Preparation uses some gel (couldn’t see what it was)
- Some of my freckles were covered with some product (I was told this was to reduce their heat absorption by the laser)
- I used some special goggles with a reddish tint most of the time (except when doing the back)
- Every time the device fires, there is a reddish glare which is noticeable when, say, I’m on my back with eyes closed. It lasts at most a second (but any strong light filtered through closed eyelids is usually reddish).
- There is some pricking (more on the more sensitive areas)
- The end of the cylinder/wand warms up, but it’s actually not uncomfortable
- There is a beep, simultaneous with a loud thump from the machine. I actually asked what the thump was. The technician just said that it was “the laser firing” and that all devices, even IPL, have some sort of “thump”, although lasers are usually louder (I understand now that the “thump” is more probably the heat-absorption/cooling air stream). The closest I can describe the noise is that it’s very similar to the tire pumps at gas stations (which led me to believe afterwards that it was, indeed, a pump… pumping cool air)
- There is a second beep between the thumps. So the machine goes beep/thump, beep, beep/thump, beep and so forth
- The frequency between thumps was perhaps 2 seconds, and was automatic. I wish I had timed them more accurately. When doing the upper lip and chin, however, either the frequency was changed or the technician was just doing single firings manually (from what I read, that’s the more correct way of doing things on the upper lip and chin)
- After a significant area was finished, she did some rubbing-in with another product/lotion. I joked about getting a free massage, which led to the technician to tell that many of her competitors, to keep costs low, just do the rubbing with some almond oil bought at supermarkets, but she uses more expensive oils (the clinic is also certified to sell and apply products from two professional skin care/cosmetic brands), since their clinic also does massage therapy.
- Most treated areas didn’t hurt at all. I’m used to the pain from hand-held, home-use ‘rotating tweezer’ epilators, and thought that LHR would be worse (about the same as plucking hairs with a tweezer manually). I had done some nanosurgery with a dermatologist surgeon, who also use lasers to cut those annoying tiny ‘skin flaps’ (which get vaporized under the intensity of the laser), and which is a generally painful experience. I am very squeamish and have a low pain threshold so I was getting prepared for the worst. But except for some ‘problem areas’ (very near to the nipples; under the arms (but not everywhere in that area), the whole experience was relatively pain-free to my surprise (maybe the laser settings were too low?)
- There was certainly the characteristic smell of hair burning, on all patches that still had some hair (there are many spots which I cannot reach with a Gillette). Every time this happened, the technician explained that this is normal, since longer hairs will capture all the heat from the laser and literally burn and vaporize with a characteristic smell. While this naturally didn’t happen everywhere (I was reasonably well shaved all over ), it was enough for still feeling the smell a couple of hours afterwards — and, being a smoker, you might imagine that my olfactive system wouldn’t detect that!
- After the treatment on most of the body, my skin was not really looking bad at all. There were multiple, pale red spots here and there, specially on the chest area and arms — perfectly normal, if you’re used to manual epilation: I would get them as well, and they would remain for a few weeks until fading. Because of the good results, I asked to do the bit above the upper lip and the chin. The settings were changed as described, and, while much more painful, the skin on that area did not remain red/blistered
- After the session, there were some welts and I feared some blisters on the skin folds behind the knee, where my skin is rather sensitive. This made it a bit tricky for me to sit down for extended periods at the office and at home! But after a good night’s sleep (and using an appropriate cream, sold at the clinic), the welts were virtually all gone.
- Later in the evening, I noticed one rather loose hair, which certainly came out without effort at all. Amazing! I believe most of those from badly shaven areas had already fallen during the treatment (the paper covering the bed certainly had several loose hairs here and there), but it was nice to catch one to see how it looked like after lasering!
- 24 hours later, the only visible marks on the skin are just the reddish spots on the chest. They have paled, and are not so distinct (i.e. they are now ‘blurred’ and spread out), and, again, this is exactly what I get when I do my home epilation with the ‘rotating tweezer’ hand device, or perhaps it’s even fading faster than with epilation (hard to tell). Welts and reddish areas have all disappeared overnight ‘as if by magic’. The skin feels smooth and healthy.
I now understand that I should also have asked the technician for the laser settings she’s used. All I know is that she told me that it was an alexandrite laser, 18mm in size (I had specifically asked that during the consultation session), and she mentioned that she used “the setting on 10” but could eventually turn it slightly up on subsequent sessions, since I didn’t complain about the pain. “10” could mean anything, of course, but having subsequently read a bit more about the usual settings (http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/90809/Candela_GentleLase_Alexandrite.html), I’d say that this is a bit too low. Unless, of course, she meant a different setting altogether.
Based on all the above… what do you think? Was this a scam or not?
Some things that seem fine:
- The machine next to the bed had the “GentleLASE” logo on it and was turned on (even though I didn’t actually see if the ‘wand’ was connected to it or not)
- We talked a lot about laser vs. IPL, since the clinic does both, but it was clear to me that there was a lot of experience about laser treatments
- There was heat from the wand (comfortable heat, though), a reddish light (but under the eyelids all strong light is red) which ‘seemed’ relatively focused (i.e. not like a flash), periodic firing (a ‘thump’ once every 2 seconds, although the ‘beep’ was every second, if I can remember correctly) but reverting to manual firing when doing the upper lip and chin
- While each area was quickly ‘scanned’ with the ‘wand’, it was clear that there were really many, many firings per area. Even on the smallest area — upper lip — there were at least 8 firings. Each hand took one firing per finger and perhaps 5-6 for the central area (I wish I had paid attention)
- There was certainly plenty of hair burning smell
Some things that might just have been an elaborate scam:
- Most of the procedure wasn’t painful at all. The worst bits (some areas near the underarm, upper lip, chin) had a pain intensity similar to pulling hairs out with a tweezer. Again, I do have a low pain threshold and are rather squeamish. I was expecting much worse.
- The procedure might have been a bit too fast. I understand that this depends on a lot of factors, but I’m 5’10" tall and have long legs. Both legs took perhaps one hour (together). Chest (not torso, though!), shoulders, arms, hands, underarms, and all the back took another hour. Upper lip and chin took perhaps 5 minutes. It seems a bit too quick for laser, but slower than IPL.
- 24 hours after the treatment, if it weren’t for the chest area’s spottish redness, nobody would notice that I had went to LHR (not even on the face). My home epilation usually leaves red spots for 2-3 days at the very least (one of the many reasons for abandoning it and going back to shaving!). I remember that when my partner did IPL on her legs, some years ago, there were no marks either
- Due to my bad viewing angle, it would be relatively easy for the technician to use an IPL wand while still having the ‘GentleLASE’ machine turned on. But the ‘thumping’ noise definitely came from the machine. And the technician did, indeed, say that IPL also does a thumping noise when firing, although it’s much less louder.
- The logo on the ‘GentleLASE’ machine might be fake (the alleged complaint, filed 2 years ago, mentioned that the technician had told her that they had ‘an IPL device with an alexandrite head’ which is clearly nonsense; this story was then changed to say that they had used IPL because the laser machine was on maintenance — more plausible, but still a scam, assuming the story is correct) or this particular model might do IPL and LHR (I have no idea). I have seen that the most recent models — ‘GentleLASE Pro’ — can do alexandrite and Nd:YAG laser simultaneously or alternatively, to cover a wider range of skins. I have no idea what model they had on the clinic, only that it is ‘the 4th generation of lasers we have bought so far’
Signs that it might not be an elaborate scam, but a scam nevertheless:
- ‘If it’s not hurting, it’s not doing anything’: the settings might be too low. This would mean that very few hairs will get treated correctly, and I might have to go back for more and more sessions. If the technician didn’t mention ‘the setting is at 10 [but 10 what?] but we could go up to 12’, and I hadn’t read this forums and learn that for my type of skin 16 joules would be more adequate, I wouldn’t ever had suspected a thing.
- The technician suggested the next visit in 4 weeks. According to what I read, I should wait first for the hairs to shed — taking 3 weeks at least — and then wait for them to grow again — which would take another 3 weeks, although some areas might take less or more time. So maybe she was aiming for a ‘premature’ visit in order for me to spend more on a 3rd session (which would be at the ‘correct’ time?). In any case, I wasn’t ‘forced’ to sign up for the next session; in fact, alleging conflicting schedules (which is actually true!), I did postpone a commitment for the next session until next week. They were fine with that and not really pushy about it (they know I will be back, I still have some credit left!).
- The low price of the sessions is, to a degree, offset by the cost of the creams with UV blockage for the face and body lotions with mild exfoliation properties. Of course I wasn’t ‘forced’ to buy them (they also represent those brands and get a hefty commission on them; and they are very pricey) but certainly ‘encouraged’. As a business, I can certainly understand that. They might be aiming for lower prices than the competition but earning enough on the creams and lotions to give them a better margin. I couldn’t really call that ‘a scam’, because, well, during the consultation, I was told about the necessity of using an UV barrier and appropriate body lotions (without alcohol, perfume, etc.), and was shown the products they sold and was told their prices. So the option was really mine; I wasn’t refused treatment if I didn’t wish to buy their cosmetic products. For me it was just clear that they sell a low-cost LHR package with the hope to cross-sell some high quality cosmetics (with a high price), which ‘sounds’ like a reasonable pricing strategy.
Whew. Long report. If anyone cared enough to read it to the end, I would truly appreciate your experience and await your verdict 
Thank you all in advance!