Advice on Cutera XEO Cool Glide/ProWave laser

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi all,

I would love to ask for some advice. I am in Chicago for the summer and am considering purchasing a Groupon deal that includes 3 laser hair removal treatments on the bikini or underarm area for $99. This deal is offered by the Avanti Skin Center. Anyone had any experience with them?

Their website says they use a “Cutera XEO Cool Glide, utilizing the ProWave 770 and 1064 Yag.” I have fair, Type II skin with lots of coarse, dark hair. I have had one laser treatment on my chest from a dermatologist in Seattle and thus far I have had great results on the dark hairs there (though it has been only one treatment). They used the Lumenis Lightsheer laser, all the hair fell out, and I have had no regrowth a month later.

I am happy with my practitioner in Seattle and plan to go back to see her in the fall when I return, but for now I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on whether I seem like a good candidate for a couple of rounds of treatment (on a different treatment area–my bikini line) with the Cutera laser. It seems like such a good price.

One final question. Is it ok to switch lasers/practitioners on a treatment area? If I have one or two sessions on my bikini line this summer, is it ok to continue treatment later in Seattle, from a different clinic?

Thank you so much! I am so glad I found this forum.

#2

Coolglide is an IPL. I would stick to laser.

Regardless, you wouldn’t be able to fit 3 treatments in since you should be spacing treatments out 8-12 wks.

Will you back in SEA in two months? If so, that would put you at the 12 wk mark, so you technically you would be fine in terms of spacing.

#3

Is the ProWave 770 a laser? As far as I can tell from the Cutera website, it is a laser and not an IPL?

I will be in Seattle at the end of September. Just noticed that you are from there! Can you give me any recommendations of good practitioners? The place where I had a good experience was Westside Dermatology in West Seattle. But they use diode, and I think from what I’ve read on this forum that the alexandrite lasers would be best for my skin and hair type (fair, Type II skin with coarse dark hair).

Thanks for your help!

#4

Have to correct here: This machine is a combo Yag and IPL.

If your hair is dense and coarse, you’ll still get decent results on the first 3-4 treatments. So if they’re using good settings, it’s worth a shot for that price. Without knowing the settings, it’s impossible to tell whether it’ll be worth it.

#5

Thank you all very much. One more question. I’ve read about settings on this forum so I feel like I have a good understanding about appropriate settings for an alexandrite laser like GentleLASE, but I haven’t seen anything on the forum regarding settings for an IPL like the ProWave.

Would IPL settings be similar to laser settings (i.e. max spot size 18mm, joules must increase as spot size decreases, etc)?

After reading through this forum, I definitely want to find a good GentleLASE provider. But price is an issue for me so I may take advantage of this $99 IPL special if I can figure out that they use good settings.

Thank you!

#6

Thanks for the correction, LAgirl. Cutera has tons of devices - hard to keep track!

Re settings: they are different for each device. IPLs have large spot sizes. The same principles apply, however, namely in that you want to be treated at the highest settings your skin can handle.

Unfortunately I am new to the area, so my knowledge of clinics is limited.

#7

IPLs are all different and settings vary by machine. I don’t know them all.

This isn’t just an IPL machine. The Yag portion of it will work well on the very coarse hair. First 3-4 treatments on an area like bikini will be worth it at that price, if they’re using decent settings.

#8

Hi again,

Thanks to this awesome forum, I’m going for a consultation today from a highly recommended practitioner in Chicago (La Piel) for treatment with the GentleLASE. I feel so good about this decision, and glad not to waste money on less effective lasers for my skin. I also know now what settings to ask for in the patch tests. Thank you all so much!!

One final question for today though. When people say “the highest setting your skin can handle”, what does this mean exactly? Is this referring to burning, pain, or something else? Please let me know what I should be looking for today in terms of how my skin reacts to the patch tests, and how I will know if a setting is more than my skin can handle.

Thank you so much!

#9

It basically means as much power as can be used so that your skin doesn’t have a long-lasting burn/blister. You’ll pretty much know when it is more than your skin can handle, although most places are pretty good at not causing any damage on someone who is a skin type II (just because laser is so much more effective.) Redness is ok but it shouldn’t last more than a few hours.

I, like you, am a skin type II, and my dermatologist generally uses 18mm spot size, 18-20J, and 3-10 ms for pulse width. I have yet to meet anyone else I’ve gotten laser from who uses that high of settings, but in general, you will definitely want 18mm spot size, 16J or higher (more is better), and generally a fairly low pulse width (probably no more than 30ms, but the lower you can handle, the better)

#10

On GentleLASE, max is 20J on 18mm (3ms pulse width is fixed). You want to get as close to the max as possible without burning your skin. That’s what we mean. You want to stay at 18mm, and we don’t recommend anything uner 14-16J on 18mm.

#11

Hi all, Thanks for all your help and suggestions. Wanted to report back on my first session of Brazilian treatments. The session was about 3 weeks ago.

The practitioner treated me with the GentleLase at 16j, maximum spot size. I had nearly complete shedding on the outer bikini line areas, but on the “Brazilian” areas underneath, shedding wasn’t so complete. I wonder if this is because the skin is darker on some of those areas?

Shedding started in less than a week. I had no skin irritation or redness at all after treatment. That leads me to think I should ask for the 18j setting next time.

I’ll report back after further treatments. Thanks again for all the advice!

#12

hi…Its really feeling nice after reading you post…Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences here…

#13

Did they change the settings slightly when treating the darker area?

If not, it may just be due to missed spots. If more than 10% hasn’t shed, you can ask for a freet touchup.

#14

Hello again,

Just thought I’d post another update. Yesterday I had my second session with the GentleLase, 6 weeks after my first session. She upped the settings to 18j/18mm this time, and I had redness afterwards, most of which is cleared up today.

One question for you all. My practitioner strongly suggested that I have my third session in 5-6 weeks. However, I am leaving town and will not be back for 3 months. I would consider waiting until I return to have my next session because I really like this practitioner, but she said it isn’t good to wait that long. She suggested I find a practitioner in Seattle (where I will be until December) for my next couple of sessions. She said treatments are most effective when you laser the hairs just as they are starting to grow back (5-6 weeks from now). What do you all think?

Thanks again in advance!

#15

As we mention in the FAQs and everywhere on the forum, 5-6 weeks is too early regardless. It should be 8-12 weeks. There is no advantage to treating earlier. Hair is better affected when it’s more coarse and you don’t want to treat when not all the hair is present yet.

What she said applies to electrolysis, not laser. Laser prefers hair to be coarse, and it’s not in early anagen phase.