Can I share my experience?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I thought I would blog my experience here for others to see. If this isn’t in the right place- I’m sorry- mods- please move as needed.

Backround:
I have light skin and very dark course hair. I also have had a lot of irritation in my bikini area with shaving and dipilatories. So I decided to give laser hair removal a try. I signed up with American Laser Centers for the bikini package. After I signed up I saw some very bad reviews for this place, but, oh well, I already signed.

The Consultation:
Very nice office, clean facility, friendly staff. Consultant explained the hair removal process and explained that after 6 treatments you could expect from a 50-90% reduction in regrowth. If there is any regrowth after 6 treatment they will continue to provide treatments for up to 2 years after the 6th treatment, as needed. She explained that light colored or fine hairs have a high liklihood of regrowth, and darker, courser hair, against light skin, had the best chance of being removed permantly. She also explained that all hairs are not in the proper cycle or growth stage at any one time and that is why multiple treatments are needed.

My 1st treatment:
My first treatment was today. I was told to shave thoroughly, the legs and completely outside the bikini triangle as well as 2 inches inside of the bikini triangle. When I arrived I was taken to the laser room, asked to remove my bottoms, including underwear and wait for the tech. She came in and was friendly and put me at ease with a good bedside manner. I am very modest and she put me at ease which is saying somethng. She gave me sunglasses and told me to relax. She applied the gel and had me splay my right leg frog-style. Then she did the left leg. I was totally naked from the waist down, not covered at all. I do wish they had a paper or something to cover the privates, but they didn’t. I used no pain cream and the tech was concerned that it would be uncomfortable but I was fine. I do have a high pain threshhold so your mileage may vary. I have heard that it feels like rubber bands snapping you- but for me it just felt like a series of really quick pinpricks or tiny little stings. It was all over in just under 15 minutes.

#2

I will update this as I go through the process- as I was looking for some kind of blog… when I was researching laser hair removal, but I couldn’t find anything.

Aftermath so far:
It has only been a few hours but I have no irritation and have noticed several of the hairs that have come out of the follicle. They do not look like plucked hairs- where you can see the waxy end from the follicle. But hopefully these will be hairs that don’t come back!

Also, I purchased after laser lotion from American Laser for $35 that I will use a few times daily for the next 4-5 days to reduce irritation. The also offered me pain cream at $35 that should last through my full set of treatments but I told them I would buy it if it became painful but for now I will go without. They warned me that the treatments will become more intense as we go forward.

My next treatment is scheduled for 10 weeks from today. I will check in periodically.

#3

Oh also- I forgot to mention cost- the package cost $970 and then I added the $35 cream so just over $1000- I got 12 month 0% financing so I will just pay $100 for the next 10 months. They also take credit cards and have other financing plans.

#4

I have a friend who is using ALC… she seems to like it but I chose another place to do mine in NY. If you do a search on the forum you will find tips on how to get the best possible from ALC, it has to do with changing settings on their lasers.

I was going to give ALC the benefit of the doubt so I was going to go for a consult. I got there on time. and waited 10 minutes. Asked the receptionist how much longer it would be and she said maybe 20 mins more!!! So 30 mins after my scheduled appt? hhhmmm. She almost bumped the guy before me so I wouldn’t leave but I told her it wasn’t necessary and left.

I had my first appt. yesterday and am scheduling mine in 6 week increments. 10 weeks apart sounds kind of long but I am no expert on this.

My irritation is completely gone this morning.

#5

You forgot the most important part: your skin and hair type and the laser being used, and settings if you can get them. The fact that you felt so little pain given how coarse the hair is on this area worries me that the settings may have been too low. Do let us know how shedding goes in 3 weeks.

You don’t need any expensive “after cream”. Pure Aloe Vera for $1-3, the clear gel stuff at the drugstore, will do the same thing. It doesn’t seem like you need the numbing cream, so I wouldn’t waste money on that either. They’re trying to upsell you on other things that you don’t necessarily need.

esmesmom, spacing depends on the area being treated because different areas have different hair growth cycles. For most areas, spacing should be around 8-12 weeks apart. 6 is only ever necessary on the face and that’s when hair grows very fast there.

#6

Did you get IPL or laser treatment? Perhaps laser. Most patients experience no side effects with IPL.
Also, the price $1K looks a little high for bikini area.

#7

this isn’t a free advertising site. i’m sure your patients all get 100% removal as the glossy brochure says.

#8

How does IPL differ from laser? Are they different names for the same process or are they completely different process and how different?

#9

They’re different types of technology. Details are explained in the FAQs. You may want to read them since you comment on the laser portion quite often and with lots of misinformation about laser. The link is in my signature.

#10

Other than the skin and hair type being light skin with dark/course hair- I am not sure how else to describe my skin/hair type. I don’t know the laser type or settings, but I do know that she said with each treatment the intensity of the laser will increase.

So far I have had little to no irritation and now that regrowth/shedding has begun I can see that there are alot of folicles that seem to be dead. I am looking forward to my next treatment.

#11

As far as $1K being high- it probably is because I didn’t really shop around too much. Basically ALC is located conveniently for me and they made it so easy to sign up. I just wanted to get started so I went with it. I probably could have saved a couple hundred bucks- but I liked the office I visited (Towson, MD) and I liked the 2 year guarantee and the 0% financing.

#12

Stay away from ALC.

#13

Do a search here on hairtell and at www.cosmeticenhancementsforum.com for consumer comments about ALC. Then decide for yourself. Please no private messages from anyone associated with ALC about why I don’t like ALC. It has nothing to do with what I like, but rather, with what consumers are experiencing. Listen to their stories and forget about me.

Dee

#14

Unfortunately, this company doesn’t have the best machines or the best trained people. Thus the many bad reviews that Dee is referring to. They do a hard sell at their clinics and make people believe that everyone will get great results. Of course, you sign a waiver, so you can’t do anything once you don’t. At this point, it’s still on the consumer to do research to actually get results they want, especially when they’re dealing with ALC.

Please read the FAQs in the link below. It explains how to classify your skin type. It also explains differences between machines. You can ask your clinic what settings they used, i.e. ask for joules, pulse width, and spot size used and post them here if you’d like our opinion on them.

Let us know the % of shedding you get 3 weeks after the treatment. It should be close to 100%.

#15

Thanks lagirl- I would probably say I am skintype III.
I know there are a lot of bad reviews for ALC. I will be objective and report my experience as it unfolds.
The girl told me to expect about a 10% reduction in hair growth after my first treatment- I think it went better than that. It looks to me about 25%.

#16

It’s impossible to tell reduction until you’re at treatment 4-5 usually because you are seeing hair in different phases of growth. So you’ll see a lot of NEW hair come in soon and it will look like you haven’t done much.

#17

OK- sorry haven’t posted in a while- I have had 2 treatments since my last post.
The second treatment (10 weeks after the 1st treatment) HURT so much more than the first. I actually noticed postive results especially the crease where upper legs meet my body. There is a noticable difference there- but still just outside of my bikini V was in need of a lot more treatment.

Today I went for my 3rd treatment and for the 1st time I used a numbing gel. It didn’t work at all- it hurt like h-e-double toothpicks- even with the gel. The nurse practitioner wrote me a RX for something stronger for next time. I have a high pain threshold too- but YOWSA! it hurt. Anyway- I will try to remember to check back in here in a few weeks and report on results. My next appt is set for mid Nov.

#18

How long was the cream left on? Did you accidentally rub it in?

#19

The numbing cream was applied about 30 mins prior to treatment. the directions say to apply 30-45 mins ahead of time. It said apply liberally and that’s what I did. I did sort of rub it in- I didn’t know that I shouldn’t.

Anyway- I just completed my 4th treatment yesterday. I gave the numbing cream 40 mins this time and it was somewhat better. Still painful but not as bad as before. But- the real reason it may have felt better is that the hair is much finer and there is less of it now.

So far I am extremely pleased with the results. It looks to be about a 65-70 reduction in growth (after 3 treatments). The growth that is coming in is so fine I do not think I will have much/any risk for ingrown hairs or razor burn- which were two big problems for me.

I’ll check back in in approx 10 weeks around the time of my 5th treatment.

#20

I’m not suprised. The less hair you have the less you will feel. Especially if you have light colored skin. You may not even need the numbing cream next time!