hi all
i have consultations with three lasers this week and i hope that somebody can offer some advice as i would like the patch test to be as effective as possible.
chromos 694 ruby laser
apoggee
candela gentlelase
i have type II skin and dark hair on my legs, they are not as coarse as pubic hair but they are thicker than arm hair!
what settings on these laser would be appropriate for a patch test?
thanks
Ruby is an old machine is can easily burn the skin. Only a type I or II at most should be even trying this laser and only with an experienced tech.
GentleLASE settings for you should be at least 18-20 joules to start. 18mm spot size maxes out at 20 joules, so when you go higher, they’ll have to lower the spot size to 15 or 12, which means the treatments will take a bit longer. Starting out with 18mm at 20 joules is probably good and then increasing it each time after that.
Apogee is similar to Gentlelase but has more power. If you have light skin it will work without much scabbing. It loves coarse dark hair. You will smell the hair burning (a good sign) as the hairs fly out of the follicles! If you have type III skin I would prefer the Lightsheer or other diode laser and if you are darker I would prefer a Nd:YAG.
I would stay away from the Ruby laser.
RJC2001
ok
have had 2 consultations with apoggee and ruby and a ultra energist! looking for lower leg hair removal
apoggee-- she did a spot size of 12mm and had the joules at 22. she did two differing patch test areas. the process was not painful at all. my skin is slightly red. the cost for my lower legs is £150 total, £738 if i buy a prepaid package of 6 treatments.(if the rate of exchange is 1.4 dollars to the british pound then its $210 per session)
chromos ruby–the spot size was 5mm!! as i am a type II skin she said i was suitable and did a patch test. the area was cooled before with an ice pack. it didnt hurt. at the minute there is more redness than the apoggee patch test. the price of using this laser is more expensive than the appogee too. they charge per laser time used as opposed to area treated. this was as the hairs get less and less, the price decreases also. but for my lower legs it is likely they will cost £300 EACH ($420). this really put me off, especially for such a large area.
ultra energist- this laser was at the same clinic as the ruby. i had not heard of it before but had a feeling it was an IPL. she said it was a laser. she also did a patch test but did not shave or clip the hairs! she applied some gel and did the patch test and recommended shaving the area and then seeing what hairs grew back as opposed to waiting for them to shed. the treatment would cost £300 for both lower legs ($420)…when i got home and looked on the internet, the ultra energist is an IPL.
have one more consultation on mon with the gentleLASE. will update then.
so far the Apogee seems the best out of these options. Do have a GentleLASE consultation. I had very good results with it. It IS supposed to hurt though…so not sure is 22 joules is too low on Apogee. might be. I would ask to up the settings if you decide on it.
well
i went for what i thought was going to be a gentleLASE consultation but in fact it turned out to be another apoggee but this time it was a 5500, a newer version than the apoggee 6200. she did 2 test patches of spot size 15mm on 18 joules. some of the hairs flew out of the follicles cos she showed them to me on a piece of tissue. they even had the bulbs on the end of them!!
the only downside in comparison to the apoggee 6200 is the price —
£1950 for a course of 6 with apoggee 5200($1395)
£900 with the apoggee 6200 ($645)
quite a difference. i will have to think about this one.
In this case, the tech’s experience is what will probably make a difference in the results, so I would go with whoever you think is more knowledgeable in lhr.