Did I get the appropriate treatment?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I recently bought laser hair removal on Groupon. It was $350 for 6 treatments on my full legs. My first visit was very brief. It took the technician approximately 20 minutes to treat both my legs and there was absolutely no pain. I did smell a slight burning odor, as if the hair was burning. Otherwise there was no evidence that anything was happening. One week later, my hair is growing in as dark and fast as it ever has. The facility uses the Sandstone Cheveux 810 nm laser. I am unsure of the settings used on me. Does it sound like I received appropriate treatment?

Thank you.
Lindsey

#2

20 minutes is really fast, and $350 for 6 treatments is obscenely cheap (the place I go to charges $350/session, and that’s considered to be fair price), so I wouldn’t expect fantastic results from this place. The fastest my legs have ever been done in is 30-35 minutes, and I was worried that was too fast. Can you call and ask for the settings?

What color is your hair and how light are you (i.e. skin type?) The laser they used on you is a diode, but if you’re fairly dark, the place is going to use weak settings to not burn you. The fact that it was painless suggests that the settings were very weak. If you tell us your location, perhaps someone can suggest a place for you?

#3

Thank you Brenton! I am very light skinned with auburn hair. I think I am a skin type between 1 and 2. I am in south AL, outside of Mobile. If anyone has other suggestions/advice, I appreciate it!

#4

As a rule reddish hair does not respond as well to laser hair removal as brown or black, however with an auburn tint you might have enough brown to see positive results.

#5

I know this hairtell user is from Alabama and doing full body LHR. I have no idea what his skin type is, or where in Alabama he is from, or even how often he comes by, but you might try asking him:

http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/users/18469.html

Since you’re that light, you should look for an alexandrite laser. I am a big fan of Candela GentleLase. Some people like Apogee lasers more, but I like Candela the best (I had a massive reduction on my legs (>50%) after 3 treatments). I also have very black hair, so auburn hair may not be as effective.

The candela website used to have a practitioner locator, but since they changed their website, I can’t seem to find it (they might have gotten rid of it which I think is stupid.) One thing you can do is call some dermatologists in Mobile, find out what type of laser they have, and see if you can come in for a consultation. Ask them what settings they will use (If they have a Gentlelase which tends to be a popular and common laser, they should be using 18mm spot size and at least 16J). Otherwise, all you need to do is post the name of the laser, the joules, spot size, and pulse width, and we can tell you if it’s strong enough.