Female, skin type V (Asian), London

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I have a few questions to ask, but may I just add a disclaimer first: I’ve already scoured the forums for LHR, electrolysis, London, etc. I’ve seen that ‘search for London’ line so many times. I’ve also been lurking and checking back every few months for the past year+ and haven’t seen any new information added. I’m also planning on contacting Candela and some places for a consultation, so if finances permit and I can find the ideal place, I hope to use this thread soon or one day as a progress diary.

Basics
TYPE V: Sun-insensitive skin, rarely burns, tans well. I know type matters more than skin tone, but I imagine I’m going to get a few questions about it, so I’m MAC (make-up) shade NW35.
Areas for LHR: belly trail, lower legs, full bikini, and underarms. I would need GentleYag without a doubt
Areas for electrolysis: Thighs (not coarse but long), breasts, abdomens, chestbone, and face.

I have coarse hair on belly trail, but that extends upwards on my chest from above my belly button, albeit it is finer with the odd, intermittent, lone, long and thick strand. Although it is neither downy (at least I don’t think it is compared to my siblings) nor thick, I do consider my abdomen to be hairy, as it is noticeable. The hairs are thin, but longer than the average person’s. Is it recommended to get laser only on the belly trail and then get electrolysis thereafter, using flash and then blend, to get rid of the rest my abdomen/chest? Or should I just use laser for the whole region and then continue with electrolysis when it really becomes too fine? Also, for those who have had LHR successfully, do you know if your clinic or any other also have GentleYAG?

I couldn’t find any information here about a close-to-London electrologist who used both flash & blend methods. I will be PM’ing some of you for recs for electrolysis.

Thank you everyone in the UK for your input on these forums and for the mods and other little helpers for helping everyone out tirelessly! I hope to be another source of information for Londoners/UK people, darker skinned candidates, and on the GentleYag.

#2

  • If you’re going to treat your stomach area, I would ONLY treat the areas with mostly ALL coarse hair. Treating other surrounding areas can stimulate finer hairs to become more coarse.

  • Have you read posts by BenjiBoy? I believe he found a good electrologist in London as well as a good laser place (he checked out several).

  • GentleYAG would be good, but you should also consider other good Yags like Coolglide, Apogee Elite, and Sciton.

#3

Hi smurf,

I use MAC NC30-35 and I’m Type IV. I’m almost done with Laser treatments on my underarms, bikini thong area has gone very well after just two treatments and I have had 1 full leg treatment so far.

You can see my thread for where I am being treated (with Apogee Elite). I’m very happy with my treatments and they are very forthcoming with info - they gave me a print out of all my treatments and settings used for them!

As for electrolysis, I know Sara in Harrow uses flash, although she’s too far for me to travel to but she has been recommended here.
Geri in Walthamstow (also recommended here) has given up her job last I called her and said that she has requested BIAE to remove her details from the directory.
My electrologist is based in Islington, I’m happy with her but treatment is not that fast as she only uses blend but I think she’s good with it and quite speedy.

#4

What is the difference between all of those Yag brands? There are ten different models per brand, so which would be the best for each brand?

I’m worried that treating the coarse hairs anyway will stimulate nearby vellus hairs either way, so I’m not sure whether to just get that done by electrolysis.

I have read the posts by Benjiboy and had already written down all of the names of electrologists - I had already decided on going for a consultation with the Harrow Lady and the Walthamstow lady (nearest to me), but since she’s shutting up shop, I guess Harrow it is.

Hi Stoppit - I had already read your thread, but you haven’t really posted results/many updates about the results so far and how well the laser treatment has worked. Otherwise my concerns would have been alleviated about RM. I’m thinking of going with the hospital one (you know who), but it’s really expensive, which is putting me off. But, they seem to be the most ‘honest’ (if there is such a thing in the laser treatment industry).

How much are you paying for your treatments with Renew Medica?

Thank you both.

#5

All Yags are relatively similar. GentleYAG just has the largest spot size of 18mm. But Apogee Elite is 15mm, so that’s good too. Coolglide is a great laser in good hands as well. Any of these three are good in good hands. The experience of the person treating you would matter most when choosing among these machines.

Definitely don’t treat areas where the hair is mixed and not all coarse. Laser is best for underarms, bikini and legs.

#6

hi smurf,

well i haven’t updated too much yet as I’m not finished with anything yet so don’t want to say anything prematurely.

but i just had my 6th underarm treatment, 10 weeks after the 5th. here was not too much hair left, in my opinion. definitely patches that were totally clear. on the left underarm the hairs were a bit coarser than the right underarm’s which were more fluffy looking.

it’s been 10 weeks since my 2nd bikini thong treatment too and I would like to say it has gone VERY well. even now, the area has very sparse hair growth.

my friend is being treated on her face at the hospital one (after 2 years of bad IPL). she says it’s going well and has no complaints.

however, i feel for areas where there is coarse hair and treatment usually goes well, RM are fine and are more reasonably priced.

i pay £69 per treatment for underarms, £220 for full leg. they have the price list on the website.
Yesterday i had both treated in 1 session and because the total came to over £250 i got 10% off my bill.
they don’t do courses but your first treatment is at 50% off if you get the voucher off their website. last year and earlier this year they ran a promotion some months where laser treatments were at 50% off for existing clients.

i knew about the hospital one before i started going to RM and don’t regret my decision at all.

i have been treated by 2 aestheticians there and if you want to know i can pm you the name of the one i prefer. she’s receptive to feedback about settings and if you want to go higher. she also doesn’t pressure me to come back at the times they recommend, so i go when i feel it’s time for the next treatment (from what i’ve read on here).

someone else i recommended both hospital one and RM to recently, checked out both and decided to go with RM in the end. they have existed for a long time (under a different name when they only had 1 branch) and even back then, they specialised in Asian and black skin - i’m talking about 8 years ago when I first started looking into Laser.

hope that all helps!

#7

The prices you just listed are not too high at all. They’re very reasonable.

#8

Smurf

I had most of my laser treatment at the Boston Clinic using a Coolglide - full legs, full arms and two sessions for my underarms.

My legs are completely smooth and clear i love them and have been for a good five years now. Though before this I also had a couple of sessions with another laser elsewhere intended for light skin, the second time I ended up with servere burns. Went to hospital + saw a high ranking dermatologist who told me it would take time but my legs would recover which after 24 months they did. My reason for mentioning it is becuase I can’t say if full clearance was all becuase of the 5/6 trips to the Boston or a good deal of it due to the previous session.

My forearms still have patches of coarse hair (annoying) and the top half halves have long fine hair on them which I tend to just shave.

The two underarm sessions were good now only fine hair grows and I have black specks.

At the Boston they always seemed to be very busy and you could not chose your nurse and now and then I would get someone who seemed to not have understood what I had paid for. I still have a burn mark on my shoulder from when a nurse rested the hand piece against it. But over all I thought they were ok. Though their admin was rubbish and I think when I stopped going I still had pre-paid money with them. Their reception room and the front desk was in a small are making it very difficult/embarrasing to discuss what you were there for. But it’s been a few years so cannot vouch for what they are like now. I think at the time i just so pleased to have found a place with a Coolglide that I was just happy with that the others seemed to only have lyras.

In an effort to remove the finer hair I have since tracked down a clinic called Skinovate in Baker Street. The dr. has a Candela Gentle yag. I paid £150 for touch ups and work on buttocks but think it was a waste of money and was told to come back when I had more hair. But you might want to contact her and see how you get on.

#9

Smurf

I had most of my laser treatment at the Boston Clinic using a Coolglide - full legs, full arms and two sessions for my underarms.

My legs are completely smooth and clear i love them and have been for a good five years now. Though before this I also had a couple of sessions with another laser elsewhere intended for light skin, the second time I ended up with servere burns. Went to hospital + saw a high ranking dermatologist who told me it would take time but my legs would recover which after 24 months they did. My reason for mentioning it is becuase I can’t say if full clearance was all because of the 5/6 trips to the Boston or a good deal of it due to the previous session.

My forearms still have patches of coarse hair (annoying) and the top half halves have long fine hair on them which I tend to just shave.

The two underarm sessions were good now only fine hair grows and I have black specks.

At the Boston they always seemed to be very busy and you could not chose your nurse and now and then I would get someone who seemed to not have understood what I had paid for. I still have a burn mark on my shoulder from when a nurse rested the hand piece against it. But over all I thought they were ok. Though their admin was rubbish and I think when I stopped going I still had pre-paid money with them. Their reception room and the front desk was in a small are making it very difficult/embarrassing to discuss what you were there for. But it’s been a few years so cannot vouch for what they are like now. I think at the time i just so pleased to have found a place with a Coolglide that I was just happy with that the others seemed to only have lyras.

In an effort to remove the finer hair I have since tracked down a clinic called Skinovate in Baker Street. The dr. has a Candela Gentle yag. I paid £150 for touch ups and work on buttocks but think it was a waste of money and was told to come back when I had more hair. But you might want to contact her and see how you get on.

#10

Yes, please!
Thanks, that did indeed! Very tempted to go with them if they have that much experience with asian/black skin, especially since the price is a lot kinder to the pocket than the Hospital lot. I should really research how many sessions it takes to be rid of underarm hair completely, as from your description I can’t tell if you’re satisfied with the way it’s going - though the bikini seems to be going well! :slight_smile: Do you think they/she overlap well and use correct settings best suited to you?

I’ve done a search for back to 3 yrs, but don’t know the difference between (flash) thermolysis and blend, other than that the former is faster. So, I haven’t got a clue about which electrologist to go for right now.

I mean the area simiilar to where you’ve have it done - so just the few inches above/below the belly button where it’s only coarse hair (nowhere else on the abdomen/belly).Laser to get it reduced and then having electrolysis done thereafter for clearance. Does that sound alright?

#11

Yes, please!
Thanks, that did indeed! Very tempted to go with them if they have that much experience with asian/black skin, especially since the price is a lot kinder to the pocket than the Hospital lot. I should really research how many sessions it takes to be rid of underarm hair completely, as from your description I can’t tell if you’re satisfied with the way it’s going - though the bikini seems to be going well! :slight_smile: Do you think they/she overlap well and use correct settings best suited to you?

I’ve done a search for back to 3 yrs, but don’t know the difference between (flash) thermolysis and blend, other than that the former is faster. So, I haven’t got a clue about which electrologist to go for right now.[/quote]

I’d like to know how many too! I am definitely happy with the way underarm treatment is going but I think a little part of me wanted to be done by the fifth treatment. I just had my sixth. It’s hard to quantify but I’d say there was still about 20% of a full growth by the time of the 6th treatment. BUT, there were decent sized patches on both underarms (where the hair used to be coarsest and thickest) that have been clear since about treatment 3.
Everyone says it’s typically 6-8 treatments for underarms so I know I was being too optimistic. I will be able to give you better feedback 10 weeks from now!

Also, as LAgirl mentioned to me previously - Bikini probably went so well as I used to wax it regularly. Underarms were just shaved for quite sometime before I started laser.

RM: I will pm you the name. I prefer her for exactly the reason you mention - she divides areas up quite small so she’s much more thorough. I think underams were divided into 6 boxes. Also, she spent 1.5hrs doing my full leg and the other did it in an 1hr. I think the setting she’s been using have been working for me. She always test patches for higher at the end of a treatment (for next time) but 3 weeks after my first leg treatment I wasn’t satisfied, so went back so she could test patch to see if I could go even higher for the second. Skin wise I could but not pain-wise, so I used EMLA for my second treatment.

Hope that helps!

#12

No matter what area you’re treating with laser, laser will only kill the coarse hair. So at a point, usually after 6-8 treatments, you’ll be left only with sparse finer hairs that will need to be treated with electrolysis if you’re looking for 100% removal. Laser can get you to 90-95% or so, but you’ll have some leftovers in all cases.

If you want results faster, I would recommend waxing about 8 weeks before your first treatment. It makes all the visible hair in the anagen phase, which is good for killing the hair from the start.

#13

I’m in the same areas as you guys and I wanna get the hair off my face! Electrolysis. Where can I go?

#14

Hi Sista - I will pm the info for my electrologist.

#15

Thanks!

#16

What is the difference between all of those Yag brands? There are ten different models per brand, so which would be the best for each brand?

I’m worried that treating the coarse hairs anyway will stimulate nearby vellus hairs either way, so I’m not sure whether to just get that done by electrolysis.

I have read the posts by Benjiboy and had already written down all of the names of electrologists - I had already decided on going for a consultation with the Harrow Lady and the Walthamstow lady (nearest to me), but since she’s shutting up shop, I guess Harrow it is.

Hi Stoppit - I had already read your thread, but you haven’t really posted results/many updates about the results so far and how well the laser treatment has worked. Otherwise my concerns would have been alleviated about RM. I’m thinking of going with the hospital one (you know who), but it’s really expensive, which is putting me off. But, they seem to be the most ‘honest’ (if there is such a thing in the laser treatment industry).

How much are you paying for your treatments with Renew Medica?

Thank you both. [/quote]

For electrolysis where did you go or where are you going?

#17

ARGH!
I’m not sure what to do. My entire chest and abdomen area is covered with hair. It’s just slightly thicker than “normal” people’s downy hair and longer than most people’s abdomen hair, so it is very noticeable, especially because the hair is black.

There’s also the very thick happy trail running into the pubic area from immediately below my belly button. From between my breasts to immediately above my belly button, there’s also a trail of the same downy, but less sparse, hair as the rest of my abdomen (as described above) with the odd very stubborn, thick and long hair. Because the hair grows downwards, it’s more noticeable than the regular downy abdomen hair that I have.

I plan on getting laser on the happy trail and then continuing with electrolysis once it’s too sparse/thin. I also want to get electrolysis on the hair in the line above my belly button. I want the hair completely gone, not just reduced. However, it will look very obvious because the rest of the surrounding chest/abdomen area will still be covered in hair.

I would ideally like the whole chest and abdomen area cleared, but it seems like it will be very time consuming and costly. So, what do I do? I don’t want there to be two distinct patches of trails (cleared) vs the rest of my chest and abdomen (uncleared). Is it feasible to have the entire area cleared?

It’s the one thing stopping me from seeking treatment.

#18

I had a similar situation on my abdomen. Electrolysis takes care of this by blending. You won’t need to remove every single tiny hair. They’ll keep removing the obvious hairs and it will blend in with the rest vellus natural looking hair.

#19

I’m just doubting/panicking whether they’d really be able to do that over such a large area and make it look natural. 99.9999% of the (visible) hairs on my stomach just beneath my belly button are very long. I don’t just wanted them thinned, but feel like that would leave a very obvious clearing, even if blended in with the rest of my abdomen.

I’ve saved enough to pay in one go for a couple of treatments, so thanks for all of the information LAgirl and stopit. I appreciate it.

#20

Hi

I stumbled across some of your posts and wanted to ask details of the electrologists you recommend.

I successfully had my chin area treated by a fab electrologist in Hemel Hempstead but she retired a few years ago. I now want to get the sides of my face treated but i have very fine but lots of hair which one electrologist described as a soul destroying task.

Would really appreciate your help.