Groupon cheapie or $$$ for reputable?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Which should I choose?
My skin type is II to III (Caucasian/Asian) - light skin, black hair. I’ve already had 6 treatments with GentleYAG on Brazilian that made about 50% of the hair fine, but didn’t really work well (it was a group deal). The tech wouldn’t tell me the settings.

  1. GentleYAG for Brazilian and underarms at Kitsilano Laser, 6 for $178 on SocialShopper (2 vouchers of 3).

  2. Lightsheer diode for Brazilian at Laserium, 6 for $199 on Groupon. Find an electrologist to do underarms.

  3. Forget the group deals and go to Arbutus Laser, which seems to be well-known in my city. Unknown cost, possibility of getting treated with alexandrite laser with their ok.

Concerns:
-Arbutus may be more costly per treatment, but at least I have some assurance of their tech’s skills. Group deals are cheaper, but may not be as effective/could risk burns if the technician isn’t good. Couldn’t find many hair removal reviews on the first 2 places. Then again, those vouchers are cheap enough to make up for more treatments?
-Semi-effective treatments that only make the hair finer means they’ll be harder to kill off in the end.
-On Realself, someone said that the diode isn’t as permanent as YAG because the YAG goes deeper? Which may be pertinent for deep underarm and bikini hairs.

Any input, or experience with the above places in Vancouver, BC would be much appreciated!

#2

GentleYag and LightSheer-both are good lasers in good hands. LightSheer is more difficult to use so tech skill is more important.

Yags do go deeper than diode lasers but that doesn’t mean you can’t get permanent results with diode lasers. LightSheer XC has a spot size of 12mm and ET of 9mm. 12mm is usually preferred. I don’t know how its depth of penetration compares to Yag lasers exactly but I think it would work just fine unless your hair is unusually deep.

Yes, you should make sure you don’t get “semi-effective” treatments and hence you should always ask for settings. Technicians can’t refuse to tell you YOUR settings.

You should visit each of the three clinics you are considering, have a patch test, ask for settings and then decide.

#3

Hi cblue, I am actually going to Arbutus Laser right now for my lower back and upper lip. My laser tech is really professional, experienced and caring, her name is Marci. She is using the Yag on these areas. So far I’ve been in for 1 treatment for my back and two for my upper lip, I get good shedding on my lowerback, but my upperlip is still kind of iffy. I havn’t done brazilian treatments yet, but I plan on starting on this area soon.

Overall, as you know, Arbutus is pretty well known in vancouver as the best place for laser; they do have good service and knowledgable staff, they also have a doctor in house, who sort of gives you a yay or nay on whether he thinks you are a good candidate. I feel like they use their name, and slightly over charge though. I had wanted to get my legs done, and found out that they wanted to charge 470+ for just the upper legs, which I thought was a bit excessive. Arbutus doesnt really have set pricing and I was told by my tech that prices can be different from person to person, based on their unique case, which again can be either a plus or a negative depending which side of the hairyness spectrum you’re on.

I havn’t heard good things about laserium, and dont know much abot kitsilano laser, but I am going to Granville laser center for my legs, and have been really impressed by their service. they have really good deals each month and for march I believe they have a brazilian+ underarm deal for like 169 right now which is pretty reasonable, also they offer 20% if your a student for regularly priced areas. I think you should go into arbutus for a consult to see what they say because they know what they are talking about, and if the price is a little high, then using the knew knowledge about what is best for you, to find somewhere that has more reasonable pricing.

Hope that helps :slight_smile: