Hair coarse/dark enough for laser?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hello, i’d be so grateful for some laser advice!

I had treatments about 4 years ago on my full legs - got a good reduction on lower legs and the hair on my thighs is now sparser but it is pretty coarse - it may even have got coarser but I can’t be sure. Waxing only lasts a week and shaving lasts only a day - both give me terrible bumps. I know that eventually I’ll have to clean up with electrolysis, but I was wondering if it would be worth giving laser another shot, at least to give me a relatively hair-free summer and to make electrolysis easier eventually.

Do you think the hair looks coarse/dark enough to have results?

Here is the front of the upper thighs:

Close-up above the knee:

The back of my thighs don’t have much, and inner thighs it is coarser but sparser than these photos show.

Also I’m wondering whether these hairs on my forearms look coarse/dark enough for laser (ignore the blonde bits - that’s just bleach):

Thanks so much!

#2

How many treatments did you have, how long were they spaced out and what laser was used?

Other than that, it looks like the hair is fairly sparse. Your arms look fairly dark/coarse but someone else is better suited in answering your question :slight_smile: goodluck

#3

I truly think the hair is still dark and coarse enough for more laser treatments. Your arms especially so look appropriate for laser reduction. I would go for it and as you already said, you know you can finish up with electrolysis.

Dee

#4

The front of your thighs have very few hairs. The other two areas are coarse enough for laser in my opinion. With good settings and appropriate laser you should see good results there and get rid of most of it.

#5

Hi Bea,

I had 4 laser treatments on my front thighs. There are a mixture of fine and coarser hairs left but the coarse hairs seem to have the same sort of sparseness as yours. I am sure Laser would work on them - treatment #4 actually had lots of the same type of coarse hair, so most of it got killed. The only reason I haven’t had another treatment is purely because of the cost. It’s probably something I will come back to in a few years time.

I think my arm hairs were similar to yours also, just more dense. I have had 2 treatments so far; going well!

You can see pics in my thread (linked in my sig).

#6

Yea, the thighs would be treatable, I just don’t know if it would be worth the cost of laser vs electrolysis to remove them. I guess it depends on how many those treatments would cost you in your area.

#7

^Yup. I’m looking at colleges that have students doing electrolysis instead. An hour of electrolysis is very cheap and I think the legs would be perfect for them to work on.

#8

I wouldn’t use college students for electrolysis if i were you, it’s all about skill and it takes a very long time to learn it.
If you don’t mind bleeding a lot then do it.

#9

I’ve had student work. I dunno how many hairs they actually killed permanently, but they didn’t hurt me or anything. Sure, I wouldn’t trust em for delicate areas like my face, but I doubt they will struggle too much with your thighs/legs. I paid $5/hr for new students, and $20/hr for students who were close to graduation. Definitely worth it, in my opinion.

If someone makes you bleed, then they are messing up the insertions and you should have them discuss the issue with their instructor. I had one girl give me a few pokes that drew blood (on the reeeeeally delicate area near the wrist, nowhere else). It didn’t hurt but she felt pretty bad about it. It was a learning experience for her, and it didn’t leave a mark or anything at all.

#10

I heard some horror stories from one of my technicians, that’s why i said it’s not worth it.

#11

Hi again,
Thanks so much for all your comments.

Here’s the background Emilily asked for: I had 4 treatments spread out over a year, once every three months, 4 years ago. I’m afraid I don’t know the settings/machine but I believe it was Alexandrite.

I think I was treated on very high settings, because my skin looked and felt like it had severe sunburn for 2 days after, and interestingly I did NOT get continued growth followed by shedding after 2-3 weeks, as most people report on this site. Instead, it was like most of the hair was completely vaporized by the laser, because I was pretty much bald straight after the treatment for about 8 weeks!
LAGirl, have you ever experienced or heard of such a reaction?

@stoppit - Thanks for the feedback - good to know I’m not alone with the thigh hair - it feels like most other girls have fine hairs in that area! And looking forward to comparing notes about forearms.

For any electrolysis experts reading this: if I had electrolysis done on my thighs, would I be right in worrying that the scabs might be rubbed off too soon because I wear tight jeans or tights every day?

Thanks again!

#12

bea25: On my bikini line where the hair was really thick and dark, the hairs literally exploded out of the follicles (and were flying all over the tech’s arms and coat, gross!) So I had many bald areas immediately after my session. The rest shed really fast (like before three days).

So yes, it’s possible that really high settings caused the hair to eject out of the follicle immediately.

#13

Hey MPK, thanks! Do you know what settings and machine were being used on your bikini when that happened? Would be interesting to compare notes - I’m thinking of doing thighs and bikini together.

#14

For my bikini it is GentleLASE 18J/18mm spot size.

For my legs it is GentleLASE 20J/18mm spot size (the highest setting possible.)

But even though the leg treatments were higher, the hair is not as thick and thus not as “absorbent” of the heat, so I didn’t have the exploding leg hairs the way I did with my bikini. :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT: I’ve been seriously wanting to do my thighs too! I am really on the fence about it, because I can’t tell if the hair will respond well. I’ve been putting it off.

#15

Settings vary by machine. It’s impossible to compare them in a meaningful way without knowing your machine and settings used.

Yes, sometimes hair is burned off right away.