Hey i'm new and i have lots of questions!

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi’ya, i’m a newbie to this site. I’m a 19yr old female and half Persian/ half English so i have quite dark/tanned skin and lots of hair (wahey!)… I want to laser the hair on my face because that’s the most visible however, i’ll have to wait a while because i have a tan and the hair has been bleached blonde by the sun (i usually bleach it anyway)… not the ideal situation for laser, in fact, quite the opposite. ANYWAY, i’ll stop waffling on! I have lots of questions and it woud be great if you could answer.

1/ I spoke to a laser clinic today and they said for my face i’d probably have to get lasered every month for 6 months. Does this seem right? I thought that LHR sometimes took up to years… with lots of treatments to begin with and less and less as time goes by. Could the clinic be saying this just to get my money and be done with me?

2/ I know sometimes the hair can take up to 2/3 weeks to shed… well, this is my face we’re talking about… if some parts shedded more than others that’d just look strange. Does that happen? Or is the shedding quite evenly distributed? Or does it just depend on the person?

3/ Similarly, when the hair grows back does it grow back in clumps? I wouldn’t mind if it was somewhere like my stomach but my face? eek! Or is it just random hairs here and there?

4/ Why is the LHR age 18? What abut a 17 yr old person? How will it affect them differently? Is it more dangerous to laser on younger skin?

5/ How dangerous is LHR compared to other operations? I mean, are the chances of something going wrong (like discolouring, bruising, scaring etc…) higher or lower than maybe a breast enlargment? Or is this question stupid because every operation is different anyway? Lol.

6/ Is there anything i should look out for when choosing a clinic to get LHR done? Like, maybe something’s a give away that they’re not proffessional or properly qualified?

7/ Just say laser didn’t work… apart from the obvious problems… i’d hate to end up with more (and darker) hair than i started with… is this even possible? My friend has had LHR and it changed her life around and she said it’s worth a try… even if i just try it once. Is it worth a try i’m wondering? Has this ever happened to anyone before…ending up in a hairier situation? I’d be in a total rut then.

8/ I went for a consultation with a different laser clinic a few days ago and asked about bleaching. The guy said it can cause premature ageing and messes with the collegin (sp?) in the skin. Is this the same with diplitory creams? Because i use immac on my upper lip… aah. HAIR HAIR HAIR!! Sick of it!

Aah, i’m petrified but i want it done eventually so i might as well get it done now. Plus, my parents are willing to pay.

Thanks in advance for your replies. They’d be much appreciated! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

#2

Hi’ya, i’m a newbie to this site. I’m a 19yr old female and half Persian/ half English so i have quite dark/tanned skin and lots of hair (wahey!)… I want to laser the hair on my face because that’s the most visible however, i’ll have to wait a while because i have a tan and the hair has been bleached blonde by the sun (i usually bleach it anyway)… not the ideal situation for laser, in fact, quite the opposite. ANYWAY, i’ll stop waffling on! I have lots of questions and it woud be great if you could answer.

1/ I spoke to a laser clinic today and they said for my face i’d probably have to get lasered every month for 6 months. Does this seem right? I thought that LHR sometimes took up to years… with lots of treatments to begin with and less and less as time goes by. Could the clinic be saying this just to get my money and be done with me?

2/ I know sometimes the hair can take up to 2/3 weeks to shed… well, this is my face we’re talking about… if some parts shedded more than others that’d just look strange. Does that happen? Or is the shedding quite evenly distributed? Or does it just depend on the person?

3/ Similarly, when the hair grows back does it grow back in clumps? I wouldn’t mind if it was somewhere like my stomach but my face? eek! Or is it just random hairs here and there?

4/ Why is the LHR age 18? What abut a 17 yr old person? How will it affect them differently? Is it more dangerous to laser on younger skin?

5/ How dangerous is LHR compared to other operations? I mean, are the chances of something going wrong (like discolouring, bruising, scaring etc…) higher or lower than maybe a breast enlargment? Or is this question stupid because every operation is different anyway? Lol.

6/ Is there anything i should look out for when choosing a clinic to get LHR done? Like, maybe something’s a give away that they’re not proffessional or properly qualified?

7/ Just say laser didn’t work… apart from the obvious problems… i’d hate to end up with more (and darker) hair than i started with… is this even possible? My friend has had LHR and it changed her life around and she said it’s worth a try… even if i just try it once. Is it worth a try i’m wondering? Has this ever happened to anyone before…ending up in a hairier situation? I’d be in a total rut then.

Aah, i’m petrified but i want it done eventually so i might as well get it done now. Plus, my parents are willing to pay.

Thanks in advance for your replies. They’d be much appreciated! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

  1. Treatments on the face are usually 6-8 weeks apart and you will need 6-8 treatments initially. After that, only touch-up treatments should be needed. Usually 1-2 times a year for most people, to catch any new developing hairs.

  2. All treated hair should shed every time. It takes 2-3 weeks for most people. Usually, never past 3 weeks. You can shave in between treatments and while waiting for shedding to occur. You just can’t use any methods that remove hair with the root.

  3. The hair that grows afterwards should be different hair - i.e. the hair that was dormant before the first treatment and now coming out. Of course, there are hairs mixed in there that weren’t killed the first time around etc. There IS a possibility of a bit of patchiness, but once again, you can shave. A good practitioner should be able to achieve minimum patchiness.

  4. It’s like any medical procedure. You need to be an adult to make the decision to get it done and old enough to deal with the consequences. If you’re under 18, you can still have it done, you just need your parents’ permission, because they will be responsible.

  5. Hair removal lasers do not penetrate deep enough to cause any internal damage. They target the dark pigment, that’s why you get best results on the lightest skin possible and dakest coarsest hair possible. There is a possibility of burning the skin if the settings are set too high, especially for darker skin types and with alexandrite or diode lasers. Yag lasers are best for dark skin because they are made to cater to darker skins and prevent burning at high settings. That’s why it’s important to find a very good experienced tech to perform the treatment. A knowledgeable tech won’t burn your skin.

  6. Make sure to do a lot of research yourself so you are better equipped to judge if someone is knowledgeable when answering your questions. You can also look for recommendations on this and other hair removal forums. There is a consultation form on hairfacts.com that you can take with you to your consultations so you know what questions to ask.

  7. There are only a few posts about more hair on the face area after treatments, but that usually happened with a bad tech who set the settings too low that caused to activate some of the hair instead of killing it. This was only reported for a woman’s face when they had small amount of fine hair to start with. If you have dark coarse hair, you will get the best results. That is why it’s important to find a good experienced tech knowledgeable in hair removal once again.

#3

Hey, thank you with that! I feel i know a little more about LHR now. :slight_smile:

I’m just a bit worried about the patchiness and shaving. I don’t shave on my face or use hair removal cream… I’d HATE to shave inbetween treatments… i really would. Especially if the laser hair removal didn’t work and i had started shaving. I don’t know what i’d do! I guess that’s one of the factors i have to think about though. Thanks agaain :-).

#4

OH i have another question too… You know how some people don’t respond to laser treatment, well, when they do a test on your skin doesn’t that tell you if you’ll respond? If it works then great but if it doesn’t why do people carry on? Or can you not tell with one treatment? Hmm…

#5

a lot of people don’t get spot tests beforehand. it’s a good idea to do that. you do need to shave the area that will be treated and then wait 2-3 weeks to see if the hair sheds. a lot of people don’t want to wait, too excited to start the treatment. btw, you will always need to shave the area before laser is performed because laser is attracted to the dark pigment and you want all energy to go to your hair roots and kill them, and not waste it on the hair on the surface.

#6

Thanks for your reply… when i went to the consultation the Dr said i could clip the hair though…hope that’s the case with the other places.

What i also don’t understand is that they said they can start treatments a week after i’ve had a patch test. I thought you’d have to wait 2-3 weeks… hmm…

Oh, and another thing, the place i’m thinking of going with has the following lasers…

Apogee Hair Removal - Fair to medium skin types
Alex Hair Removal - Fair skin types
Gentleyag Hair Removal - Dark skin types
Lyra Hair Removal - Dark skin types
Dualis Hair Removal - Dark skin types

The place i had a consultation with only had 3 so i’m guessing this is a good thing they have 5 types? Or is this just average and the other place had very few?

Lol, sorry about all of these questions! I’m just very hesitant and want to know as much as possible… which isn’t a bad thing i guess :wink:

#7

what is your skin and hair type? what areas are you looking to get done? do you only have a few hairs…if you can just slip them…? like i said, even if they say ok to clipping, it’s better to shave just because you want the laser to affect the roots and kill them, not the hair on top. shaving doesn’t change the consistency of your hair if that’s what you’re afraid of, that’s an old wives’ tale. but if you only have a few hairs that you can pick out, electrolysis might be a better option in general.

most places only have 1 laser machine. these cost $50k + so not many places can afford to have a few. any place that has a lot is much better of course because they can better choose a laser that’s best for your particular skin and hair type. Alex, Apogee, and GentleYag are all good lasers.

#8

Aw man, shave? Hmm… the thing i’m worried about is being stubbly before my treatments…and, if it doesn’t work, being stubbly for life! aaak! I’ve tried so hard not to touch it apart from bleaching and i’d feel so manly :-(…

I’m looking to get my face done - maybe upper lip (that can be handled with hair removal cream easily though so i’m not sure) but definitely my chin, side burns and kind of neck area.

I have lots of hairs. At the moment they’re blonde from the sun… they’re not fine but not coarse kind of inbetween. The Dr said if he looked at me, focussing on my eyes, he wouldn’t be able to see them although there’s a slight haze. SO, even though i have LOTS of them, they’re not really dark and coarse. It’s like furr really covering the bottom half of my face… They kind of look like the light bonde hairs that people get that begin with ‘V’… (the Dr mentioned them) but they’re all over the bottom half of my face and (hopefully) dark when the bleach fades and a little longer.

I’m naturally quite dark… (i’m half Iranian/half English)… i look more tanned though…I also have a slight tan from my 5 week travels… which will obviously have to fade!

I really hope my hairs turn dark soon… i’ve bleached for a while now and can’t remember how dark they are. The darker the better for the treatment.

I appreciate you answering all of these questions! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

#9

‘Recent data suggest other skin structures are often affected by laser irradiation, and long term effects of this constitute an unknown risk.’…

oh gosh, what does this mean? What other skin structures? aaah… just how SAFE IS laser treatment?

#10

I don’t know where you got this from. There are various lasers. Hair removal lasers are just one type. They don’t penetrate deep enough to affect other skin structures…meaning fat tissue, etc which is deeper inside.

You do need to wait until your tan completely fades and to see how dark your hair is. If your skin is as dark as you say, you will have to use a Yag laser which doesn’t work as well on fine hair. You should definitely have to get a test spot before committing to this to see if it will even work on your type of hair/skin. And yes, you will have to shave the area if you want the best results. Laser will burn off hairs that are above the skin’s surface, which can cause burns to the skin below it as well.