Hi i was thinking of getting laser beard REDUCTION done at a laser clinic (not permanently remove my beard) on my beard area so that the regrowth would be more finer and lighter so that it would be easy to shave without the stubble showing underneath the skin, i just wanted to know, has anyone ever had this done? and did they have any luck???
I was also thinking of buying the new Rio laser Scanning hair removal device to carry this out, anyone ever used this???
NOTE – I don’t want to permanently remove it, all i want is a reduction.
please use the search feature. there are several threads on the forum from several people who have tried it. definitely read through all of them before making any decisions on this.
that device doesn’t work and it would be a waste of your money. only professional laser treamtents by true lasers actually kill the hair, and THAT only in good hands.
it’s very hard to achieve a UNIFORM reduction on this area since the hair is so dense. some people have had a good experience with treating the front of neck area (only with one of the best machines and very experienced technician), but I would be very careful about doing your beard. There is a high chance of patchiness, which will make you shave more, not less, to avoid looking weird.
i have found a topic where a person carried this out on their beard and they now have to live with a ‘patchy beard’ I have heard about this before but never really understood what it would look like, do you know where i could find a picture of this??
And about the device, i have spoken to a person who bought it off ebay and she claims that she has used it and the hairs do fall out and the regrowth is lighter.
work out a shaving regimen where you shave only once a week. that will help with any irritation (irritation is the reason i assume you are wanting this). moisturize before shaving. and use a norelco smart touch xl electric shaver.
otherwise you will probably end up like me. i’m a monster. the patchiness even looks weird when i’m clean shaven. this is because the beard shadow is not uniform. very splotchy.
i was just out on a date this weekend (clean shaven only a few hours before) and the girl asked me “why do you have splotches in your beard?” i tried to change the subject and she was like “it looks like your beard is uneven.”
i won’t even tell you about the comments i get when i have a few days growth.
save yourself the waste of time, money, pain of treatment, and poor results. DO NOT try laser on your beard.
if you pluck your hair, you will also have a “hairfree” period. it doesn’t mean that it’s permanently gone. we would all be using this device if it actually worked instead of spending money on professional treatments. you can run a search here on that too and you will find more experiences. you should really take everything someone who has a personal interest in you buying their product with a grain of salt, and not jsut in this field. they have an agenda in mind and it’s to sell you the product.
btw, if you increase the search window to 3 years, you will find a lot more posts about male facial hair removal.
im 19 years old. Ive seen the picture, and i just want to know why this occurs? is it because of the tech who treats you? is it because simply he/she didnt overlap during treatment??
jimmyjames, If you’ve treated your facial hair and it is patchy, then why dont you just get laser done on the hairs that are left over???
Also the device doesnt require you to pluck the hairs out. It is supposed to be a laser similar to the one in clinics but at a much lower energy level or something, and the people who have used it have said that the hairs do actually fall out with this.
the settings on that machine are not high enough to cause any permanent damage to the follicle. the point is that it won’t produce any permanent reduction. just because the hair falls out, doesn’t mean anything happened to the root.
btw, since you’re only 19, I wouldn’t touch your face at all. you will develop most of your hair in the next 5-8 years still, and doing laser now can also contribute to more patchiness.
since your young you will develop a significant amount of facial hair in the next 5-10 years. i’m sure you have a lot of hair already, since you’re considering laser, but you will get more. so to get laser at this point in your life is a mistake.
honestly, i think laser is a mistake for the beard at any point in time. because even a middle age man is going to be left with patchiness.
you asked why don’t i just get the patches redone? i did. many times. it just makes it worse.
trust me, it sounds like you just need to work out a comfortable shaving regimen. go get the norelco smart touch xl from walmart and a jar of cetaphil cream. moisturize your face then slowly shave with the electric shaver. i guarantee you it will be the most comfortable shave you’ve ever had!
i never had anyone show me how to shave or even give advice, so i ended up with terrible pseudofolliculitis barbae. but at 19 you can save yourself all that if you just follow what i’m telling you.
and also its important to shave as little as possible. most men shave every other day or less. unless you are in the military there’s no reason to shave everyday, it destroys the face. i personally only shave once a week or sometimes two, that’s the only way i can avoid irritation.
as for the at-home device you are looking at. trust me, i bought one of those and it does not work. they are a gimmick. save your money and listen to all of us on that.
Its not about the shaving, i just dont like the shadow that i am still left with after i have shaved, i would like for the shadow not to be visible. So if i just get maybe 2 or 3 laser sessions may be the hair will thin out and will become easier to shave and also wont leave a shadow.
I will have my first consultation at a clinic this sunday, and so if i do decide to go through with the treatment after a patch test is done, what should i make sure for the tech to do? overlap alot?
I guess you’re choosing to ignore unbiased advice here. i would just urge you to remember that just because you really really want something to work the way you want it to doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to even if you do everything right. that’s what we’ve tried to relay here. the rest is up to you. My only request is for you to post your experience here afterwards BUT also mention that you’ve been warned about these side effects once you get them.
The main things you need to look for are the best laser machine for your skin type (read the FAQs) and a knowledgeable tech (though most knowledgeable ones won’t treat this area), as well as high enough settings. If you haven’t determined what is the best laser machine for you, it’s too early for you to have any consultations.
listen to us mate, you are going to ruin your face! its not worth it. i think the real problem is that you are young and not used to have beard shadow. give it some time and you’ll get used to looking like a man.
trust me. i used to look at glossy magazine images of models and wish for a face that didn’t have the beard shadow. but then i realized those pictures are photoshopped and the models are all wearing make-up.
even if you got rid of all the hair, which you won’t (not even close). you’d end up feminizing the face. trust me.
oh and one BIG thing i forgot to mention. i never had a problem with acne until i started laser treatments. the breakouts went out of control and continued after i stopped treatment. i had to go on Accutane to get rid of the acne, unfortunately i was left with some scarring.
this reaction is NOT uncommon. I have talked to two other young men who got laser on their beard. they both were terribly upset about the patchiness. AND they both were upset about the acne. they both cursed ever having gotten laser.
if you don’t believe me go to acne.org messageboards and see for yourself.
i also want to point out something here. this is a prime example of how the laser hair removal industry caters to people’s emotion. there’s no medical, practical, or rational reason for him getting this. and this guys been warned but he is still going to go for it. and im sure the laser consult will tell him what he wants to hear: he’s a “pefect candidate” and laser hair reduction will work great for him.
sigh. i really hope you come to your senses before its too late.
Jimmyjames, will you show me a picture of your beard, maybe it might be enough to deter me from going ahead with this. I dont see anything wrong/horrible with the patchiness in the pictures in the topic above. It can be sorted out by just removing the hairs from the root by either plucking them or epilating them, so then the shadow is no longer visible, therefore it wont look patchy for quite a while.
For the past year or so i have been epilating my face except for (the front of the neck)so that i wont have a shadow for at least 7-12 days, so that i would look clean shaven for longer, im quite happy to carry on with this as i can tolerate the pain, its not even that painful to be honest but the only problem is after those 7-12 days are over the hair starts to grow back quite slowly and the shadow starts to kick in and so i have to wait another 2 weeks for the hairs to grow out of the surface of the skin before i can epilate them again and look clean shaven again.
You can see this takes a lot of time, so i just thought that if i just thin it out with laser, i would not have to wait 2-3 weeks to look clean shaven again as the hair will be much thinner and i can just shave without a shadow showing.
andre, your biggest concern here should be using one of the best machines and a clinic that’s VERY experienced in laser hair removal. you didn’t provide your location, so we can’t recommend any. but you should definitely check out several before you sign up for anything. this is a hard to treat area and requires expertise in LHR. so make sure you do proper sampling of clinics in your area before you choose one so you can minimize the problems.