For the past 4 years I have been getting laser treatments for various body parts (chest, abs, gluts, underarm, pubic) and have had great results and have super happy. I now am deciding what the best option would be for removing facial hair. I shave everyday and as a result often have razor burn and skin irritation. I am in my 40’s and have never had facial hair, so I can’t see me waking up 60 years old and wanting to look like zz top. I’m wondering if anyone has any experiences with treatments to the face. A bad treatment on my rear is one thing but my face is obviously something totally different, so I’m wondering if I should opt for electrolysis in this area. Btw, I have never had a bad laser experience.
I have had really good experience with strong IPL on my body, but was disappointed by IPL (at pain and skin load limit) in my face (full male beard late in the 40s - i have a transgendered past): most of the hairs came back white. Some clients of me had a very similar experience.
So laser might work in some cases, but if Your not lucky You spent a lot of money for nothing. Facial hair is more critical than body hair - hairs are more deeply rooted - so the success is often not as good as expected.
If You have a fast and efficient electrologist in Your vicinity or if You are willing to do block treatments (You must be strongly committed to do so…) electrolysis alone is the way to go. In any case, at a sufficient clearance electrolysis is more economic than laser (the better the laser works the earlier…)
I came out with a patchy look and lots of regrowth when i had laser on my face. For this reason i dont personally, recommend laser on the face. Like Beate, I also was transgendered, with a well established beard.Electrolysis is the only thing that worked for me, and honestly getting an even look should not be as difficult with electrolysis.
Seana
Thanks so much for ur feedback Beate and Seana. How long did electrolysis take for the area? Since I have only ever had laser treatments I was wondering how long I should expect. Thanks Again
A fast and efficient electrologist can fully clear an average beard in about 120 hours. The majority needs almost twice as much.
I still dont think I could do it in 120 hours even if I was using thermolysis.With practise I guess!
Seana
Oh, Beate, I forgot to mention. I finally met her( ok didnt MEET, we were on a trans related IRC)…THE ONE.
In I dont know how many years I have heard talk of laser hair removal, I keep hearing of THE ONE. This mysterious person, who, went , had maybe 6-8 laser sessions, and was done with it, no more hair to remove, no cleanup with electrolysis, no regrowth of stunted hairs, no shadow, just the right skin and hair color, and for whom it just worked. But in all these years I have never directly come in contact…with the elusive, THE ONE.We’ve all heard about her over the years, but never in a million years did I ever think I would meet such a person (if only virtually on a trans-related IRC chat) . But apparently…she does exist !
Seana
Those successfull Laser beard removals i am aware of (forum communication!) all report more than 40 session with energy levels of around 45-50 J/cm2. I needed intervals of 3 sec between each single shot even at 17-20 J/cm2.
In other words: more painful than electrolysis.
I had good results with laser on my face, all with the Apogee Elite Alex and then Yag module but it is difficult and you can’t do it all. What I found we had to do was many times a full face treatment, then I’d go back a week or two later and do it again as it seemed only half the hair was treated. The yag worked well as it can penetrate deep and I have no patchiness. However the upper lip/chin had no change at all from the laser and I had prob 12-15 sessions in total. The hair is just too deep. It would usually shed but just never went away fully. The good thing is if I don’t shave for a week then it just looks like I have a bit of a goatee, so it’s not weird looking. Not sure if I can post links on here but here’s a YouTube video I did a month ago showing my results (It’s been prob 2 years since I have had laser on the face).