Hello,
I am considering using a laser for facial hair removal. Although the cost is expensive $525 for 1 or $2400 for 9 treatments, I am concerned mostly about these issues:
I am a skin type 3-4 and have very course hair. Would doing one treatment be a good idea and can be reasonably assured of no patch type regrowth?
Thanks in advance.
are you male or female? how many clinics have you gotten quotes from? those prices are pretty high, so i’m assuming you went to one. what laser are they using and do you know which you’re looking for?
please read the FAQs before you proceed and if you answer the questions above, we can help further.
I am a 36 y/o male. I have checked with both laser and IPL’s. In the past on my back I have used an ALEX (hurt like hell but good results) and when the company’s assets were purchased, a new company came in and had IPL machines. The IPL did not hurt, but reduction was not as good as the ALEX.
So for my face, I don’t think an IPL would be as good as a laser. I have a thick, dark beard with very course hair. My beard goes very high on my face and low down my neck. What I would like to do is to treat my entire face and neck once to get a reduction of hair (and hopefully lesson the 5’ oclock shadow look) & then continued treatment on upper face/cheeks and lower neck to get more reduction. My concerns are noticible change in color on certain areas of my face due to either burning or different treatment amounts. Do you see this as a valid concern? Also with my painful experience with an ALEX on my back, should I expect similar pain with a YAG on my face?
Thanks and yes I have read the FAQ.
Hi:
I had 9 sessions with Lightsheer on my face, and didn’t have any problems with patchiness or discoloration. If you have any light colored or grey hairs it probably won’t affect them, and won’t probably totally eliminate facial hair, but reduce it.
My hair color was brown.
Alicia
How was the pain level & did you use topical?
Hi,
I had about 10 IPL tx on my beard. Another 3 with a diode/radiofrequency. Both were terribly painful, and I mean terrible pain!
I went to American Laser Center which has poorly trained technicians + a “get your money and run” attitude.
There were lots of side effects including scarring, hypopigmentation, acne, and folliculitis.
Patchiness was a big problem for me. The regrowth was grid like. I had everyone asking why I shaved notches in my beard. Even with a clean shave the patches were very discernable. It didn’t help that I am pale as a ghost.
ALC just seemed to be interested in giving me never ending treatments even though I had been going for almost 2 years. When I complained they just tried to sell me creams and lotions from their product line, or more treatments like microdermabrasion.
I decided to stop the treatment about 10 months ago. I’ve seen lots of slow regrowth. The patches are still discernable, though. After lots of research I’m of the opinion that LHR is not effective for men’s beards long term, anyway.
I’ve talked to 4 other men who had similar experiences, especially the patchiness. One of them did it two years ago and has reported to me that all his hair has grown back.
I am a 36 y/o male. I have checked with both laser and IPL’s. In the past on my back I have used an ALEX (hurt like hell but good results) and when the company’s assets were purchased, a new company came in and had IPL machines. The IPL did not hurt, but reduction was not as good as the ALEX.
So for my face, I don’t think an IPL would be as good as a laser. I have a thick, dark beard with very course hair. My beard goes very high on my face and low down my neck. What I would like to do is to treat my entire face and neck once to get a reduction of hair (and hopefully lesson the 5’ oclock shadow look) & then continued treatment on upper face/cheeks and lower neck to get more reduction. My concerns are noticible change in color on certain areas of my face due to either burning or different treatment amounts. Do you see this as a valid concern? Also with my painful experience with an ALEX on my back, should I expect similar pain with a YAG on my face?
Thanks and yes I have read the FAQ.
Alex is the best laser for your skin type, but it might cause a bit of swelling for a few days afterwards because the hair density is so high there. Some here have reported that using a Yag on this area is a bit less painful and doesn’t cause as much swelling, and it would still be effective as Yags have similar effect on the dark coarse hair. It’s the finer hair that they have trouble with. Discoloration and burning is not really an issue on light skin. Make sure to use sunblock though to keep your skin as light as possible. With a Yag, it’s even less of a problem.
For this area, being treated with a large spot size and by someone who knows what they’re doing is also important. You want them not to miss any areas (to avoid patchiness).
There are a few threads on the forum that you can search for where one person had a good reduction in density on his neck without any patchiness and is happy, and another who’s having treatments on his face with an Alexandrite right now with pictures to track his progress. You can check it out to see what you can expect. If you do decide to do this, please also take pictures.
On a side note, can you expand on your back treatments? Since you said you received good results, it would be great if you can share the details of those treatments (which machine, settings, how many treatments, etc).
Jimmyjames,
Good post.
Thanks to everyone for their truly unbiased opinions. This is the only feedback that I value. I think now is not the time for me to go forward with facial hair removal.
As far as my back is concerned, I am very happy with results, but feel it is mostly due to luck as I did go to reputable places. I had 2 patches at mid back on both sides of my back and some hair on upper back and shoulders that I did not like. I went to a place (national presence) that used an ALEX laser (painful). They did 2 treatments and then the company had their assets purchased. The following 2 treatments (& touchups due to stripping) were done with an IPL (don’t know what type. I can find out if anyone needs to know. Main patches are gone for now. But I want to say I was realistic and did not expect complete removal.
Same with beard, but I no longer think think the risk of patchiness is worth it. Although I would like to have upper cheeks & neck hair free, I don’t think I have enough info to proceed.
Thanks again,
Chris in MO