Progressing well, but I’m thinking those hairs are too fine and light to be affected any further by laser.
I have the same feeling Dee. we decided it was worth one more treatment (no. 3) and see what the hair is like after this. I have a feeling it will be her last Laser treatment and then move to electrolysis in the future.
Sounds like a good plan, stoppit. I am very happy for your sister. Have you entertained the idea of getting a very simple professional epilator and doing electrolysis on each other, body areas only, no facial stuff.
I have indeed 
Right now both our situations are a bit difficult for this, in terms of time, location and finances. But it is definitely something I am thinking about for the future. I very much admire the users on HairTell that have self taught but I think I would go on a short course or like some training, at least for the machine in question.
your sis’ ‘before’ pics look EXACTLY like my own arms. is stimulated growth a risk on the lower/mid-upper arms? laser on the arms could be an option for me at a later date. until then, pass the bleach.
If the hair is thin enough for the bleach to work well, it probably won’t be affected by laser. I also wouldn’t touch any part of the upper arm.
I believe it is towards the shoulder. Even my Laser tech agreed that I should not treat the uppermost quarter of my arm (or my sister’s) because of the risk. It’s pretty rare for them to admit to that. The rest, I don’t think so. Perhaps only the hands.
It’s funny now, cause I actually have more hair there than the lower 3-quarter! Gonna get electrolysis on the remaining hair on the whole arm, eventually!
I’m anxiously waiting for my sister to reach week 12 post treatment so we can see approx how much hair is left.
Why is it a risk that laser will stimulate more hair to grow on the upper arms but not lower arms? Is it a risk to laser treat hair above the lips?
Some areas are more susceptible. It isn’t known why. It could be hormonal. Upper arms, shoulders, and female facial hair seem to be affected the most.
Hey everyone,
Haven’t updated in some time. My areas are still the same (woohoo). Actually, right now I think I am in an arm hair cycle that got treated well, coz there’s very little hair present.
I still need to show photos of my sister’s arms. Not so impressive now that they have been left for a while, but there was reduction in density and thickness. We are going to finish off with electrolysis now.
The main reason for this post is to mention that I have found a clinic with the Apogee MPX. I have been looking for somewhere other than Renew Medica that has the Elite or MPX, for my cousin. She’s very fair and I’m certain Renew would use the Lightsheer on her. They used it for her sister (who started treatments without telling me), despite her being a shade darker than me.
Anyway, I found Premier Laser Clinics http://www.londonpremierlaser.co.uk/index.php
The website seems a bit sketchy so I emailed them. I got a reply from the Aldgate branch saying that they have both the Elite and MPX and they do use the 18mm spot size if it’s appropriate for the area. She also talked about blending wavelengths if appropriate (I replied asking how much experience they have with this). I also asked if they test patch each area that will be treated, as I have read not all clinics do this. They confirmed this as well. It seems to sound good.
I’m going to recommend my cousin books for a consultation, so let’s see what happens!
I’m also thinking of taking my sister for one, because she was going to start her full leg LHR this month as well.
Update:
This is the reply I got:
"We use the Elite Mpx in Aldgate & in NHG (Nottinghill Gate) use Candela, alexandrite &Yag,
I assure you all practitioners are fully qualified & licensed, we have many Asian &black clients(70%) so need to blend wavelengths on a regular basis as you probably know Asian skin varies a lot up &down the body more so than other ethnic origins."
It sounds really positive. She also mentioned that she’s from the same country of origin as myself and type IV even though she’s from a part of the country that is ethnically very fair. Which sounds like my cousin exactly.
Hi Stoppit,
Really interesting post! Is the Elite Mpx better than the YAG for Asian skin? I went for a consultation at Renew Medica and they also wanted to use the Lightsheer on me, even though I’m a skintype III/IV! May book a consultation at this clinic. Thanks
Hiya,
Well the Apogee Elite is basically a system that has both an Alexandrite and YAG Laser in it, so that clinics can treat all skin types with one machine.
The Apogee Elite MPX takes this one step further and actually allows for the Alex and YAG wavelengths to be fired together, which sounds very promising for inbetween skin types that could handle some Alex. This is what they meant about blending. In addition, it has an 18mm spot size which allows for much quicker treatment of large areas if the clinic choose to use it. And a larger spot size delivers more energy.
Great. Will book a consultation with them. Thanks
Just an update to say that I called to book a consultation. I spoke to the manager who replied to my emails before. She was really friendly and helpful and didn’t have a problem with my questions She doesn’t do the treatments herself any more. She confirmed that they mark out the treatment area with white pencil and said that they are quite anal about it because different areas of a particular body part may require different settings because of the change in thickness of hair. I liked this. So my sister will be going tomorrow, I will try and go with her if I can get away from work. I really want to see this place and hope they are as down to earth as they sound.
Renew Medica said they want to test patch her again because it’s been so long since the test patch in the consultation. She’s going for that tomorrow too.
It will be interesting to see how both test patches shed!
So my sister went for her test patches today. She was first test patched at Renew Medica last November by the tech I had and I know she used good/aggressive settings. That tech has now left and I’m pretty sure the tech who test patched her today just used blah settings because from what I’ve seen, most of them aren’t interested in delivering good quality treatment and instead just getting clients in and out.
She liked premier laser clinic and said the consultation explained much more about the hair removal process (in terms of hair cycles etc) and the machine, than renew medica’s consultation.
So she got the settings from both and I want to know which sound better. I have no experience with the MPX.
MPX 18mm spot size
Lower Legs: 22J and 25J both at 40ms
Upper Legs: 24J and 26J both at 40ms
Elite 12mm spot size (at RM)
Lower legs: 20/25/30J all at 30ms
Upper legs: 20/25/30J all at 25ms
I believe 27J is the max on the MPX 18mm, so they can only lower the pulse width if possible.
Any advice on which settings sound better (not too impressed with the Renew settings to be honest but I don’t know enough about how the MPX one’s compare.
My sister is a solid type IV imo. If it helps she wears NC40 in MAC foundation 
Thanks!
Sorry, I didn’t see this earlier.
Are these all settings on the Yag portion? The first set on the MPX seem a lot better to me if both options are with a Yag. The 18mm spot size makes a huge difference compared to the 12mm. The pulse width difference is not that huge from 30ms to 40ms.
Thanks so much for replying LAgirl.
Yes, both are with the YAG (sorry for not being clear).
I felt the MPX settings were much better too but I wanted to be sure. I will make sure they use the higher joules and hopefully as treatments progress they can lower the PW.
I have a good feeling about this clinic and the fact that they are using the MPX is a bonus. I would recommend anyone in London to go for a consultation.
Hiii, after more setting advice.
My cousin went for a consultation at the same clinic. She is a very fair and we’re from the Indian subcontinent. I’m usually mistaken for being from the Mediterranean area and she is far lighter skinned than me. I would say she’s type III or between III-IV.
They used the Alex portion only of the MPX.
These were the settings:
Spot size = 18mm
Joules = 14J and 16J
Pulse width = 20ms
Do these sound okay for the 18mm or are they too low? Should she ask for max settings on the YAG instead?
My sister is having her first full leg treatment there tomorrow. I have taken before photos, so now we just have to wait 3-4months to see how she responds to her first treatment!
They’re ok for 18mm. I’d stick to 16J if possible. If she can handle lower pulse width, it can also help.
Hi Lagirl,
Thanks so much. Yes, I think it’s going to be problematic to make them stick to the higher joules.
My sister just had her first treatment. I need to upload a photo to show you her hair (it’s very coarse) but they didn’t use the higher test patch settings even though I told her to tell them they should (or give her a reason as to why they are not).
They used 18mm, 22J and 40ms - Do you think this is still okay?