My LHR Diary (22/F/Black)

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Okay! So I’m way too impatient and decided to go with the treatments instead of waiting to see what happened with the test patch. Honestly, a brazilian wax for $900 for 6 treatments was too good to pass up with a great technician. She patiently answered all my questions and she seemed knowledgeable on the subject (much of the stuff she said, this board had already covered.)

Here are the areas that I’m right now treating:

  • Brazilian bikini
  • Happy trail

I was also going to do the aerollas, but from the advice of some posters and my own assessment, it’d be better (and cheaper) to handle that with electrolysis.

Laser-
Cutera Coolglide/nd:Yag

Happy trail: 30j/25 on 10mm
Upper portion of bikini: 30j/30 on 10mm
Bottom portion of bikini: 30j/35 on 10mm

I’m pretty dark-skinned, even by African/African-American standards. If anyone knows MAC makeup, I’m an NW45 which is a two shades from the last the brand offers.

It was pretty painful especially the denser areas. I’m sure that I’ll be having follow-up treatments after the first 6. I’m hoping that if I use numbing cream prior to my next treatment (8 weeks… June 4) that I can up the joules/lower the cooling.

Hopefully in a few weeks I can update you guys about the shedding… In the meantime, I’m going to try to lighten the dark marks in the bikini area from the ingrowns (in a couple of days so that my skin can recover). The happy trail is a bit more tender, but a lot clearer than the bikini prob because of the power.

Hair free in 2010/2011!!

#2

If you have dense dark hair, that type is affected better and faster. So you may actually NOT need more treatments or touchups. You’ll be able to tell soon how your hair reacts.

The settings sound good for your skin type.

I wouldn’t touch the dark marks at all. Let it heal itself for now. Since you’re not going to be touching it, you will start seeing it clear up on its own.

#3

With the dark marks, my problem is that many of them are 6 year old scars (more or less keloid like… slightly raised) and I have so much discoloration from ingrowns in the thigh region and across the top of the vagina. It’s so ironic. Getting rid of the hair cures my ingrowns, but the hair also helped camouflage the damage. Now that’s going to be gone…

I know laser will probably clear up the overall appearance because it kills the hair follicle, but it’s still not pretty :frowning: When I get the chance, I’ll post up a small picture.

I figured that since I have about 8 weeks in between, I could lighten up the skin which would essentially make lasering even easier.

#4

I would not bother the skin while you’re doing laser. The scars may go away on their own since laser often has that effect on the skin. It’s used to improve the skin texture at other settings for example. I wouldn’t stress out the skin even in between treatments. Give it 3-4 treatments and see how things go first.

#5

thanks for posting I’m also African-American and looking to treat the same area also with my upper lip area. Please keep posting the results

#6

Only consider treating the upper lip if you have dense coarse hair there. Otherwise, go for electrolysis on your upper lip instead.

#7

I would not consider LASER on the upper lip even then.

I am always reminded of Nancy Sinatra having to do interviews the week her famous father Frank Sinatra died. She had a VERY noticeable blanching of the upper lip skin from her LASER treatments, and since she could not put makeup on the area while it was healing, it made her look like she was doing some kind of Milk Mustache commercial.

If you can find a good electrolysis provider, you would be better off.

#8

I doubt that was from laser. She may have been doing a number of things, including using lightening creams to get rid of pigmentation on that area common in older women. Side effects on the upper lip from laser are not any more common than side effects after electrolysis treatments. If anything, having done electrolysis on my upper lip, the recovery period is longer after electrolysis. The biggest concern here is lack of results. Side effects are not an issue if you find a good practitioner, whether you choose laser or electrolysis. Without that, you have potential to have side effects with either method.

#9

All right! It has been two weeks since my laser treatment.

Around Day 10, I noticed the beginning of shed hair… It’s Day 14 and I would say about 65% - 70% of hair has been cleared for the bikini, practically all clear for the stomach.

I’m kind of worried that the rest of the bikini won’t clear as well (settings were lower), but I’ll update in 2 weeks. I’m not sure if the technician missed spots (I don’t think so), but I’m definitely going to let the hair grow out a bit more fully next time so she can capture it all.

Best of all, no ingrown hairs! NONE! I normally get them every two weeks so I’m hoping the good times keep rolling :smiley: The skin has been getting tighter, too!!!

I haven’t used any skin whitening creams yet for the dark spots, but I think I’ll start this weekend.

Best investment ever.

#10

Oh, and I know I’m a bit too excited for the first results since it’s really the 3rd or 4th treatment where you see the results, but I’m just grateful that I don’t have ingrowns currently…

I’m just going to get the settings higher and use ice packs to dull the pain.

#11

Everything sounds good. If you still have 30% of hair left on bikini at 3 weeks, you can ask for a touchup treatment. 5-10% missed spots is ok, but 30% can use a touchup.

It’s best to get treatments about 1-2 days after you shave so that there is just a bit of stubble visible.

#12

I ended up getting a quick touch-up. Didn’t use the ice since I was running late already, but since it wasn’t the whole area, it wasn’t too bad.

My 2nd treatment was scheduled for June 4th (8 weeks after the first), but I might push it out for 2 more weeks because of the touch up.

#13

I think you made the right decision choosing a place with nd:yag, well done and good luck.

#14

Hello lalaka,

I am also a black female and just finished my 2nd laser treatment today. My skin tone is pretty dark - not sure what my Mac shade is (I don’t wear make-up), but I am definitely a Fitzpatrick VI.

I am removing hair from my underarms and bikini (full Brazilian)

My first treatment was on March 28th at Bellair Laser Clinic in Toronto. My Medical Aesthetician (Heather) was excellent and has experience treating people with my skin tone (dark chocolate brown).

I too used the Cutera Coolglide ND-Yag; my settings were 35j/35ms. It was very painful and the settings had to be reduced when removing hair from the more sensitive areas of the bikini. That said, after the treatment, I did not have any burns, scarring or any problems whatsoever. The skin was tender, but no different than the post-waxing feeling.

I experienced shedding about a week later. My treatment was so effective, that I did not have to shave my underarm area in between my two treatments. The underarms were hair free for approximately 4 weeks and the hair that grew back was so sparse, you had to be up close to see it.

My bikini was similar (I only shaved once in between the two treatments), but the area that was treated at the lower setting grew in fuller than the rest of the bikini (which hardly grew in at all).

Needless to say, I have been VERY happy with my laser experience thus far.

My second treatment (today) was at a higher level (they progressively increase the joules each visit). I was treated at 38J/35ms. Though the level was higher, I did not find the underarms as painful - I think I am getting used to it. I used numbing cream and an ice pack for the bikini. I kept the settings at 38J/35ms for the full bikini this time - it was painful, but I survived. Again the skin was tender, but after applying some Aloe Vera lotion and in time (30 mins later) all was well.

Lalaka I wish you success for your laser treatments! It is wonderful to be able to find another sistah online going through a similar hair-free journey!! :slight_smile:

#15

Everything sounds good Free. You’re feeling less pain now because the hair is not as dense and coarse anymore.

#16

Hi Free2Be! I’m so glad that you’re also posting about this :slight_smile: I really hope that any black woman who would like to do this can look at our experiences and gain knowledge! Not a lot of firsthand info is out there for people who have really dark skin, but I’m glad we’re taking the risk and went through this.

I am also really happy that the treatments are going well for you! I’m looking at my happy trail (nearly 6 weeks post) and it’s practically hair free. The hairs that are growing there are light, so I’m a bit concerned about the laser picking them up.

This is worth every penny. My underarms are definitely going to be next, but I’m too broke to do them now. Next year by summer, definitely!

I also have a question… Do you have any discoloration in the areas that you’re treating? If so, are you planning on lightening them? During or after the laser treatments? I keep holding off on skin lightening creams because of what lagirl and my technician said (wait and see after all the treatments are over). And the raised scars from ingrown hairs are not a good look either.

#17

there is no need to lighten the skin if your current skin color can handle proper settings.

#18

Hello lalaka,

You and I are similar because dark skin scars more easily and I have my share of darkened, scarred areas because of ingrown hairs. I do not have any scars that are raised or look like keloids, but do have discoloration around the bikini line.

I am going to wait until after my laser treatments (I have paid for 5 sessions) before I treat the skin. I suspect that the laser will even out the skin tone since the ND-Yag is also used to remove skin blemishes. In fact, I have a little tattoo (all in black - commemoration for running the Toronto Marathon) just below my hip bone and my laser technician does not treat the skin in this area because the laser will target the tattoo and try to remove the colour from it.

Based on this, I decided to deal with the scars/discoloration left on my skin when I finish. My only concern with skin lightening creams is that they make the skin thin (and probably less elastic) so the laser treatments might be painful and possibly more damaging. My two cents. What I am trying to do is use a good moisturizer to keep the skin healthy for whatever future treatments I might use to lighten the scars.

I hope this helps.

Have a super day!!

#19

Update! I received my second treatment this past Friday.

The first treatment and touch-up resulted in a greatly reduced bikini line (about 50 percent of the hair seems to be gone!) and a so-so reduced happy trail. All of the hairs, however, grew back in a lot more fine so I’m a bit worried about whether they’ll be picked up by the laser properly as I continue with the treatments. My hair was very coarse so I’m sure that the reduction of the hairs were permanent in the bikini line. Even my technician said that my results were pretty great.

I didn’t get the spot size this time around but:

Happy trail: 31j/25
Upper portion of bikini: 30j/30
Bottom portion of bikini: 30j/35

The settings are practically the same, with the happy trail only increasing by 1 joule.

A lot of the hairs were lasered off, but I can’t wait to see the shedding! It took about 10 days for my hair to fully shed the first time around. I actually did get some ingrown hairs (a couple of them) but not as many as I used to. I guess that’s the hair that was in the dormant phase.

About the ingrown hairs/marks: they are kinda lightening up, but not really. I am waiting until after the laser treatments to do something about them, but I’m also hoping that the laser helps to even out the marks that were a bit “kelodic” in the sense that they’re a bit raised.

I’m also going to get my breast hairs treated with electroylsis sometime soon! I changed jobs so I haven’t been able to make an appointment with Arlene since I’ve been busy, but after July ends and I get some time off, I’m going to tackle them. I’m single so they’re not important for me (hah) as much as the bikini/stomach.

#20

I had my 3rd treatment (out of 6) on August 20th. It went pretty well, but I’m still getting small ingrown hairs (1 or 2 really) which is frustrutating but better than the big ones that I used to get. I just want this hair GONE.

Most of the hair by the time of the treatment was gone. I would say there was 30% of actual hair left around bikini/stomach (more so bikini than stomach) with the stomach being practically clear. The hair is a lot thinner in those areas with hair, though. My hair was EXTREMELY coarse so it took to the laser really well.

Nonetheless, I haven’t seen as much hair shed in the last couple weeks as I normally do. I think there were some missed spots, but I’ll go in if it is significant (it isn’t really, but I don’t mind having the free touch-ups, HAH). I kinda think it’s because the hair was fine in the first place.

I’ve also started using lightening cream (specifically Nadinola Extra Strength) in order to get rid of the scarring. I just started it, however, but will take it back to the store if I don’t see results by November. The laser treatment has only helped with the hair reduction, not so much with the lightening of the scars.

But I’m happy with this investment so far! Half-way through and almost there.