Need advise on GentleLASE for olive toned skin

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

I had a consultation a few days ago for my legs and bikini. I have A LOT of coarse black hair. She was actually surprised when I lifted my pants leg to show her. I have olive-toned skin but I have stayed out of the sun for the past year so I’m relatively pale.

The woman is a RN and she’s the most experienced in my area. I told her I assume I’m a type IV but she said I’m definitely not and that she considers me “light” for laser. She did a test patch on my leg three days ago. The redness has gone away and I don’t have any stubble yet.

I’m not quite sure what machine she used on me. It’s a GentleLASE but she said it has two machines in one. One is an Alexandrite, but I’m not sure if that’s the one she used on me. Would the other machine be a Yag? The only information on their website says that they use Candela’s DCD cooling.

I told her that I wanted her to use the maximum settings that wouldn’t damage my skin. She isn’t comfortable going above 12 joules although I think she might increase it a bit if my skin doesn’t show a bad reaction after my first treatment (which it hasn’t so far). I’d prefer to start off with the highest settings that I can tolerate. The office is closed right now but I will call to get more information on the machine and the settings she used.

Based on what I described about my hair and skin, what machine and what settings would be best for achieving good results?

Thank you!

#2

It may be GentleMAX, which is the alex and yag in one.

12 joules is too low no matter what spot size she’s using and whether it’s an alex or a Yag. It’s pointless to treat that low.

You should ask for joules, spot size, and pulse width being used. And I would ask what she’d use on the alex and the Yag separately. If she’s not comfortable using 12j+ on the alex, then it shouldn’t be a problem using the Yag at a much higher setting.

#3

Thanks for your response, LAgirl! I was able to talk to her again about the settings. If you have any feedback on what she said I would appreciate it so much.

She used the Alex and the settings were 12 joules at 18 mm. I’m not sure if I understand the purpose of knowing the pulse. She said it’s 755 nm but that’s not really the right information, is it?

I know she’s concerned about damaging my skin since I’ve got more melanin than say a Caucasian person, but if the first treatment goes well I think she would up it to 14 joules (and hopefully more if I can tolerate it). I’m happy with a more modest reduction at first, if that’s possible at 12 joules. I’ve got a lot of coarse, dense black hair in these areas so I’m hoping that these settings will work.

For full bikini (this gets rid of everything, no strip) and full legs it’s $250 and $650 per treatment, respectively. When I checked out other places in my area, they were actually charging more and they didn’t have good lasers. I can get a discount if I purchase multiple treatments but I am a little concerned about how effective the treatments might be at these settings.

Also, I have gotten laser on my arms at a different place and I was happy with my results. I only had 3 treatments, but it got rid of ~70% of the hair. So I know it can work for me. I’m not sure what settings they used but I don’t think it was too aggressive.

#4

Pulse width is fixed on GentleLASE at 3ms. They can’t change it, so no need to ask. 755nm is the wavelength of all alex lasers.

12J is too low. We don’t recommend treating on anything lower than 14-16J on 18mm. Anything lower is not likely to heat up the hair enough to damage it permanently.

She can test spot 14-16J on 18mm to make sure you can handle that setting fine. If you can’t, you should be using a Yag laser instead.

It’s not about getting a modest reduction with low settings. It’s about not getting a permanent reduction at all and wasting money on ineffective treatments when alternatives are available.

Where are you located? That price for the legs is relatively high. There are tons of clinics in CA, so I would look around some more.

It’s really hard to judge your other treatments without any details. If you can get the name of laser and settings, then it would help. Any reason you don’t want to go back to that place?

#5

She told me that even if we did a test spot at 14+ joules and I handled it fine, it’s possible that I’d have a bad reaction when treating the entire area at the higher settings. I can understand that she doesn’t want to damage my skin. I’m also wondering if a lower setting could be effective on me due to the fact that I have so much thick hair (we’re talking man beard thickness and 2-3 hairs coming out of some follicles). But since you say 12J is too low, I guess I should look into a different laser…

I’m in the north bay. There’s not too many options around here. I’m also eager to get this done now, since waxing hasn’t been working for me lately. I get tons of ingrowns and now I’ve got purple scars all over my bikini and legs. Not so attractive.

I am going to try to get the settings from the last place I went to. This was about 10 years ago though, and I was paying more than $1,000 for just half arms. That’s why I didn’t go back to them. The treatments worked but they totally ripped me off. I’ve also heard that they have a new machine now and it’s not very good.

#6

Yes, a test spot is not 100% guarantee, but that’s not a reason to treat at a low setting. If they can’t use high enough settings, they should be telling you you need a Yag laser.

Once again, it doesn’t matter how thick or how much hair you have. A certain setting is necessary to deliver enough heat to disable the hair. Treating a lot of thick hair at the same time doesn’t change the amount of heat applied to each follicle.

Where in the North Bay? Have you done a search on Candela’s website using their provider search?

Aura in SF has a bunch of lasers and has been recommended if you get a good tech there. There are tons of clinics in SF if you don’t mind commuting. Though, I suspect there are more clinics than you are initially finding. You can look for GentleYAG, GentleMAX, Apogee Elite, Apogee MPX, Coolglide, Sciton, etc lasers. They’re all Yags.

Prices are negoatiable btw.

#7

I’m in Santa Rosa. I actually did use Candela’s website. The other places I checked out seemed sketchy or had bad reviews. Commuting to SF is not a problem as I’d only have to go once every 2+ months. I actually searched the forums more extensively last night so I called Aura today per your recommendation. I scheduled a consultation with Heidi. She has an MPA but is not a nurse practitioner. Do you have the names of any techs you recommend? I saw that Nita was mentioned in an older post so I’ll see if she’s available. I asked for the most experienced staff but the receptionist said “everyone here has a lot of experience.”

I’m also curious about waxing before laser. My last waxing appointment was 3 or more months ago so my hair has grown out at this point. If I were to wax right now, how long would you recommend I wait before starting the laser treatments? My hair grows pretty fast. If it’s a bad idea I can hold off on the waxing and continue to hide my legs…

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

#8

Waxing beforehand can help synchronize the hair, i.e. make you have fewer treatments overall. If you wax now, you’d have to wait 6-8 weeks before getting your first treatment.

The information we have on the forum regarding Aura is all I know. My friend recommended Nita, but she was there several years ago. I posted about it here. Someone else posted about other techs at this clinic later too. I don’t recall who they recommended, but you can ask someone other than the receptionist about who has been treating for longest once there.

Did they tell you whether they had a Yag laser at Aura?

#9

This clinic in Sonoma seems to have the GentleYAG laser and maybe worth a consultation: http://local.yahoo.com/info-31400117-robin-knuttel-md-dermatology-and-laser-center-sonoma

I’d also call some of these clinics and see what they use:

http://www.northbaylaser.com/Procedures_LaserHairRemoval_3969627.aspx

http://www.laubdermatology.com/laser_light_treatments.htm#hair_removal

#10

They do have a Yag laser at Aura. I was unable to switch my consultation to Nita since she’s booked for a while and unavailable on Saturday, but they said I could always have Nita perform the actual treatments.

Thanks for the links, I may look into a couple of those! Kaiser is where I had laser done many years ago. I had a really bad experience with them - they would raise the price of my treatments every time I went in. I’ve also heard they don’t have a good machine anymore.

NB Laser is the place I mentioned in my posts, but I’m concerned about being treated at the 12 joules. Actually, I noticed in the past 2-3 days that my hairs are shedding. They fall out easily if I pull on them. The rest of the hairs in the test spot look like they’re just stuck there and haven’t grown out at all. I figure this is a good sign? Does this mean that, even if the settings were too low, they at least damaged the follicles?

#11

The settings can be high enough to make the hair shed, but not high enough to heat up the follicle enough to disable it permanently. That’s why we recommend treating at highest setting your SKIN can handle safely.