(This is a repost, I j/ posted this under the wrong topic…very much a new user)
I’m a 22 year old college senior and female, I’m Italian/French so I have a light tan complexion. I’ve done everything for facial hair removal, I used to have blond, dark and darker hair on my face, I’ve done three different removal creams, bleached, waxed, plucked, tweezed, and trimmed. The facial hair its a problem because it has also caused breakouts when it has grown back in so for me it was often a choice to remove it and have good clearer-hairless skin for a week then breakouts when it comes back, or to have hair on my face…a no win situation. I had my hormone levels tested, which were normal and I went on birth control, which never seemed to make a difference.
So a couple years ago I decided to invest in electrology I did treatments every other week for 4 months of my sideburns, chin, neck, cheeks and upper lip. Treatments didn’t really hurt it was actually kind of relaxing we could chat during them and the hair would take more time to come back than the other methods. When I left my face was just a bit red. However I lost faith in it especially when in talking during it, another loyal client was mentioned a young girl who had been coming to her for her eyebrows since she first turned 11 but who had turned 12 a few months prior. So it made me wonder, if doing a small area, such as eyebrows, still needs treatment over a year later…is it really permanent? Months later I noticed no difference from when I started except that there were maybe less blond hairs, I might not have stuck with it long enough but I felt long enough for better results.
Last summer I scheduled a consult for facial laser hair removal and they told me they actually refuse to treat women’s faces because they have found it makes it worse overtime. I was devastated and thought I had no options left, but my dermatologist said otherwise and referred me to someone else with a special laser for darker skin tones. In October I started on the laser, the Gentleyag for darker skin tones. I decided to invest in it because so many swore by its eventual permanence and advertisements/information on it made laser treatments sound quicker and less painful than electrolysis. The same phrase you see and hear over and over again is the reference “some patents may experience slight discomfort…similar to a rubber band snapping” which makes me wonder is that just reiterated by those who practice and make it but who haven’t actually felt it…and did the one who said it have nerves and skin of steel or lighter hair? I’ve had some painful encounters in my life: a couple surgeries (1 medical, 1 cosmetic), closing my hand in a car door cut straight to the bone, etc. I can typically handle a bit of pain ok. However for me my experience with laser is easily one of the worst.
It felt to me as if my face became flammable in small dotted areas each lit on fire individually, at times hearing skin or hair sizzle, I’d clench my hands, cross my legs, grit my teeth, and squeeze my eyes under the goggles and get through it, by thinking it will be worth it, until I could put on ice packs. After the first time my face was red and got pretty fat, I easily looked like I gained 5 lbs. by looking at my face. It was actually funny looking because my cheekbones and chin looked bigger because of the swelling yet one side was bigger and my chin too as it became a “butt chin” larger on one side and bruised underneath. I was told and read about potential swelling/bruising and it was gone in a few days. The next time was a month later and hurt just as bad, but was done faster to get it over with sooner, during the whole thing I shook in pain. This time there was not only swelling but 30 thumbnail sized “cuts” that scabbed I took a picture because it made me nervous and tried to avoid going out for a few days. By the next appointment I noticed my skin was clearer which gave me the motivation to continue. I mentioned the cuts at my next appointment and they sounded surprised but said if that happened again it would go away and we tried a lower setting. The next couple times the same thing happened but half as many “cuts” and swelling for a week, hair would be gone for about a week after that, then it would grow back for the next one. So if it’s not permanent I’m paying all that money (nearing two thousand)…for one week a month of trying to hide and one week a month of hairless skin.
I then had to go a couple months without treatment because of mine, their availability, (he’s a very sought after Dr.) and because of not having a few days to hide with yearbook pictures and everything else, but just went back yesterday. This time I tried a prescription numbing cream prior, so I was much more relaxed. Still it hurt just as bad and I was shaking, eyes watering, feeling tortured but bare it the best I could out of desperation. I feel badly because I knew the Dr. does not enjoy doing the procedure when it causes me so much pain. The bulk of their patients use the machine for other areas or other reasons (veins etc.). He even added the numbing cream, healing creams, and icepacks at no additional cost. This time where it would scab was noticeable right after. One side of my face looks like a fish scaled texture was cut into it, the other and my neck has more random marks, and again there’s swelling.
[size:11pt]I don’t write this with the intent to discourage…for I plan to continue for at least a few more sessions, I feel I have to. I have so much invested in it especially as a college student and I can’t bare the thought that my only other option is to deal with it for the rest of my life. The results so far is that almost all blond hairs are gone and don’t come back the same is probably true of some of the dark hairs but overall not a noticeable reduction as of yet. But I wanted to write this because I am sick of seeing so much about how its near painless when I know it can be very much otherwise and because that was information I was not aware of prior, had I been I don’t know it I would have started treatment, maybe still. I also feel it’s not the same for everyone I think it’s important to be prepared and to know that and that no one can promise you how it will make you feel, especially those who haven’t felt it on the same areas, setting etc. For me the Gentleyag is anything but gentle. But know also that these are potential elements of the process, the final results…I haven’t found out yet…but fingers crossed, fist and teeth clenched each session until I do…I really hope it’s worth it. [/size]
[size:14pt][color:#FF0000]Please let me know if you also have similar light tan coloring and dark hair…and have been successful, if you used the Gentleyag, how long it took, how painful it was, and if swelling, bruising or especially any “cuts” were associated with the process. Thanks.[/color][/size]
