Hi 
I just had my first laser hair removal session 8 days ago for my arms , legs , underarms , and my upper lip using GentleLase although i found out later that it’s not highly recommended for brown tannish skin . After the session i had the usual redness and pain but it was gone the next day . Anyway my laser tech said that she’ll do a touch-up session (it’s free) after 7-10 days and that my next session will be after a month . After my first session hair started growing and i got pepperspots 
. Yesterday was my touch-up and i think it didn’t go so well ! She did what she did the last time but this time most of the hair on my arms and legs was still inside my skin . Today the redness and the pain after the touch-up still didn’t subside !! I think maybe because there wasn’t much hair she zapped my skin . And also this time i got burned a bit . So my question is is this normal ? and should touch-ups be this close to the original session ( 7-10 days apart ) ? and should my next session be in a month ? I’m really confused because what i read online is different !!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP !!!
Everything about this is WRONG. Touch ups should happen at the 3 week mark, and no sooner. Your next session should be 2-3 months after the first, not 1 month! If you still have hair left at one month then the session didn’t do anything. GentleLASE is only for light skin tones. It is an excellent machine which will burn people of darker skin tones. The fact that you weren’t burnt the first time tells me that the settings were too low to be effective and you wasted your money. If the GentleLASE burned you on your touch up, then you’re surely too dark for it.
What settings were used (call today and find out for us)? What is your skin type on the Fitzpatrick scale? Do they have a diode machine or yag machine instead of an alex machine they can use?
Honestly, this place sounds like a mess, if I were you I’d find a new clinic and not ever go back.
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This isn’t normal, but technically that clinic shouldn’t be treating you if they don’t have a Yag laser that should be used on your skin type. So it’s not surprising. They’re treating you with a laser that’s too powerful for your skin type and thus burning you. You need to stop these treatments because on this machine, any settings that wouldn’t burn you would be too low to actually kill the hair and get you results.
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After a treatment, you need to wait 3 weeks for the hair to shed. Any clinic that doesn’t know this would be very suspect in my opinion. Touchups should be done at 3 weeks on any hair that hasn’t shed.
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You need to find a clinic with a Yag laser for your skin type. GentleLASE is an alex and won’t work as mentioned above.
Thanks for everything !
I knew that something was wrong but my mom wasn’t convinced she says that i was being picky … of course I’m picky it’s my skin’s safety we’re talking about ! she thinks that if it works fine on my aunt ( we almost have the same color ) it would work fine on me , and my aunt strongly recommended this place and this laser tech .
But I wasn’t comfortable with the place from the start because on my first appointment she didn’t explain anything (and they say she’s the best they got … ) she told me to change and she started the procedure of course i was surprised i thought we were supposed to talk first , so before my touch-up which was yesterday i researched a lot about laser and found out that Yag is the best for browns , so i asked her yesterday what type of laser do you use ( i didn’t ask her before my first session because my aunt said that the machine they use is excellent ) she said that they use GentleLase and because i researched earlier i knew it was an alexandrite but she didn’t … But i thought if it didn’t burn me on my first session nor caused discoloration maybe i’m not that dark .
Now the burns that it caused were only on my knees because my knees are a little dark and they have some scars which are darker than the rest of my body so i think that’s why i got the burns .
My is skin type is well like her color in this picture because i tanned this summer not by choice … stupid sun 
: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9Qcuj1qVI20/TBOL9KEJI4I/AAAAAAAAAyM/KMvXWGoyiPU/s1600/Irina+Shayk.jpg
I talked to my mom and she finally believed me ! she said that we’ll look for other clinics or maybe we’ll just stop the whole treatment if the other clinics prices were very overrated .
So what do you think i should do , and if i stopped the treatment now what will happen ??
THANK YOU SOO MUCH !!!
If you stopped now, nothing would happen. I’m quite sure your burns will heal and none of your hair was killed. But I am also sure you can find a better laser for you if you look. Where do you live? The same company that makes the GentleLASE also has a GentleMAX (which has a Yag laser in it) so you can search their website for local providers. Or just do a search here or on google.
You are definitely too dark for an alex. You should also try not to tan when you do decide to have more treatments so that they can use the highest possible settings even on the Yag and get you good permanent results. The more tan you have, the lower the settings they have to use.
Look for GentleYAG or Coolglide or Apogee Elite. These are popular Yags. There are others.
Where are you located? Add it to your profile.