I’ve recently been on a couple consultations and am in need of some thoughts as to which place I should choose. Recap - I am skin type III, looking for bikini to be done.
Place 1 - They are using Lightsheer. The office is owned by a woman who does electrolysis also. The tech has been doing laser for 6 years, about 3 years total using the Lightsheer. She worked for ALC in the past and had not so nice things to say. This office seemed genuinely concerned about results - said I would need to come every 12 weeks and that they do check-ups 3 weeks after your session to make sure she didn’t miss any spots. She said I’d need 3-6 sessions. She did a test patch at 22j, when I asked her she seemed a little put off, like no one had actually asked that before. She said the machine did go up to 60j, but that I would definitely not need to go that high. As far as the pricing goes she said they were doing a special for 1/2 off a package of 3 sessions. For a brazilian bikini that was $675 or $225/session. That didn’t seem like 1/2 off to me!! (and if it was I could not afford full price)
Place 2 - I went to a skin centre that was mentioned in a post by another HairTell Member, though she didn’t post updates: http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=36&Number=43064&Searchpage=1&Main=8651&Words=michigan&topic=0&Search=true#Post43064
The woman who does the laser is an esthetician and also is a certified electrologist. She owned her own business, but sold it a couple years ago bc she moved and it was too far away. She’s been doing laser for about 7 years, but has only been using the Gentlelase for 3 months. She used Lightsheer for the 6 years prior. She said she likes the Gentlelase much better. This woman really seemed to know what she was talking about as far as skin care, etc and seemed to emphasize being comfortable, cleanliness, etc. She even talked about stages of hair growth. The only thing that threw me off was her suggestion of time in between treatments - she said 4-8 weeks. This obviously goes against everything I’ve read. I did ask her if there wasn’t enough growth if she’d have a problem with me waiting longer and she said no. The pricing there was $150-$200 per session for extended bikini, so I’m looking at $200.
I’m really torn as there are good things about both places.
Both seem ok to me. 22 joules on LightSheer doesn’t say much since we would need spot size and pulse to really judge if it’s high enough. Also, do you know what settings the GentleLASE person is going to use? (joules and spot size). She is right. GentleLASE is easier to use and has lower pulse, so between the two, I would choose it because given same expertise, it is easier to achieve results with GentleLASE. $150-250 per treatment is about right for brazilian. I would think that if the person wasn’t happy or got burned by this clinic, they would have came back here to complain. So, I would choose #2, but I would definitely recommend checking out 2-3 more clinics. You can find more clinics with GentleLASE by going to Candela corporation website and running their provider search.
Thanks! Unfortunately there are not a lot of places in my area that use Gentlelase (of the one’s on Candela’s website, 1 is no longer in business, 1 uses the Lyra-i instead of Gentlelase now, and 2 are chains - Pure Laser)
I am going to try to go to at least 1 more consultation.
Would you be concerned at all with the 2nd woman saying she recommended treatments 4-8 weeks apart??
Also, have you heard of many places that do check-ups for touch ups??
I wouldn’t be concerned with the timing. That’s what the laser manufacturers recommend to them and they just go with that. I was told that too when I started. Just make appointments when you have enough hair to treat. This is not a big deal and doesn’t seem like she cares.
Yes, some clinics do offer free touchups, though I wouldn’t classify it as a majority. Some clinics also want to see if the skin is fine and there were no side effects. But judging by most posts here, this is really going above and beyond, and not the norm.