My first session of laser facial hair removal

[Guest hoojee15]

Hey everyone, this is Jessie (used to be Jessica lol), I have not posted for a long time. Today I just finished my first session of laser hair removal so I want to share with you ladies some details of my experience.

I did that in dermatology department of Boston Medical Center (725 Albany St, Boston, MA). The procedure is super fast, only takes about 5 minutes and only needs one dermatologist and one nurse to carry out. The pain is not too much, completely tolerable even for me (I often burst to tears because of the pain I suffered when I need to cut my skin to do some blood test). The whole treatment will be 4 to 6 sessions, depending on individual situation. Each session will only take 5 minutes to finish, but the time between two sessions has to be at least 1 month (can be longer than that). The price is $400 per session (with a 10% discount if you are affiliated to BMC or BU).

According to the dermatologist (certified and with M.D degree) there, their laser facial hair removal for biological male is permanent, unlike previous laser approaches. Once all sessions are done, there will be either no facial hair at all, or at most some very scarce facial hair remaining. In case one is concerned about the little remaining hair, one can do the laser once again and get rid of what is remaining.

So if their claim is true, then this should be a fast and . I will see what the effect on me is and update this post telling you my latest experience.

Hug you all.

Jessie

P.S It cannot remove white, grey and blonde facial hair

Edited December 14, 2013 by hoojee15

[Charlize]

Please keep us posted. It sounds like a wonderful development.

Hugs,

Charlie

[Guest April Kristie]

Would like to know some of the specifications of the type and name of the equipment or treatment as I am in need of same here in CT.

[Guest hoojee15]

Would like to know some of the specifications of the type and name of the equipment or treatment as I am in need of same here in CT.

I am not sure about the specifications of the equipment. I will take a careful look at it next time I go there. The website of them is below:

http://www.bmc.org/bu-cosmetic-laser-center/services/laser-procedures-laser-hair-removal.htm

And I am sorry I made a mistake in my original post. This procedure is unable to remove white, grey and blonde hairs. ("Please keep in mind that white, grey and blonde hairs do not respond to any laser and are best treated with electrolysis.") But it can be applied to any skin types.

I am still skeptical about if this LASER treatment has permanent effects, as from all I have read before LASER is not permanent, only Electrolysis is. I choose that just because it is convenient and does not confine my schedule. I will see what the actual effect is.

If you are in a different region then please contact your local professionals directly, as they know much more. I am only reporting my personal experience.

Good luck to you and hugs:)

Jessie

[Guest hoojee15]

D+2 day Update:

Suppose the day of my first session, 11th Dec 2013 is D day, then now it is D+2 day.

The pain completely diminished when I woke up in the morning of D+1 day, and now the area that received laser just feels and touches as normal and as nothing had happened. I have not shaved since D day and now my facial hair grows out a little, but far less than that can grow out after two days without shaving before the laser treatment. It is still visible yet, but looks sparse and like a shallow shade, not like a dense forest anymore as before. (I have black beard and mustache)

Can any moderator tell me how to edit my original post please? Thank you very much.

Jessie

[Guest Melissa~]

I was going to post something to that effect even the best unit on earth can't target individual blond hairs, I suppose someday an excimer type laser could "delete" indivdual hairs after making a hyper-accurate map of every follicle on the face, still probably 30 years from that level of technology.

[Guest April Kristie]

TY for the link and explanation, I currently use the home IPL flash n go! Won't know full results until the end of winter.Cheers!

[Guest hoojee15]

D+10 day update:

The growth speed of facial hair almost has not changed since D+2 day. It reduced to about half of the speed it used to be before the 1st LASER session. The treated area remains perfectly normal and well as if nothing had happened. Now at least I can save several shaves.

[Guest ashleynikole]

I am going for my 5th facial session on Jan 2 and I saw immediate results about the 3 wk mark (probably about now for you Jessie). However, I started noticing hair regrowth around the 3rd month and when I asked, they said that the hairs on your body grow in cycles so while you will kill off some of the hairs at a session, you will not get all of the ones that were not around during that first cycle. This is why you need 6-9 sessions, to cover all the cycles and make sure all hair is attacked.

I had about 10% blonde/gray hair on my face, so I still shave but it doesn't take near the time and I am WAY less irritated afterwards. it's also nice not having a shadow to try and hide with make up. Keep us posted on your sessions over the next 6-9 months. Don't forget your before and after pics (if you want them).

[Guest Jo-88]

To the OP. I think they fed you some misinformation... and on top of that you are paying WAY too much for your laser. I pay $200 a session in san francisco (the land of outrageous pricing for everything). Back in FL I used to pay $115 a session for a place that used a diode laser, and $45 a session for a place that used a YAG laser. And as far as the equipment they are using, it has to be a YAG laser because on their site they claim that it is "the technology we use is safe for all skin types, even dark skin" the only laser that is true for is a YAG... and it just so happens that YAG lasers are NOT permanent and are basically completely ineffective for people with light skin tones (sure they are "safe" for light skin but they aren't effective on light skin). I do not know what your skin type is but I am sorta on the pale side (and Caucasian) and my beard was sort of a blonde/red/brown color and I was treated with a yag laser 5-6 times and it did absolutely NOTHING. I have also been treated with a diode laser which was only very slightly effective. It wasn't until I went to a place that operates several different types of lasers that I was told the only laser that will be effective on me is an alexandrite (low frequency red laser)... and guess what, they were spot on. The Alexandrite has been very effective. But I wasted a whole bunch of money on previous treatments because I didn't shop around properly.

Sorry if my post sounds a bit emotional I just kind of hate the hair removal industry, they have no qualms whatsoever on playing to peoples ignorance of the technology. They have made millions by tricking people into blowing their hard earned cash on expensive and ineffective treatments... all the while promising completely unrealistic results. Guess what ladies? Chances are that 90% of us will go through twice as many sessions as they say you will need and at the end still have to shave daily. Actual clearance of facial hair using laser is a rare rare thing (but if done right it will thin it out significantly and slow its growth).

[Guest Jo-88]

Actually I was wrong, the are not using a YAG laser... in fact they are not using a laser at all, they are selling IPL treatments as "laser" treatments and those are NOT the same thing by a long stretch. Sure IPL is safer, but it much much less effective in fact it is generally considered worthless for beard removal. Not to mention the fact that IPL machines are way cheaper and generally IPL treatments only cost a fraction of a laser treatment.

It sounds like this place is running a scam... OP if I were you I would put my cash back in my wallet and run like the wind!

[Guest hoojee15]

Actually I was wrong, the are not using a YAG laser... in fact they are not using a laser at all, they are selling IPL treatments as "laser" treatments and those are NOT the same thing by a long stretch. Sure IPL is safer, but it much much less effective in fact it is generally considered worthless for beard removal. Not to mention the fact that IPL machines are way cheaper and generally IPL treatments only cost a fraction of a laser treatment.

It sounds like this place is running a scam... OP if I were you I would put my cash back in my wallet and run like the wind!

I have not been here for a while.Thank you so much for your two informational threads jodie. So far 25 days passed and my beard growth is still very slow, and I only need to shave every 3 days. So as far as I know it seems working.... Of course I do not know the long term effects yet. Can you please tell me why you think they are using not laser but IPL? Sorry I do not know too much about this.

[Guest hoojee15]

Just looked up some more information of the clinic I went. It seems the doctor treated me is a good one with lots of publications, honors and awards. So do her colleagues. So I would rather believe them for now..... Maybe there is a reason why they charge that much. Hopefully I am right lol.

[Guest Jo-88]

Yea the first place I went to had all sorts of publications, certificates, and awards too... had a wall with a ton of them stuck to it. But guess what? Those are all awarded by the industry... that's like the National Restaurant Association giving Burger King an award for "health and nutrition"...

This is the link on their website that states the machine they use is IPL not laser... they are being misleading.

http://www.bmc.org/bu-cosmetic-laser-center/services/laser-procedures-starlux-laser.htm

The first time I had it done with a diode laser I saw results too, but they quickly reversed... when the follicle gets zapped it may get knocked out of commission for awhile giving the illusion of success. Then the hair follicle heals itself and starts pumping out hair again. Trust me, I have wasted thousands of dollars on laser, I have heard it all before... I have spent countless nights researching the tech and science behind it all. I am by no means an expert, but I know enough to be skeptical. You should do yourself a favor and shop around, what harm can it do?

[Guest hoojee15]

Yea the first place I went to had all sorts of publications, certificates, and awards too... had a wall with a ton of them stuck to it. But guess what? Those are all awarded by the industry... that's like the National Restaurant Association giving Burger King an award for "health and nutrition"...

This is the link on their website that states the machine they use is IPL not laser... they are being misleading.

http://www.bmc.org/bu-cosmetic-laser-center/services/laser-procedures-starlux-laser.htm

The first time I had it done with a diode laser I saw results too, but they quickly reversed... when the follicle gets zapped it may get knocked out of commission for awhile giving the illusion of success. Then the hair follicle heals itself and starts pumping out hair again. Trust me, I have wasted thousands of dollars on laser, I have heard it all before... I have spent countless nights researching the tech and science behind it all. I am by no means an expert, but I know enough to be skeptical. You should do yourself a favor and shop around, what harm can it do?

Thank you so much jodie88. I will definitely ask them about this. May I ask how long it took for the follicle to heal back for you? And since your beard is blonde/red/brown, as far as I know normal laser will not be so effective on you. I have yellow skin and completely black beard which I heard is the ideal to be treated by laser or IPL. If my beard was not black I would not even bother with laser. Also I cannot afford the time commitment required for electrolysis. Well I do not know now. My life is already busy enough, sigh.

[Guest Jo-88]

Still my beard was pretty dark, they all told me I was the ideal candidate too. It will take about 2 months for the follicle to heal and then you are back where you started. Here check out this pic of me just prior to beginning transition...

[Guest hoojee15]

2D day update:

Today (Jan 13) is the day of my 2nd treatment. I took note of the machine they use. It is Candela GentleMax. It seems to be a new model of such euqipment. As far as I know, it uses two types of laser:GentleYag (an ND:Yag laser) combined with GentleLase (an Alexandrite laser). So I do think it may be effective after all and I will give it more tries.

I have attached a photo of the euqipment.

[Guest Jo-88]

Yes that is an excellent machine! One of the best actually. The alexandrite mode will be very effective if you have light colored skin... the yag is for darker skin, make sure they aren't using that mode if you have light skin as it wont do much of anything.