can my greying beard wait for laser?

[Guest belinda78]

For some time now, I've been thinking about laser hair removal for my beard. It's thick and dark and has an obvious shadow even immediately after shaving; dealing with it is a nuisance even when I'm not trying to pass. I hate shaving, and I went through my "wanting to have a beard" phase as a teenager - never again! I've had good results with removing chest hair with a home IPL system, but that won't cut it for my face; I recognise it needs something stronger.

Letting my beard grow for a couple of days recently showed that I have more grey hairs in it than I'd thought, mostly around the chin area. If all the black hairs were to fall out right now, I'd be left with a little white goatee, plus a few stragglers further afield. These I believe will require electrolysis, and from what I gather, the less of that, the better. I'm in my late thirties and starting to bald (another problem as far as passing is concerned; I miss my youthful long locks!), and I know that this situation is just to get worse with time.

If I had infinite amounts of cash, I'd have had it done a year ago, but money right now is tight, and will continue to be for the next two or three years, such that this would require some sacrifice - I'm saving like mad to escape a job I hate with a view to becoming self-employed, such that money spent now = even more time working at the madhouse. In a couple of years time, I anticipate with reasonable certainty that I'll have more disposable income (not to mention sanity), but I'm worried that by then I'll have even more grey hairs in a beard less amenable to laser treatment. Hence my dilemma.

I'd welcome any insights the forum might have to offer!

Belinda

[Carolyn Marie]

It really depends on how dark your gray is, and the type of laser equipment being used. I had a dark gray beard white some white mixed in. I got excellent results. Although I still shave, I have no beard shadow after 24 or more hours, and it only takes 1/3 the time to shave what's left. But you need to get evaluated at the center you plan to use, so they can give you a better assessment.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest ashleynikole]

I had a lot of blonde hair on my face so the laser I did only cut about 60-70% of the hair and the other 30% will be removed by electrolysis.

I'm not sure what the pricing is over the pond, but I was able to purchase 8 sessions for about $750 with a Class 4 IPL laser. I went in once a month (every 4 weeks) and the sessions lasted about 15 minutes. At first they hurt like H E double hockey sticks, but after about 3 weeks, the hair practically fell out. I could pull the dark hairs out with my fingers and they would slide right out. About 2-3 months later the dark was coming back in again, but I kept chugging forward.

Now after all my face sessions, I rarely get dark hairs. In fact I've had dark hairs show up every now and then and it was related to my electrologist making the blonde and gray hairs come back black (yes, they can do that). When that happens, I just go back to my laser spa and have them hit the spots and knock it out again. It's easy since I got 2 year guarantee on hair not coming back dark and then $10/session for life.

Shop around for all the places that do laser and ask them questions. If you can find something affordable, I'd definitely do that now as it is so much easier to shave and even after a day or two of growth, you need to be right up on my face to see the hair.

Good luck

Ashley