Laser hair removal is the ultimate therapy in hair removal, IMO. De-fuzzing is the bane of some ladies' lives and laser makes it so much less time-consuming.
Hands up who thinks hair removal is the biggest pain in the behind ever? I hate it. I'm not even a very hairy person. Everyone to their own, of course, but for me, excess hair is a no-no. It's always been something I paid a lot of attention to. If I look down at my bare legs on a sunny day and I see a patch of long hairs that I've missed shaving I have to run for cover. I hate excess hair - and I hate maintaining it even more. Which is why I turned to laser hair removal.
I never shaved my legs, or anywhere, ironically enough, until I started laser therapy. My mum always told me if I shaved the hair would glow back thicker and stronger but if I waxed the hair would come back thinner and more sparse. It certainly worked for me but nonetheless hair still came back even if it was a little thinner.
Now I would call myself a bit of a laser connoisseur at this stage. This is my third session of laser therapy in my third laser clinic. It's not that it didn't work in either of the last two places but I have ended up in Therapie in Malahide (where Vogue Williams and Suzanne Jackson go!) because it's the closest to where I live. However, I have been very pleasantly surprised with my experiences here so far. I get asked questions about it all the time so here's the myths busted and the reality of laser therapy from my experience.
The Questions
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- Is laser therapy very painful?
- Is laser therapy really expensive?
- Does laser therapy permanently remove hair?
- Does laser therapy work on everyone?
The Answers
Is laser therapy very painful? Not anymore! The first time I went for laser therapy was about eight years ago and YES it was extremely painful. It was like an elastic band snapping against my skin. However, as time has passed, technology has got much better. The laser machine in Therapie in Malahide uses cryotherapy and shoots out freezing air just before the laser. It is really cooling on your skin and the pain is minimal. It's comfortable on the legs, a little more tender on the underarms and pubic area. Where you have thicker hair growth, it with be more sensitive as the laser is drawn to the pigment in the hair. If I had to put a pain level on it I would say 3/10.
Is laser therapy really expensive? OK, yes, it is expensive. I'm paying just under €795 for three areas. I'm having half legs, full bikini and underarms done in each session accross six sessions. You can pay the balance in two installments to make it a little easier. The way I look at it, I used to spend up to €70 a go on my waxing so it costs about the same as a year and a half of waxing.
Does laser therapy permanently remove hair? It's not permanent. It will certainly alter the level of hair re-growth permanently and it you will never have the same volume of hair in the treated areas again. However, it does grow back, less in some areas than others, and you need to go back for a top up in some areas every few months. In my case the therapy worked amazingly well on my legs. After six sessions I would say only a quarter of the hair grew back. After just one session in Therapie, six weeks later there is still practically nothing there. However on my underarm and bikini area I have had 12 sessions (not in Therapie) and the hair is at about half its former growth.
Does laser therapy work on everyone? It will work on nearly everybody. Laser works best on somebody with pale skin and black hair. They can use different machines on different settings to remove hair on darker skin tones.
Overall, laser is something I would highly recommend if hair growth is something you are conscious of. It is the best choice of hair removal from areas like your face and neck because it won't leave stubble and it will slow the re-growth considerably. I will check back in with you after my six sessions but so far this has been my best yet laser experience.
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Would you like to try laser hair removal or would you be nervous about the treatment?
