laser hair removal - your experience

[caitlink]

Lots of groupon sites with deals.

Anyone tried? Will six or nine sessions remove hair completely from underarm area?
What about pain and discomfort level?

Which spa did u go to? Thx.

[litebrite]

I'm not located in GTA, but I purchased a couple 'unlimited' laser deals last year and am now finishing up my sessions. BEST MONEY SPENT! No more shaving, heck don't even have to spend money on razors anymore. I think with the time necessary between treatments it ends up being around 6 sessions for the year. I got my arms and lower legs done and I can't be more thrilled. I ended up buying another deal from another clinic for my underarms and brazillian.

The thing you have to watch out for is what type of laser the clinic uses. Check out the forum on www.hairtell.com for a list of the preferred lasers. My esthetician told me IPL is not that effective and I think that' the general consensus on that forum. For my arms and legs the place used LightSheer, which is a diode laser. For my underarms/brazillian I think it's a Nd:YAG that's used at that clinic. After about 4 sessions there's been a dramatic reduction in the hair and whatever hair grows back is a lot finer as well. I don't think laser guarantee a 100% removal of hair, just a reduction in the amount of hair. I think you're supposed to go back yearly for a touch up session.

As for the pain, it was painful on my legs, where the hair was a bit coarser. Although the laser has a cooling tip it still startled me and it feels like someone snapped you quickly with an elastic band. I have a pretty good pain tolerance (no probs with brazillian wax) and I was wimpering on the laser sessions on my legs. With underarms it shouldn't be as bad since it's a smaller area.

[Joelllle]

I'm not located in GTA, but I purchased a couple 'unlimited' laser deals last year and am now finishing up my sessions. BEST MONEY SPENT!

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost?

[litebrite]

^ Not at all!

I'm in Ottawa and last year a bunch of these laser deals turned up. They were the first I've seen at the time so it was slightly more expensive.

It was $275 for 1 yr unlimited laser treatments on 3 body parts with the Light Sheer laser. I ended up doing my lower arms with that voucher. I ended up buying another voucher from the same merchant for the same price to treat my lower legs.

The underarm/brazillian treatment with ND:YAG cost $249. Once again it was unlimited for one year.

Most recently I purchased a 6 treatment Soprano XL laser package for 1 body part for $39 (upper lip)... so they seem to be getting cheaper!

[nerak]

I am finishing up my previous set, which used Lightsheer and I am happy with it. Then I bought one with Soprano XL and the reviews on hairtell seems bad. Dang! I was looking for reviews before buying but didn't find this site.

Anyway, thanks. Because now I will try to make them do it properly.

[Joelllle]

^ Not at all!

I'm in Ottawa and last year a bunch of these laser deals turned up. They were the first I've seen at the time so it was slightly more expensive.

It was $275 for 1 yr unlimited laser treatments on 3 body parts with the Light Sheer laser. I ended up doing my lower arms with that voucher. I ended up buying another voucher from the same merchant for the same price to treat my lower legs.

The underarm/brazillian treatment with ND:YAG cost $249. Once again it was unlimited for one year.

Most recently I purchased a 6 treatment Soprano XL laser package for 1 body part for $39 (upper lip)... so they seem to be getting cheaper!

Sorry, just saw this.

Thank you, though. I was told by a friend that it's more expensive here (no surprise) but I'll look into it and see the difference.

[cyrene]

How much do you tip, if at all, to laser hair removal technicians? The deals often claim the laser packages are worth several thousand dollars pre-discount, but the expected tip is not a percentage on that, right?? But still, laser takes like, what, 15-20 minutes? Much shorter time required than for mani-pedi or haircuts...
I also remember reading somewhere that places that are more medical cosmetics facilities (i.e. has dermatologist or nurse on staff) rather than an esthetics spa do not expect tips. What do you guys/girls that have done laser deals think?

[litebrite]

I haven't tipped the operator for the laser treatments. The rationale being they are technically trained individuals that are being compensated accordingly so they would not expect tips.

One place was the owner giving me the laser treatments so I don't think tips were necessary.

[Hitman21]

I'm not located in GTA, but I purchased a couple 'unlimited' laser deals last year and am now finishing up my sessions. BEST MONEY SPENT! No more shaving, heck don't even have to spend money on razors anymore. I think with the time necessary between treatments it ends up being around 6 sessions for the year. I got my arms and lower legs done and I can't be more thrilled. I ended up buying another deal from another clinic for my underarms and brazillian.

The thing you have to watch out for is what type of laser the clinic uses. Check out the forum on www.hairtell.com for a list of the preferred lasers. My esthetician told me IPL is not that effective and I think that' the general consensus on that forum. For my arms and legs the place used LightSheer, which is a diode laser. For my underarms/brazillian I think it's a Nd:YAG that's used at that clinic. After about 4 sessions there's been a dramatic reduction in the hair and whatever hair grows back is a lot finer as well. I don't think laser guarantee a 100% removal of hair, just a reduction in the amount of hair. I think you're supposed to go back yearly for a touch up session.

As for the pain, it was painful on my legs, where the hair was a bit coarser. Although the laser has a cooling tip it still startled me and it feels like someone snapped you quickly with an elastic band. I have a pretty good pain tolerance (no probs with brazillian wax) and I was wimpering on the laser sessions on my legs. With underarms it shouldn't be as bad since it's a smaller area.

So is there any guarantee of permanent hair removal or is it just a reduction in the amount of hair, I am doing some research on this and evaluating it.

[litebrite]

So is there any guarantee of permanent hair removal or is it just a reduction in the amount of hair, I am doing some research on this and evaluating it.

I think the only permanant hair removal method is electrolysis but that's quite time consuming as it involves sticking a needle into every hair follicle.

Definitely do your research on what type of laser you want to purchase a package for. IPL and some other ones are not as effective as say Light Sheer.

I've been very very happy with the results of the LHR on my arms and legs. There's a few stray hairs here and there, but nothing a quick swipe with a razor won't fix.

[amz155]

So is there any guarantee of permanent hair removal or is it just a reduction in the amount of hair, I am doing some research on this and evaluating it.

It is not a guaranteed process for permanent hair removal. More like permanent hair reduction. The info put out by the FDA and US organizations is more clear about this vs. what Health Canada says:

http://www.electrology.com/consumer/laser_facts.html

http://www.fda.gov/radiation-emittin.../ucm252761.htm

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/med/laser-eng.php

[Catherine111]

One of my friends have taken extensive laser hair removal and it was perfect. But she said that she found it quite painful but really not that much more painful than waxing. It cost her a fair amount of money initially.

[Forhad]

If it's $275 for 1 year unlimited laser treatments on 3 body parts with the Light Sheer laser than within one week I will take my gf for laser treatments.

[napoleon1769]

Is this service available for guys?

[litebrite]

Is this service available for guys?

Yep guys go for laser hair removal. You might have to pay more if you're looking to get a larger area of the body lasered. YMMV.