Hello everyone,

So has anyone done it? I have an appointment tonight for a consult. I have PCOS and since I have lost the weight the hair on my upper lip has turned dark. I am not going to be walking around with a mustache! I have heard such mixed things on whether it works or not. I really dont want to waste my money and time if it doesnt. What about electrolysis?

Thanks so much in advance for your advice!

Denise

I've done both electrolysis and laser hair removal for about 6 years now...for various areas of my body.

Electrolysis is a slower process (1 year or longer) and best for small areas, but much less expensive and can be used for all skin and hair types. For electrolysis, you can't shave in between sessions so you'd have to bleach the hair if it's really bothersome. Having the hair intact lets the technician know if the hair follicle has been treated by how easy or difficult it is for them to tweeze the hair out. I used it for my upper lip, chin, breasts (thanks to pregnancy) and eyebrows. I'm not going to say it's a walk in the park, but the pain is tolerable and most places will have a numbing medication that can be used, especially for the upper lip where the skin in thinner. Most places will charge by the minute so that if you have new growth within a week or two, you can go in just to have that growth treated. I typically paid $15-$25 per treatment depending on how much time I wanted.

I've done laser for my underarms and bikini area and will be starting my legs. For laser, you can and should shave prior to your session because the energy of the laser would be wasted on the hair instead of completely going to the follicle. The pain is tolerable and since the laser works the larger areas faster, it tends to be over before you know it. It's similar to a rubber band snapping on your skin. The lasers tend to have a cooling element to them which helps to numb the skin and then most places will also apply a cold pack after the treatment as well. Laser is a lot more expensive and doesn't work for everyone. It's especially not a good fit for dark skin and light hair. Hopefully your consult is with an honest company that has a good reputation so that if you're not a fit, they'll turn you away. I have some friends who were taken in by the sales pitch and $5,000 later they still have the same amount of hair. Laser is pretty pricey especially for the large areas. You tend to need anywhere from 6-12 sessions at equal intervals to see the best results.

Hope that helps and good luck!

I had both, separated by about five years, for my upper lip and under my chin. For me, laser was much superior. Electrolysis fried some follicles, left some noticeable scarring under my chin, and still had me plucking transparent, coarse hairs every month or so because the current had killed the pigment cells but not the follicle. I had electrolysis for about a year, every three weeks, at $20/session and still had hair.

I bought five sessions of laser for $150 through Groupon in my area and the hair is GONE, except for the transparent ones that the laser won't work on. No scarring and minimal pain. I am thinking about having my legs and underarms done when there's another Groupon special.

Thank you so much for your advice! I really appreciate it! I will see what they say...

I'm getting laser hair removal on my armpits and hooha right now. I'm a dark blonde with pale skin and the hair in those areas is quite dark - not quite black, but definitely dark brown, so I should be one of those people for whom lasers would work very well. On my pits, I'm getting a laser with concurrent vacuum action, not sure what the point of that is - but it's also quite painful (like rubberbands snapping against your skin as others have said). I've had 2 sessions to date and have lost about 1/2 of my armpit hair. However, I feel like almost all - if not all - of the hair loss was after the first session and I'm not sure if there's been any decrease since the 2nd session. My coupon was for 3 sessions, and the last one's coming up this week, so I'll see how it goes, but it definitely won't be enough to remove ALL my armpit hair. I don't mind given that I only paid $100 for these 3 sessions, but if I had paid full price, I would've been pissed.

On my special place, I'm getting a regular laser (no vacuum). It's painless BUT I'm unimpressed with the results so far. I've lost maybe 1/4 of the hair after 2 sessions. Again, I only have 1 session left. Definitely wouldn't bother with that laser again.

I've had friends get laser hair removal and also end up quite unimpressed. One of my friends is a light-skinned South Asian and she got laser hair removal on her forearms and was very disappointed.

Bottom line: don't get your hopes up and try to find a discount (through Groupon or LivingSocial is best, that's where I got my coupons).

Hello, I have not had VSG surgery yet. But I had laser hair removal in 2006/2007 and the hair grew back within a year - worse than before. It is something that you may have to have done perhaps once (several sessions) year or every other year. At the time, I had five sessions on upper lip and chin. I will probably have it done again. The results were great while it lasted. It's just so darn expensive, no coupon at the time, so I paid about $1100 over the course of a few months. I was also told that pigmented skin and/or dark hair was best for the laser being used.