Just giving a quick update. I just had another treatment today. This is #5 on bikini, #4 on underarms and #3 on stomach. I went back to my original doctor, Dr. Babapour who uses GentleLASE. We used considerably higher settings this time, 30 Joules at 12mm spot size on all areas.

Everything seems fine so far. The areas got red and had red bumps around the follicles, which is a good sign. The hairs that were left on bikini and underarms were sparse and fine, so hopefully this will be the last treatment on those areas. I expect to be going in for a few more treatments on the stomach area. I'm curious to see how well these settings worked on this area which is a bit more difficult to treat because the hair is much finer there.

I'll give another update in 2-3 weeks, when shedding is complete.

Hi LaGirl,

Quick question you said "LightSheer was used very differently from GentleLASE. The feeling when the hair is killed is pretty much the same, but the technique was different. LightSheer is more of a rolling treatment on the skin, while GentleLASE was separate "hits". I can see how it is much easier to miss spots with LightSheer if the tech is not experienced. Also, with LightSheer, there was a stream of cold air the whole time, while with GentleLASE small amounts of cold "hits" are released right before the laser beam "hit". My skin looks absolutely fine. The redness was gone within half hour on stomach and underarms, and just a bit longer for bikini. The doctor used a longer pulse on my stomach since the area was just a bit tanned. The settings were 26 joules on bikini and underarms (shorter pulse) and 33 joules on the stomach (longer pulse).


I have had lightsheer before and there is no stream of cold air the whole entire time. It has a chilled tip but definetly no air and With the Lighsheer it is pulsed meaning they do a spot and then move down and do another pulse and spot. Are you sure this is a lightsheer machine beacause from I know it is very different then what is stated on your description. Just a question?

There are various models of LightSheer lasers and different technicians use different techniques. I believe this was an older model. The up and down technique is a better approach in general, but the sliding one is faster, so a lot of techs do that instead for speed.

Hi all,

Time for my update. So, my last treatment was with GentleLASE 3 weeks ago. This was treatment # 5 on bikini, #4 on underarms, and #3 on stomach. At this point, the shedding has finished and I think I am done with bikini and underarms. I would say I have 95% removal on those areas, being conservative and judging from what I see now, which is 3 weeks after treatment and right after shedding. Technically, right now it's more like 99%. I did have coarse black hair on those areas and very pale skin. The results are amazing.

The stomach area definitely reacted much better this time around since 30 joules at 12mm spot size were used. There are still some pepperspots left, but overall the area looks much better. The hair trail right in the middle going down to the bikini area is almost completely gone since it was the most coarse and dark there. Probably 50% or so of the finer hair around that area got eliminated this time as well. I will probably have at least 2 more treatments on this area and will stay at 30 joules.

I think I will add the perenial area next time as well so that that entire bikini area is completely smooth.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

LA Girl:

Thank you for posting your results and sharing other useful information. I have a question for you. How do you push your GentleLASE practitioner to use higher settings?

I tried this at one GentleLASE place. The physician promptly produced a table from Candela the manufacturer which stated the maximum power recommended for each skin type. I think I'm type 3 and the maximum power in this case was listed as 18 joules. For reasons of liability, etc. I doubt they would want to go higher than this. I think I read in your posts and RJC's posts that 18 joules will not achieve any permanent results and the closer to 30j or more that you can get the better. The end result was that they used 15J claiming that since it was my first treatment there, they could not even do the full 18J listed in their table. So my laser project is kind of on hold since I have had 4 useless and expensive treatment so far. The only thing that I can think of is to find someone in LA since (I've already called almost every GentleLASE operator in the Bay area and its the same story with them all.)

the card with settings that they give to practitioners is a general guideline. if the practitioner doesn't want to stray away from that and try various options to achieve the best results for you, I would assume that they're not confident in their skills. if they're really afraid of causing damage, you can have them do test spots at various higher settings and sign some kind of waiver that you won't complain.

basically, I started at 14 adn 16 joules and it worked for me at first. I used GentleLASE though and those settings are average for that machine. for LightSheer that you used, settings need to be at least 25 joules or higher. i do have very light skin and black coarse hair on those areas, so that is probably why. so technically, you will get results on the first several treatments, but for the remaining finer hair, you will need to up the settings. in the case of my stomach area, 16 joules was too low since hair there is fine. now at 30 joules, i'm starting to see more results there.

my practitioner didn't want to up the settings at first as well, but i sat down and had a conversation with him talking about all the research i have done on the subject etc. i think he became aware that i actually knew what i was talking about and have read about others who have used higher settings with no problems. so, on my last treatment, he finally agreed. i kept asking every time i was there, but only the last time he actually said sure...just tell me what settings you want to try and i'll do it.

are u sure you've explored all options? have you tried running a search on CAndela website for GentleLASE practitioners in the Bay area? Also, I think someone else posted info about a place in the Bay area earlier this week on this board.

Hello all, time for my update.

I had another treatment about 1.5 weeks ago. This time I did just the abdomen area ($100) and added a perenial region ($75). GentleLASE again, 30 joules on stomach and 18 joules on perenial.

Since last treatment, most of my bikini and underarm areas are still pretty clean. There are about 30 very thin sparse fine hairs that grew in. I had 1 quick electrolysis treatment on underarms while I was in for my upper lip. Probably took care of 10-15 hairs on each underarm. Other than that, I'm really excited that I really haven't had to shave bikini or underarms since February. I never even think about whether those areas are presentable for wearing sleeveless shirts etc, which is great. I'm currenly trying to decide if I should touch up those few fine 30 hairs or so on bikini and underarms with laser when I go in for touch-up on stomach or just treat them with electrolysis. Stomach area has been slowest in terms of results, but the hair there is fine compared to really coarse black hair I used to have on bikini and underarms, so I'm not surprised. I'm currently in the shedding phase, so we'll see. I'm assuming I will need at least 2 more treatments on this area or so. I think the reduction has been about 50% there.

I'll update in a few weeks after the shedding is complete.

how many treatments have you had so far?

all my postings are in order here. so, that would make it 5 on bikini, 4 on underarms, 4 on abdomen, 1 on perenial region. i'm also getting electrolysis on nipple area and upper lip.

Just a quick update. It's been about 12 weeks since my last bikini and underarms laser treatment and about 5 weeks since my last abdomen and perenial (first in this area) treatment. As for bikini and underarms, there is a bit of growth there, but it's very fine and thin, nothing compared to my original dark coarse hair. You would have to look really close to see them, probably about 10% of total area. I did have a second electrolysis treatment on the underarms when I was in for my upper lip and nipple area, and that was a quick 10 minute session to take care of about 30 fine hairs on each side.

Now, the shedding is complete for abdomen and perenial. Both look good right now. Most hair has shed. Perenial reacted very well after just this one treatment. There are a few small missed spots, but everything else has shed, same as the rest of my bikini area. The hair was coarse and dark there as well. That area seems to work very well with laser, even on the first treatment. Abdomen is not perfect as usual, but definitely much better this time around. I would say there are a few missed spots, but for the most part, about 90% is gone. There are also some pepperspots in the area, but you have to look really close to see them. I squeeze them out sometimes (I know, not very good, but they bother me). If my skin was tanned, the area would probably look completely hairless.

That's all for now. Let me know if I can answer any questions. I am thinking of getting a touch-up treatment on a few spots on bikini at high settings since hairs are fine and the missed spots on perenial and stomach as my doctor said he will do all for $50. Then, I will continue electrolysis on underarms for the few sparse hairs since it makes more sense financially now and laser can't target those anyways.