I have recently discovered this forum and it has been hugely interesting and enlightening. I have had a long and arduous journey with hair removal. The most recent part of the journey is that I have been getting Gentlelase on my face for about 4 or 5 years and the hair just keeps on coming back. I think it is finer and more sparse but still enough to really bother me. I have also got this laser on my nipples and underarms but not for as long a time. Reading this forum has opened my eyes - I basically thought I would have to keep getting laser for the rest of my life and had pretty much given up hope of doing any travel because I needed laser every 6 - 8 weeks. Now I am slighlty breathlessly daring to hope that I might be able to permanently rid myself of this hair and be able to travel to developing countries to do aid work which is my dream. I can’t quite believe that it can happen but I think it is time to stop the laser and move on. For one thing, it may well have been stimulating the vellous hairs on my face and that is why I have just had to keep on going back. I thought my laser practitioner would have told me but I guess he didn’t want to lose business. So, on that note does anyone know of a really excellent electrologist in Auckland, NZ or anywhere nearby. Having searched this forum I have seen that there is one in Wellington but that is way too far away. I am nervous about this but really want to give it a go. Thanks so much for all the stories - “a problem shared is a problem halved” as they say.!!!
What kind of hair are you looking to treat? Can you be more specific on the areas you’re treating and the type and amount of hair on each area? Where is it coarse? Where is it fine?
You are correct. Laser shouldn’t be used on finer hair, especially on a woman’s face.
Also, how much hair do you have on your face? Have you been tested for hormonal imbalance issues? Something to consider since if you do have a condition that’s causing NEW hair to develop over time, you’ll still need touch ups, even after electrolysis, if it’s not controlled. All hair removal methods can only kill hair that’s currently present. They can’t prevent future growth.
Thanks for responding! The hair on my face is quite fine and brownish - in some lights it looks blonde but in other lights it looks darker. I would estimate there to be about 70 - 100 of these types of hairs on my chin, jawline and sides and many more on my upper lip. Because I find it hard to get perspective on it I ask my family to look and say what they think. My sister thinks its not worth bothering about because its so fine but to me I find it annoying. I think that after 4 or 5 years of laser it has become lighter and finer. On my upper lip it is definitely darker but I have only been getting laser on there for around a year or so. I have been checked for hormonal issues - there is no Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, no endometriosis and no raised hormone levels that have been detected. My cousin has the same issue so I figure it is genetic. The hairs on my nipples are medium darkness and there are about 20-30 around each nipple when they are all there. The laser has reduced them somewhat but as I say, I still need to keep going every 6 - 8 weeks even though the hairs seem smaller and lighter. I also have underarm hair that has definitely become lighter and finer with laser but I need to keep going with that. I have a lot of bikini line hair that I will laser once I have enough money. For now its mainly the face and nipples that I want to deal with. I got a VPL laser treatment recently and only about a quarter of the hairs on my face fell out after that. Whereas with the Gentlease it would vapourise all the hairs at the time and then more would grow back in 6 - 8 weeks. I’m wondering if what actually happened was that the same hairs were growing back, although finer and lighter. From reading this forum I have come to the conclusion that the laser is no longer effective on these hairs and that electrolysis is the way forward. I just rang a place in Auckland, NZ and they said they use the Blend method and the machine is called the BlendEpil. Any advice about that one? The person I spoke to was shocked that I have been getting laser for so long and there is still hair there. I know that I may never achieve permanent removal but even being able to go and get hair removal more infrequently would be great.
Thanks for listening!! Its amazing to be able to share this stuff with others who have been there!
GentleLASE is a good laser machine. However, it would still not worth on the type of hair you describe, no matter how often or for how long you keep going. Laser targets pigment in the hair and that hair is too fine for it. Also, 6-8 weeks is too often to go. If you already have a lot of hair to treat that early, it sounds like the settings used are too low. So basically, even the hair that’s being affected is only being partially damaged and not permanently killed.
Definitely stop laser altogether for your face and nipple area. That’s a very small amount of hair and electrolysis will be able to take care of it easily. If you can find someone with a newer machine that used the faster thermolysis method (or even faster type of it called microflash), you’ll get faster results than with slower blend method. Blend could be necessary for the deeper hairs - I found it better for the nipple area myself. But the newer machines have blend in addition to thermolysis all in one.
For your bikini, laser would be a good option since the hair is coarse. But please visit our laser forum and read the FAQs at the link below first. You may need to ask them to increase settings. You shouldn’t need more than 8 treatments spaced 8-12 weeks apart on that area if they’re done correctly at good settings.
Thank you so much but yes Jill is too far away - its an 8 hour drive down to Wellington from Auckland! I hope someone has a recommendation near Auckland because it sounds like technician skill is the absolute key and its sort of scary to go into the unknown! Thanks for all your valuable tips on this forum - its unbeleivably helpful and such a relief to find a site like this.
And thanks lagirl -your knowledge and experience is so incredibly valuable, as is everyones who posts on this forum. I will keep searching around for an electrologist with a faster machine. I have been removing hair from my face via one method or another for the last 12 years and I am so so so so so ready for it to be gone altogether - or at least semi permanently. I don’t quite dare to hope for permanent at this stage!! I will keep you updated with my progress