The real thing - Session Number 2.

After the almost pain free experience of the patch test I was ready for my first real laser session.

I'd been growing out my lip and chin hair for a month and now had a full moustache and partial goatee (under the chin) to shave every couple of days:

Cick on the image above for a detailed view of the horror that is a full moustache.

I went in the evening for the last appointment of the day. It didn't even occur to me to take a painkiller beforehand. Maybe that was a mistake.

The Procedure

Since I had no adverse reaction on my chin following the patch test and the number of hairs hadn't been reduced my therapist decided to up the dosage for this session on my chin. She kept the milder settings on my upper lip since we hadn't patch tested it and it is a more prominent area.

The discomfort was much stronger this time - I don't know if you can call it pain still - but it was unpleasant and a shock every single time!

My lip was quite puffy after the event and the smell of burning hair was quite disconcerting.

The aftermath

My lip was quite puffy after the event but that only lasted an hour or so.
Here's a picture I took immediately upon arriving home.

In my case it my lip was a little red and swollen - but only for a few hours:


I'll post more follow up pictures in a couple of weeks.

The first laser hair removal session

I went for a patch test in December. This was purely to check my skin's reaction to the laser intensity.

I hope it will have also knocked a few hairs for six - but I was still plucking them up to this first consultation and you need to have grown them out (the horror) for 4 weeks prior to a proper session.

I'd read up on the technique as well as I could and took someone's advice to take a pain killer before hand - hey it works for waxing so why shouldn't it work here.

The patch test was on the underside of my chin - somewhere that isn't too visible but somewhere that has pale pale skin and dark, thick, shiny hairs.

The process:

The therapist asked me some questions about my skin type and its typical response to the sun to determine the best setting.
She chose a low setting within the recommended range for my skin type.

The therapist shaved the area to be treated. Telling me that I wasn't a particularly severe case. (I don't have a large number of hairs - but the ones I have are so dark and thick that they are really obvious).
She put cotton pads on my eyes followed by a set of goggles to ensure that they didn't get damaged by the lasers.

The machine has an iced tip that chills the surface of the skin - this is not an unpleasant sensation.
When the laser fires the machine beeps to let the therapist know.
This is not for the patient's benefit - believe me the patient knows! It wasn't a particularly painful sensation (maybe the painkillers helped). It was a small concentrated smack, like s very very precisely located thwack from an elastic band. The main thing was that, even with a rhythmic approach and the accompanying beep, it was a surprise every time! The hardest thing is to avoid jumping with shock every time. The second hardest thing is enduring the smell of your own burning hair. This is
of course exactly what the laser is supposed to be doing - focussing a burst of energy along the hair shaft and hopefully fatally damaging the root.

The zapping takes very little time. It is over in an instant.
The therapist then continues to apply the icy cold tip to the skin. I assume that this stops any burn developing by rapidly cooling the area.
Once she was satisfied that the area was cooled sufficiently she smothered the area with soothing aloe vera gel.

My therapist had warned me that there could be some redness and swelling for at least a few hours or potentially a few days.

The most unexpected part (before my therapist warned me) is that you still need to continue shaving. The hair under the skin still needs to work its way out. So you don't see any immediate improvement.

Hopefully within a week to ten days you see a reduction in the number of hairs although it takes a number of sessions to catch all of the hairs in their growing phase.

In other words - you'll be shaving for a while to come!

Why have laser hair removal?

I have dark hair on my upper lip and under my chin. It is ugly and embarassing and I've spent what seems like a lifetime plucking each hair out one by one.

I finally bit the bullet and decided to have the hairs removed using Laser hair removal.

I wanted reassurance about the processes and needed to know what would happen to me not just what the end result would be like. Unfortunately I couldn't find much more than before and after pictures on the internet.

I decided to go ahead anyway - and to document the process online, journal style, hopefully this will help inform others who are planning to undergo laser hair removal themselves.