jivey: The Laser Diaries

I typically have hair that grows really fast. So, I have been wanting to try laser hair removal for YEARS. I asked for laser hair removal as my college graduation present back in 2010 and the idea was rejected. I had even asked for it prior to that and obviously was rejected then too. I have been asking and asking and asking and having no luck.

I eventually gave up but a few months ago my boss and I got on the conversation of laser hair removal and she literally gushed about it. She absolutely loves having it done! The feeling of never having to shave as much is a huge blessing. She pretty much convinced me to just go on and do it. One of the best tidbits of advice she gave me was to search for either a Groupon or a Living Social deal since laser hair removal is so expensive. I began a search--a two month long search for the best deal..

I finally found the PERFECT Living Social deal! Laser hair removal for your legs for $119 for six sessions! HOLY COW! What an amazing deal! Plus, it is done at an actual doctor’s office so even more perfect! I waited a few days before I actually purchased the deal just to make sure I was brave enough to do it. I finally purchased the Living Social deal and was beyond elated! Once I received my confirmation, I called the office to make my appointment and the wait was three weeks. My appointment was scheduled on 10/4 at 8:00 A.M. The lady told me to make sure I had leg stubble. What exactly is “leg hair stubble”? How long should it be? I had no clue. I feel if I go a day without shaving it's bad.

A week before my appointment I went to my doctor for an illness and while I was there I asked her for her views on laser hair removal. She said it she loves it and has seen people with really amazing results. She also said she has seen patients with horror story results. She has seen burns and she even told me a few years back she had a patient who had her bikini done and she saw and her thoughts were, "oh honey what did you get yourself into?" She admitted she had her underarms done and she loves the results for her. I told her about the deal and she gave me a few good points. Her advice was:

1. Call the office to see how long the technician that will be doing the hair removal has been working on patients and how long they have been using the actual machine. (a question from my friend was how many patients have they actually worked on.)
2. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, make sure you tell them to stop.
3. Stay OUT of the sun and keep sunscreen on.

She was blown away at the deal and her concern was that that office had just gotten the machine and were doing the deals to basically have people come in as guinea pigs to test it out. (She didn't know where it was or anything about the place because I didn't tell her--she was only looking out for her patient.) I told her I will call them to ask before I go to my appointment. She told me to let her know how it goes and so jokingly I said you'll know if I come in next week with extreme burns. We both laughed and I went on my way. I would have never thought to find out how long the technician has been working with the machine they will be using. I called to find out and I felt like the amount of time was pretty long. So I was okay and my mind was sound.

I went into my appointment freshly exfoliated. I went with 3-4 days worth of growth which really isn't as bad as I'm making it seem. I just wanted to be sure I had enough hair so the laser would find them and the whole process would be a success. I had taken two Tylenol because I heard taking a pain reliever prior to the laser helps with any pain. I also brought a pair of shorts to change into since I was wearing my suit for work. I must admit, I was REALLY nervous. I have tattoos so I feel like I can handle that sort of pain but going in to this and not having a good understanding of how the whole thing feels was nerve racking. I heard it feels like snapping a rubber band against your skin which hurts terribly. So I was frightened for that feeling.

I arrived a few minutes later than I had originally planned, luckily traffic going to North Austin isn’t as bad in the morning once you’re already in North Austin. My appointment was at 8 and I arrived at 7:50. I checked in at the front desk and started filling out the new patient paperwork. I got back to the room about 8:10 so we did the test run with the laser. She had me sit on the table and she prepped the machine. My heart was beating a million miles an hour. She propped my foot up and held the laser wand by my ankle and zap! The first thing out of my mouth was, “that was it?? That’s what the laser feels like?” And Megan said, “yep that’s it!” So I was super pleased I anticipated the pain to be tremendous but it was not. For me, it felt like less than an ant bite sting with a cold shot of air afterwards--similar to those cans of air you use to clean a computer keyboard.

Candela Gentlelase alexandrite laser

We waited about ten minutes to see if I would get any sort of reaction to the laser such as: bruising, redness, or any discoloration and I did not so we were good to go! The office I went to uses a Gentlelase machine and it was wonderful! *so far..I obviously haven’t seen the full results yet since I have only had one treatment*

The technician made me feel super comfortable. She was very nice and professional. As long as I like the results, I will buy sessions with her for other areas at the regular price. The most painful area for me was near my ankle and that wasn’t even like super bad just a little shocking. She did inform me that she had the laser on a lower level just to make sure it didn’t burn me since it was my first time with laser hair removal.

After she completed the front and back of the legs I got my things and went back to work. My legs felt rejuvenated after the appointment so I’m not sure if that is a side effect or just something that happened. I didn’t feel anything weird. I went to work just fine after. When I got home, I applied aloe gel to my legs and let that soak in. I was worried about shaving or exfoliating after the laser since I didn’t want to mess my skin up, so I waited a day or two after the appointment to shave.

As I am writing this, it has been a week and three days since my treatment. I haven’t noticed much difference with the hair growth. I’m currently still waiting for the hairs to fall out. My next appointment is in November so I can’t wait to see what my results are. I will keep you posted on the adventures with hair removal :)