Nancy

Hey ladies!

I've considered having all my hair removed permenently in certain areas hehe but am not aware of the possible consequences. I mean, are there any? Hair/nails are made of the body's waste products so I just wondered about what will happen when the laser kills the hair roots and thereby making it impossible to let the body get rid of its waste product via that "canal"?

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

amonkie

Nancy... Sultana made the comment in the Sugaring thread that she has undergone the laser .. for That area ... see if you can get her to chime in.


As far as I know, laser technology aftereffects are still relatively unknown. The technology hasn't been around long enough to give any indication if there's any long term dangers (ie 10-15-20 years).

__________________
Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna

Nancy

^^ Oho! I'll go annoy her with all my questions then

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

Sultana

Heh heh heh, feel free, Nancy! I'll tell you my experiences.

I've had laser hair removal for the underarms and the "Down There", so far I've had 2 sessions in each area.
It works best if you are fair-skinned and dark haired (haired? lol). The laser is attracted to the pigment in the hair folicle, so one shaves as closely as possible first. You don't want the laser to waste itself on the hair, you want it to be directed to the folicle.
Apparantly there are generally 2 hairs in each folicle, so one session won't be enough to completely finish the job. They seem to trade off growing cycles.
It's odd, once a folicle is *killed*, the hair remaining is expelled, so you have all these burnt little bits of leftover, previously-below-the-surface hairs rising to the surface, as it were, heh. Afterwards, if the lazering was completely successful, hair simply doesn't grow back.
I'm loving the results. I particularly like not being so concerned with ingrowns, bumps, irritation due to shaving, waiting for grow-out, etc. Oh, and no more 5 o'clock shadow in the underarm area, which is particularly annoying for a belly dancer. :P So Great!
I'll be wanting at least one more session for below the belt, as it were. I'm a bit of a perfectionist *shrug*. If I can get rid of everything, and no more concerns, then why not?

Feel free to ask more questions here or to PM me if you like. I'm glad I can help.

__________________
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Grasshopper Green

Sultana, how long do the sessions last? How much pain/irritation is there? I've told hubby that I want this done, and since I am a prime candidate (dark hair, fair skin), then that's just another plus to me.

__________________
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

Sultana

Length of sessions depends on your technician, and your pain tolerance. The first time it went slow and painful for me (and I have a high tolerance for pain).The second time I asked if we could go faster as I was on a tight schedule, and so it went...fast and painful. Obviously fast is better.

Irritation...there was a noticible amount for me. I wouldn't recommend getting it done the day before you leave on a cruise (ask me why! lol). I now expect about a week of visible irritation and leftover hair removal (sometimes you gotta tweeze. Kinda hard for the underarms area.).

Overall I highly recommend the process. I was paying about $55 (inc. tip) for (brazilian only) waxing every 6-ish weeks, so this will even pay for itself soon, and without having the regrowth period, making and going to appointments, etc. Just don't think it's going to be a one-time thing and poof! You get all the bennies. It's a process.

__________________
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Grasshopper Green

Were you recommended taking something for pain beforehand? When I got my IUD (sorry if TMI), my doctor told me to take some ibuprofen beforehand, as it could be very painful (I only felt a mild pinch after 800mg of ibuprofen). I have a fairly high pain tolerance as well, but less pain is always good.

__________________
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

Nancy

What the... I wasn't even aware that the proces is painful. The company I'm gonna use doesn't mention pain anywhere in their website... hmm..what kind of laser does your technician use, Sultana?

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

little_tippler

I haven't done this procedure but I have heard that though laser removal is "permanent", that actually it can grow back, though much thinner and weaker and less hair of course, after months or years depending. Does anyone know about this?

I would so love to do it "down below". I am actually extremely lucky and have almost no underarm hair.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

Sultana

As far as I know, most if not all uses of laser to remove hair, surface blemishes, etc. is not a happy feeling, lol. It feels exactly like a rubber band being snapped against your skin. Over and over (but not in the same exact spot). After a while it gets very sensitive...and not in a happy way (for me, anyways, a fact I'm certain my tech. appreciates ).

I don't remember what type of laser is used on me...I'll try to find out for you.

Medusa, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to use ibuprofen or something, but I never manage to plan that far in advance. The pain is very temporary, so I just deal. If it lingered, I'd likely be motivated to do something preventative.

Tippler, the potential for regrowth is why one needs to plan on more than one session. In my experience, about 75-ish% of the hair is removed each time. So it's an exponential reduction, but still not complete. But everyone is different, and responds differently.

__________________
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

amonkie

A quick google search found this :

http://www.hairremovalforum.com/


Might give you some more information, and I saw links for What to look for in a Center, different types of Lasers, and what to expect.

__________________
Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna

Lead543

There's also electrolicism...which I can't spell. It also permanently removes the hair and has been around for years (my grandma used to do it) so as far as removing waste that way I don't think that it's a problem.

And I know nothing about lasers.

Gilda

It's too bad Sissy doesn't post here, as she's had quite the long term experience with permanent hair removal, using both laser and electrolysis. We've spent somewhere in the $15,000 range on it so far. She had the perfect hair/skin combination for laser with fair skin and black hair, and got about 90% reduction on her beard, which was pretty sparse to begin with, chest, arms, and armpits. It didn't completely get everything, so after a half dozen sessions in each place, she had to finish up with electrolysis. Her electrologist uses the blend method, which is the slowest but most effective, and is still, after three years, clearing regrowth about once every six weeks.

Much of the body hair has grown back as vellous hairs, tiny, fine white hairs. This is apparently a fairly common occurrance after several months.

It's currently not known whether laser hair removal is actually permanent removal, or just long term reduction. It can result in regrowth. Electrolysis is permanent, but not always the first time. There are three methods, thermolysis, which uses heat to kill the hair follicle, electrolysis, which uses electricity to create a chemical reaction that does the same, and blend, which uses both at once. It does, however, take a long time, and can be quite painful.

I had some electrolysis to remove some black hairs from my upper lip (stupid Eastern European genes), but just get everything else waxed once every six weeks or so.

Hairs grow in 12-13 week cycles, and go through an active growth stage and a dormant stage. The hair grows for about 6-7 weeks, the the follicle goes dormant, and the hair detaches and just kinda hangs out in the follicle until a new hair begins to grow, and the new one pushes the old one out. When you exfoliate, you're removing those dead, detached hairs. Each hair may be at a diffrent stage of development, so we're all constantly shedding old ones (yes, just like a dog or cat) and growing new ones in their place. For the most part, they tend to go down the drain if you bathe regularly, especially if you use a good exfoliating sponge.

There's no danger to permanently romoving hair. Body hair is produced as a result of androgen conversion; it actually consumes bodily resources, and then only a tiny amount.

Gilda

__________________
I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that.

~Steven Colbert

Nancy

^^ But.. what's the point of wasting all that money on treatments if the hair keeps growing back out?


The companies that offer lasertreatment here state that they can guarantee a permanent removal of the hair. What kind of laser were they exposing her to? I'd like to know so I can contact the various companies and ask which kind they use here - and if it's the same then question its ability to really remove hair permanently when you say that it doesn't work on Sissy.

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

Gilda

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sissy's laser treatments were very effective, getting about 90% reduction in a very short period of time, and the regrowth on her chest and arms has been velous hairs, which are tiny unpigmented hairs so fine they're practically invisible. The peach fuzz you have on your upper cheeks are velous hairs.

The most stubborn ones are in her beard, with some having grown back four or five times so far, and a little bit on her forearms. Again, stupid Eastern European genes.

Sissy's hair is probably a bit more stubborn than a natural woman's would be. The point was to get as much hair removed as possible as quickly as possible so that she could pass while wearing clothing that was a bit more revealing. Once she got to that stage, clearing the more stubborn hairs has been less problematic because they were less dense and easier to clear in a single session. I don't know the type of laser that was used. This was something like three years ago, so it may have been an older generation.

Hair removal in her nether regions was done chiefly by electrolysis, with her surgeon removing what little remained, though the method used there wouldn't really work for a natal woman.

Gilda

Nancy

^^ I see. I really hope that they did use an older technology because I don't feel like spending a lot of money on something that doesn't work.

So did they actually tell her it would be permanently removed, Gilda? That's false advertising regardless how small and invisible the hair may seem now.

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

Gilda

They guaranteed "permanent reduction", with a disclaimer regarding the occasional regrowth of velous hairs. What she got was nearly everything we'd hoped for. I'm sure that the newer lasers must be more effective.

Gilda

__________________
I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that.

~Steven Colbert