Laser Hair Removal

I know. Hair removal is kind of taboo because body hair is kind of taboo. Like all women are supposed to pretend that we couldn't grow a full-on handlebar mustache if given a week.

My entire life I've been "hairy", and without getting out of hand, I'll just say that I spend solid blocks of time every week removing dark hairs from all of the places I wish they weren't.

At some point a woman at my church mentioned the laser hair removal lady that she goes to, and it gave me permission to ask questions and get that personal recommendation. So now, I'm a couple of sessions into this, and I thought I'd do for you what I'd like someone to do for me: Give you the inside scoop.

That's my face immediately following my second treatment, so you're not gonna wanna schedule family pictures on the same day that you have a treatment.

I put out on Instagram that I was getting laser treatment, and y'all had questions, which I love.

Here are the answers.

Question: Does it hurt?
Answer: Yes. Like a tiny electric shock or a small, repeated burn. Would I do it for fun? No. Would I do it to remove dark hairs from my face, even if occasionally it makes a tiny tear slip from the outside corner of my eye? Obviously. The more bone, the more it hurts, so shins, for example are more painful.

Question: How much does it cost?
Answer: I used a Groupon, and it varies by the size of the area being treated, but for my feet, full legs, belly, and lip & chin package it was $732 total.

Question: How many sessions does it take?
Answer: I don't know. I've had three face sessions (less for legs, because you have to wait longer between leg appointments), and my package was six sessions. If at the end of the six sessions, I still have hair growth, I'd have to pay (per session, the area amount, divided by six) to continue. When I asked, they said it varies by person. Sometimes six, sometimes eight (etc.).

Question: Do they guarantee the hair is gone forever?
Answer: No. But they do say that the darker your hair and the lighter your skin, the better the results (yay, me).

Question: What do you do to the hair between sessions?
Answer: This is the hardest part for me. You're not allowed to pluck or wax (or thread) or anything that pulls the hair out by the root. You're only allowed to shave, which grows back so much quicker than getting the root of the hair and makes me uncomfortable, because I don't like the idea of shaving anything that's on display full-time.

Question: How long does each session take?
Answer: My face sessions are pretty quick. Maybe ten minutes? She's using a couple of different shaped laser tools (one like a giant sharpie pen for the smaller areas, one like a suction cup for the larger areas) and she just goes around, boom, boom, boom.

Question: How long before you can go in the sun?
Answer: They said to avoid hyper pigmentation you should try not to get sun for two weeks after treatment.

Question: Does it leave marks or scars?
Answer: As you can see in the picture above, immediately following the treatment, it left tiny abrasions on me in the areas with concentrated dark hairs. But I'd put makeup over them and go about my day, and then by the end of the next day, my skin would be back to normal.

Also, to throw in a couple more little tid bits, when I've had my face done, there's the strong smell of burnt hair (which sort of smells like burnt popcorn, but very strong) right up under your nose, and it follows you around, since it's attached to your face.

Would I recommend the place I'm going? Short answer, no. The owner is straight to business, which I can get behind, but her staff has made several scheduling mistakes unapologetically, and I don't feel special, heard etc. when I'm in there, if that makes sense. But if you really wanted to try it, I'm totally game for you to know where I am going, and I'm not going to go out of my way to give them bad reviews either. It's called Nu Me, and be sure you check Groupon before you go.

I've already definitely seen the hair thinning some on my legs, but until I'm deeper in to the treatments and able to have solid, obvious results, I can't 100% recommend the product even. I paid to get my lip done when I was a teenager, but that place went under before I finished my treatment. Bleh.

This week when I went to Nu Me for my third laser appointment, I mentioned I was pregnant (thinking they may want to stop treatment on my belly), and they informed me that they can't treat me while I'm pregnant. So, bummer. Guess we'll pick up at the end of next summer.