Laser Hair Removal - Only for the Pain Junkies

Having very pale skin and dark red hair, I was fed up with shaving and waxing my underarms and bikini line. With summer ending and the installation of our pool, the only solution was to get bikini waxes every month the following swim season since shaving everyday is impossible. For me, getting bikini waxes is a very private matter and not one I relish the thought of doing on a regular basis. It is difficult to do youself and shaving each day creates all kinds of issues with razor bumps and sunscreen clogging the hair follicles as they try to grow back in. Girls, you know what I'm talking about.

So as the summer ended, I was faced with either buying a swim-dress, which instantly brought visions of my grandmother who loves her new swim-dress, or getting rid of bikini line hair with laser treatment and while I was at it, the underarm hair also.

So I went to my dermatologist to ask his advice and wow, what do you know? They offered the services there. So I signed myself up. He thought it would take about 4-6 sessions depending on how "high" they could set the machine. Well, I have a big tattoo on my back and have had piercings in my wild youth so I figured they could turn that thing on high and I'd be out of there in 2 trips. Yes, it seemed a bit expensive, but wow, what I would save in razor blades and time alone?? The return on investment of that service seemed to have a really good payback.

So, I get ready. They tell me that I have to let the hair grow out an inch and they would clip it back to the correct length when I arrived for the first treatment. Well, it was fall, so no big deal, although my underarms drove me and my husband crazy. I felt like a hippy but I wanted to show all my friends. Of course, they didn't want to see it, but to bad for them.

So the big day came. First, my left arm. She set the machine on 3. 3 out of 10.

It felt like a bee had stung me. Worse than a tattoo needle, Worse than being pierced, It felt like I was being burned. I could smell the hair burning. It reeked and I began to be sick. Then she said, "Is that ok, can we go a little higher?" I nearly came off the table. She rubbed some lidocaine or some crap numbing gel on my underarm (yea, why didn't they think of THAT before) and tried it again, still on 3 mind you. I think this time I screamed.

So I had to go to my happy place and just suck it up. And then there was the other arm. After the arms were finished, my underarms were so swollen that I couldn't lower them. I was soaked in sweat. It probably took about 15 minutes per arm.

She tried about three times on the bikini line, but it was too much. My endorphins were just gone that day. I managed to go back 4 times on my underarms gritting my teeth the entire time. I never attempted the bikini line again.By this point, there was no change in the hair growth under my arms and I was $400 into it.

I quit. I mean I quit that dermatologist also.

I hear they have new technology since 2004 that is much less painful and now they give you set prices on each area and guarantee the end result. They will keep zapping away until you are hair-free.

A friend of mine recently had sinus surgery and her surgeon was a friend of the family and he zapped all of her underarm, bikini and LEG hair while she was under. That just isn't fair. Because who got billed for that favor I wonder? She had to go back to get the hair that was in a different cycle growth, but they put her on laughing gas. I was so angry.

Anyway, anyone who wants laser hair removal, research and get the name of a customer who has COMPLETED treatment and ask all the hard questions before you sign up for this. Ask about the pain, the number of times you will have to visit, how long between visits, if it is a set cost, do you get a break if you commit to more than one body area, prep of the area, post care of the area and how long can you expect the treatment to last. Because my friends, it doesn't last forever. Sometimes 3 years on dark hair, sometimes 5-7 on fair hair. It just depends. So ask these questions and don't experience what I did, which was just a big waste of money and a lot of pain.

And ask about laughing gas, you never know.

Me, I have a killer swim-dress that shows off my "assets" and I don't worry about anything else. I shave my underarms with a great shaving bar and a good sharp razor and so far, so good. And if I have a little stubble one day, who cares? If somebody is looking that close, they need something better to do.