(the) girlieblog

laser show - part I

So, I'm having some hair removed by laser. Actually, Mara is removing the hair, but she's using a laser to do it. And I'm chronicling my experience as it unfolds so that you all may learn and benefit. Just call me GP for short. (guinea pig, just in case the reference was too obscure.)

At first you might ask, "Oh my gosh, doesn't that hurt?" And I'd like to report that it really doesn't. Not any more than waxing hurts, anyway. (Although I must admit I have a pretty high pain threshold.) And "Is it really permanent?" We'll get to that. But let's start from the top.

I have lived most of my life with what I consider to be more than average amounts of facial hair. And, thanks to my cultural heritage, it's really dark hair. I mean, REALLY dark! Does being called "gorilla face" as a child give you a hint? In addition to the peach fuzz we all have on our faces, I have dark, coarse hairs that grow above my lip, between my brows, along my cheeks as sideburns (Elvis had nothing on me!) and most recently on my chin and jaw line. And I have never liked it.

I have tweezed, waxed, bleached and even threaded to remove said hair. I've settled on a combination of waxing (the troubling coarse hairs) and bleaching (the fuzz-like hairs that are not as noticeable) that works pretty well to keep the gorilla comments at bay. And the combo works. That is, as long as I have time to keep it up during the week - which, if you have been reading my blog as of late, has been a rare thing. I barely have time to exercise much less banish hairs from my face.

Enter laser hair removal. The idea that in a relatively short amount of time and with a somewhat reasonable amount of money I could be rid of my lovely facial companions "forever" and "permanently" was INCREDIBLY appealing to me. So I started looking into it about a year ago.

I scheduled an appointment with one of the leading dermatologists in the Chicago area. He put a magnifying lens with BRIGHT lights up to my face and gazed at me with eyes that were now 100 times bigger than normal. He explained the process of laser hair removal a bit and quoted me an obnoxious price (down payment on a car comes to mind) for removing all the facial hair I so desperately wanted to shed. He was also a bit abrupt in his manner, leaving me less than confident in our partnership as hair banishers. So I walked out of his office a bit disheartened since the cost was way out of my league.

Fast forward to June of this year - at a summer barbecue, a friend mentioned that her real estate agent (and a fabulous one at that!) shared that she has been very happy with the results from her experience with laser hair removal. She has had her legs, arms and face "lasered" and was SO glad that she made that choice. No more shaving in the shower every day, no more plucking and tweezing between waxings.

I got her contact info and called. She referred me to the fabulous and wonderful Mara (who is one of the nicest people I have met, aside from being very good at what she does) with whom I immediately scheduled a consultation. During our first meeting, Mara began by cleaning the laser equipment with medical strength disinfectant in front of me. She explained that she always cleans the equipment prior to laser appointments while her client is there so that she/he has peace of mind about hygiene. I immediately felt at ease.

We then discussed all the ins and outs of lasering - that it is really called permanent hair "reduction" and not "removal" as it is not entirely true to say that 100% of your hairs are permanently gone for all of eternity. The laser actually penetrates the skin layers and targets the blood vessels at the hair follicles, stopping the blood supply to the follicle and thereby reducing the hairs that grow back. To be most effective, the process takes several visits, she explained, since hair grows in cycles. So, to make sure we've zapped all the hairs, we need to allow their growth cycle to run its course.

She shared VERY detailed information about possible effects (such as mild skin irritation, redness, bumpiness, and in very rare cases change in pigmentation in the areas that are lasered) and answered any and all questions I had. We also talked about cost (which was WAY less than the original quote I had gotten a year prior) and I was sold.

We scheduled my first session, and, just to tease you, I will share how that went in part II.

Posted by Delara at August 17, 2003 02:31 PM