My Laser Hair Removal Story

I’m five weeks in since my last laser hair removal session and I still haven’t shaved! However, I’m thinking about breaking down and shaving my upper arms/shoulders in the next few days or sometime next week. I’ll be heading to LA for a week or so next Thursday and I think my upper arms/shoulders kind of make my arms look sloppy and I’m a little embarrassed about it. So I’ll probably shave it before I go to the beach.

I’m noticing that my hair is starting to come in a little bit now. I’ve had some fine hairs since shedding, but it looks like the hair is just starting to get some color to it now and it’s looking a little darker. I don’t think I’ll need to shave it in the next week or so though unless something changes very quickly.

So, once I get back from LA it should be seven weeks since my last laser hair removal session and I’ll be getting ready to go in for my next session at week number eight! I’m actually really looking forward to this next session so I can try to get this upper arm/shoulder hair taken care of and some of these small spots as well.

It’s been four weeks now and there’s been very little change. That’s a good thing though! I haven’t felt the need to shave my arms or legs, so it’s now been four weeks since I last shaved. It’s such a great feeling! I see short, fine hairs coming in in certain areas, but the hairs are so fine and light that it’s not a problem at all, doesn’t look weird at all, doesn’t itch and I don’t have any desire to shave these areas. I’m seeing some small patches of hair that definitely need to be touched up and thats pretty much it aside from the hairs on my upper arms/shoulders that are starting to come in. Those will definitely need to be taken care of. I’ll be calling Romeo and Juliette in the next few days to schedule my next session. I have a lot of traveling coming up this summer, so I’m hoping I can work these dates in around all that! I want to make sure I go in for my sessions during the right phase of the hair growth process.

It’s crazy that I’ve only done three sessions and have seen such an ENORMOUS improvement. Looking back at how this whole process started and being where I am now is so awesome and it makes me feel so good about the decision to have this done!

I’m trying to take pictures of the small patches of hair that need to be taken care of so cross your fingers that the photos will actually come out good.

Pictures coming soon….

It’s been three weeks since my last laser hair removal session in NYC and things are looking good! Honestly, things haven’t really changed since my post last week. Which is amazing! My arms are still pretty much hairless, except for the areas up towards my shoulders that sprouted a lot of new hairs last week. I noticed a few small patches on my arms but nothing big at all! My legs have a few patches and things are getting a little itchy at times, but it’s not like it was last month at all! It’s been a full three weeks since I’ve shaved and it’s been great. I think my last session really helped a lot!

Things are definitely looking good. We’ll see how it goes in the next week!

Pictures coming soon….

I’ve been wondering how others handle their laser hair removal situations. Believe it or not, I’m pretty tight lipped about all this stuff to people I know well. Even though I run a blog where I disclose everything, I haven’t told anyone in my family about getting laser hair removal and I’ve only told a handful of close friends. I feel great about everything I’m going through, but I’d rather not bring it up to family until I’ve finished my sessions and I’m satisfied with my results. Also, it’s obviously a little weirder for guys to talk about than girls!

So, do you tell your family and friends that your getting laser hair removal?

Sorry for the lack of an update last week. I’ve been trying to take pictures every week but I’ve been having a hard time with my digital camera and lighting. The one’s from last week sucked so it wasn’t even worth posting them. My photos don’t want to turn out as sharp and focused as they did when I was in Florida. I guess I had much better lighting in the bathrooms.

Anyways, I sent out some press releases about the site last week, trying to get more visitors this way. The more people I can reach through this blog, the better! I really hope some people are finding this site useful or will in the future!

So it’s been two weeks now since my third laser hair removal session in New York City. Actually it’s been 15 days but close enough. Since the third session I’ve decided that I want to see how long I can go without shaving to see how everything is going! So it’s been 15 days and I haven’t shaved any of the treated areas. That’s almost a record. After the first session I went about 16 without shaving and then it got to the point that things were looking sloppy and things were getting very prickly. So far that hasn’t been the case though! Things are starting to look good and I’ve been shedding and I haven’t noticed much hair regrowth at this point! I know it’s only been about two weeks, but it’s looking like the hairs that are coming back may finally be starting to get thinner, shorter and lighter. However, this may only be the case in SOME areas….

What do I mean by that? Well, I’m really not sure what the heck is going on with my body right now, but all of a sudden I have tons of hairs on my shoulders! Also, hairs are coming in on my upper arms where there weren’t any hairs before. The first time I noticed the hairs on my shoulder I freaked out! Now I have one more area that I definitely need to get taken care of. But here’s the thing. I’m not sure if these hairs just randomly showed up after my third laser hair removal session by chance or if the lasers somehow “stimulated” these areas and actually caused the hair growth. I briefly read something about this on a laser hair removal forum but didn’t pay much attention at the time because it didn’t apply to me. So I think it’s time to hit the laser hair removal forums and also consult with Chris at Romeo and Juliette in NYC and see why this happened. I’m definitely going to start having my shoulders treated now because it looks very awkward having hair as shoulder pads now!

In all fairness, I’ve been getting the random hairs around my shoulders and around my upper back for some time now, so these patches of hairs were probably destined to happen sooner or later. But it’s time to get them taken care of now, along with the random neck hairs I’ve been getting creeping up above the neck of my t-shirts!

So with all this being said I think things are starting to progress as I always hoped they would. Being able to say that really excites me and makes me feel really good about this whole process and all the money that I’ve put into it! With that being said, I’ll leave you with some pictures I just took, 15 days after my third laser hair removal treatment in New York City!

Photos coming soon….hopefully…

At first I wasn’t sure if I should release the names of the laser hair removal centers that I was going to, because I wanted to see how things went. I really didn’t want to trash talk any centers on the internet, but everything has been going well and I’ve been very satisfied with the centers that I’ve been going to, so I think now is the time to release the names of the centers!

The center I went to in South Florida for my first and second laser hair removal treatments was Dermacare South Beach. Their website is http://www.dermacaresouthflorida.com and their direct phone number is 305-673-5016.

The center I went to for my third laser hair removal treatment and the center that I’m currently going to in New York City is Romeo and Juliette Laser Hair Removal. Their website is http://www.romeojuliettelaserhairremoval.com and their direct phone number is 212-750-2000. The owners name is Chris and he’s great!

Tell them that you heard about their center from the My Laser Hair Removal Story blog!

This is something I’ve been wondering lately. Do people go for touch ups if their center offers them, either for free or for a fee? I was offered free touch ups two weeks after my session, but I’m not sure if I’m going to take them up on the offer or not, being that NYC is 4+ hours away and gas is expensive these days. But I’m thinking it might be worth while to go at least once.

So, do you go for touch ups? Do your centers offer them for free?

I was Googling around the other day and came across this Fitzpatrick skin type test. I’m pretty sure this is the exact same Fitzpatrick skin type test I took when I went in for my first laser hair removal consultation. It looks like it’s copied onto about 1000 other web sites as well, so I’m guessing it’s safe to say this is the industry standard Fitzpatrick skin type test.

http://www.spa-medical.com/fitzpatrick_skin_typing_test.htm

I found some very useful links to help you find a laser hair removal center near you, mainly in the USA, as that’s where I live. The best part about these laser hair removal links is that these are mostly from the manufacturers of the lasers, so if your looking for a laser hair removal center with a certain type of laser, these searches can really help!

http://www.candelalaser.com/patients/index.cfm?task=practSearch
- Manufacturers of the GentleLase and GentleMax lasers.

http://www.cynosure.com/patients/practitioner-locator.php - Manufacturers of the Cynosure Elite lasers.

http://www.asds.net/find.html - American Society of Dermatological Surgery Procedure Provider Search

Thursday was my first laser hair removal session in NYC and things went really well. At first, there seemed to be a little confusion, but this was my fault! This was due to the fact that I had basically done a phone consultation with the owner two days before I actually made my appointment for this session. I should have just scheduled the consultation after speaking with the owner so we were all on the same page.

This time they used the GentleLASE Alexandrite laser at 14 joules, 3 milliseconds and either a 15 or 18mm spot size. I’m not sure exactly which spot size was used but I’m guessing it was the 18mm since it looked pretty big. I was a little surprised that they only used 14 joules, but because of the low 3 milliseconds setting along with the larger spot size, it still should have been pretty effective. 3 milliseconds is a lot different than the supposed 25 milliseconds setting at the previous center in Florida…Next time in NYC I will make a push to use a much higher joules setting.

Aside from a different laser, I also noticed that this center didn’t use any clear cooling gel on my skin during the session. They penciled my skin into much smaller areas that were easy to keep track of so they knew what areas were treated. I noticed that my legs hurt more this time, which could be because I forgot to take a couple Tylenol before the session, the different laser or the lack of the clear cooling gel. Because the techs didn’t have to screw around with the clear cooling gel, the session was also much shorter than in Florida. The total time with the laser was probably about an hour where in Florida it was much closer to 2 hours every time.

Also, I noticed that my skin didn’t swell up like it did last time. Last time it swelled up so much that I started to get worried, but this time it didn’t look so bad.

Overall, I definitely recommend this new center! I’ll be posting the names of the centers that I’ve been going to in the next few days, so stay tuned for that! The only issue is that I think both these centers seem to go easy on you the first session, so they see how you react, so if you know how you react, you have to be firm about wanting stronger settings.

Because I was far from home I didn’t get to take photos of my skin until about 8 hours later. Also, I don’t think the pics came out that good, but here they are anyways, in traditional fashion detailing the redness of my skin after. Click the picture for a larger image.

Previous Posts: My First Laser Hair Removal Session & My Second Laser Hair Removal Session

Early tomorrow morning I’ll be driving to New York City for an afternoon laser hair removal appointment. This will be my third laser hair removal treatment and the first at this new center in New York City. Everything I’ve seen about this place has been very positive, even though some said the price was expensive. But I should be paying around $1000 for this session, unless I go with a package deal. I may get the session for as low as $950 if I don’t come back for touch ups in 2-3 weeks, but I haven’t dealth with the exact specifics of that yet, but I will let everyone know what I ended up paying after tomorrow.

Additionally, I called my center in South Florida today and got my laser settings, so the new NYC center can be sure to use the same, or higher, settings. They were using the Cynosure Elite 755 Alexandrite at 18 joules with a 25 milliseconds pulse and a 12mm spot size. The Florida clinic said that they should probably up the settings to at least 20 joules tomorrow.

So right now I’m all shaved up and ready to go tomorrow. I probably won’t be able to take pictures right after the sessions, like I have in the past, since I’m not able to go right home and snap away 20 minutes after. I’ll try to figure something out tomorrow though. Maybe I’ll bring in my camera or iPhone in and take them right there after I’m done.

More to come tomorrow night or Friday!…..

So I’ve been looking around and doing some research on laser hair removal centers around CT, Boston and New York City and I think I just found a new center that I really want to try in NYC! I was pretty set on going back to Florida and actually tried to call my center a few times, but I think I called just a little to late each day, so I haven’t booked any more treatments with them. I was planning on getting same day round-trip plane tickets and figuring that into my budget and everything so I could make the Florida thing work, but if this place in NYC is as good as everyone says it is, then I think its definitely worth a shot! They’ve won best laser hair removal center in NYC on CitySearch a few times, and the guy who owns it is pretty big in the laser hair removal industry, so I decided to give them a call and talk to someone. Turns out I was put through to the owner! I explained my situation and heard what he had to offer and things went really well. They definitely don’t try and pressure you to go with them. Also, I was quoted a very similar price to what I’ve been paying, and what I was expecting to pay for going back to FL, minus the flight expenses, so this NYC center is sounding very attractive! Also, I made sure they have the Cynosure Elite model I’ve been using, which they do!

It’s SO much easier for me to just drive to NYC and then drive home than it is for me to drive to the airport (2 hours away) then fly down to FL, get a rental car and drive to the center, then reverse the whole process!

Oh, and the owner explained how the sessions price includes touch ups which are done between sessions to make sure everything is looking good! I’m not sure I would do these sessions, because NYC is still a little bit of a journey for me to make every couple weeks, but its an attractive offer.

So if you can’t already figure out the name of the NYC laser hair removal center that I’m talking about then you’ll have to wait. Sorry! I haven’t actually committed to anything with them yet, but I’m pretty close. Especially because I need to go for my next session in about 1-2 weeks. I’m just trying to decide if I want to commit to a package of 3 or 4 sessions or just go with one session for now and see how things go in NYC. If things go well, I’ll definitely let everyone know which NYC laser hair removal center I’m going to!

I’ll update once I figure out what I’m going to do in the next couple days.

For any die hard followers of the site, sorry I haven’t posted in the past two weeks! Lots has been going on in my life and I’ve been busy and unplugged from the internet for a good portion of the time. As I write this, I’m now back up north and no longer living in South Florida. So that means one important thing….I have to find a new skin care clinic! Well, that is, if I don’t want to fly to Miami every 6 weeks….but I’m thinking that I do. I’ve had good luck at this place so far and really like their staff and their work, so I’m planning on calling them tomorrow and speaking with the lady who I arranged all the pricing with at my first consultation and seeing what they can do for me.

Since my last update I’ve been noticing a further loss of color in some areas of my legs! The white areas are getting more and more noticeable. Also, I’m starting to SLIGHTLY notice this in my arms as well. The good news is that I asked about this on a laser hair removal forum and found out this is called “hypopigmentation.” Here is the brief Wikipedia entry. Basically, hypopigmentation is the opposite of hyperpigmentation and is where you lose color in you skin due to a loss of melanocyte. So I need to call up my local dermatologist or go see my local doctor and try to get something to help this. I hear they give you a cream and it goes away in a few months, so that is good news, because I was starting to worry about the adverse side effects of laser hair removal. I stress out about this stuff a lot!

I’ve definitely been getting annoyed with the frequency of my leg shaving situation as well. It seems like every four days or so I need to shave my legs or they start to itch and feel prickly. This is also stressing me out and making me wish I could move through the laser hair removal process quicker. It also makes me think the treatments aren’t working, but its only been two sessions so far, so it’s not like I should be expecting zero hair growth at this point! I need to avoid these negative thoughts and stay motivated about laser hair removal. I definitely don’t ever want the same leg or arm hair again!

Also, I wanted to mention that I’m seriously thinking of having laser hair removal done on my lower neck area. By lower neck area I mean the area just above the neck of a t-shirt. I have chest hairs creeping up this area and they’re really starting to bother me. Why can’t my chest hair just stay on my chest and leave my neck alone? So I will probably be having this done the next time I go in for a laser hair removal session. I’m a little worried about this area hurting, as it seems like it may be more sensitive. I’ll keep everyone updated on the situation.

So it’s already been two weeks! Time flys! That means I only have 4 more weeks to figure out WTF I’m going to do for my next session. Right now I have two options: fly back down to Florida for another session or try to find some place good near New York/Boston/Connecticut. So far I’m leaning more towards flying down to Florida, even if it would be more expensive and more of a hassle. Why? Because I like the place I’ve been going and I feel very comfortable there now. I’m wondering how much I could get them down to for my next session. I paid $1000 for each session so far, but I’m wonder if I book 3 or 4 more sessions with them if I could get them down to around $750-800 a session. That would make up for the price of my flights down to Florida anyways.

Something I’ve noticed in the past few weeks, but haven’t blogged about yet, is the fact that my right leg has some areas that are whiter than others now. Also, I noticed a few small areas on my left leg now that has the same thing happening. It’s causing a little bit of concern. The problem is that I don’t remember if the white areas were there before I started my first session or not. I remember it there after the first session, but I had so much hair on my legs for so many years that theres no way I would have noticed this and I only had my legs shaved for about 16 hours before my first laser hair removal session. I read something yesterday about pigments of skin becoming DARKER around some areas as a result of laser hair removal, but I didn’t see anything about the skin becoming LIGHTER.

If anyone has any idea about what I’m talking about here please leave me a comment and help me out!