My Laser Hair Removal Story

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!…..