Hi guys! If you’re reading this, you probably know that towards the end of last year I started getting laser hair removal for the first time! I wanted to wait until I was getting it for several months before answering any questions and sharing my experience. So far though I am really loving it and have been so happy with my results. Even just after a few treatments, I am only shaving my legs once a week and my underarms like 2x a month! And I’m not even halfway done lol. So today I wanted to go ahead and answer some of the questions you sent in. Hopefully these help if you’ve been considering getting laser treatments. And for whatever it’s worth, if you’re in the Raleigh area I see Ashley at The Lotus Spa and have been super happy. She is an NP (nurse practitioner) that several of my friends recommended and I can’t recommend her enough! She’s super sweet, knowledgeable, professional, and prices are very reasonable. Okay, so onto your questions!

-Does it hurt? This was by far the most common question! I’ll put it this way, it’s not comfortable but it’s not painful either. Some areas on your legs like your shins (at least for me) can be more sensitive than others but overall it’s not bad at all. Ashley says she likes to describe it as a hot rubber band being snapped against your skin. It’s just that brief moment of “uncomfortableness” but it’s not painful. Also, depending on where you’re getting lasered the sessions go by pretty quickly. It’s not like you’re there for 2 hours!

-How much does each session cost? So this is really dependent on where you go and what you’re getting done. I will say one of the turn offs for me getting laser in the past has been the price. But once my friends were sharing with me about the Lotus Spa regarding their experience and pricing, I was definitely interested in looking into it. Their prices are very reasonable compared to other places in the area and have great specials. You can find their pricing here.

-How often do you go in for treatments? The answer to this one also is that it depends! Right now for my underarms I go in every 4 weeks, and then every 8 weeks for my legs.

-Are there follow up treatments needed after all your initial sessions/how long does it last/do you have to do follow ups over the years? Another super popular question(s). I asked Ashley this just to clarify and she said that most women will achieve 90-95% clearance after 8 treatments, and that hair will not grow back. She said once the hair is dead, it’s dead. That being said, that 5-10% that is left over, some women will go in for 2 more follow up treatments to try and reach that 100%, while other women are totally fine with having to shave/touch up a small area here and there. For me, I’d personally be fine with the 90-95% of my hair being gone!

-Does it work on hair regardless of the color, thickness, etc? Ashley said the key is that there is contrast between your hair color and skin color. So the color itself doesn’t matter that much but what the hair color looks like against your skin. So if you’re really fair and you have super blonde hair and they blend really easily, then you may not be the best candidate.

-What do you do to prepare for session? No self tanner for 2 weeks prior, shave the day before, no sun exposure to the area being lasered 2 weeks before, no antibiotics for 7 days, no biotin. Also, you can’t take biotin (and I don’t think collage either) during your treatments. It will make the hair follicles harder to kill.

-Do you have to do it again after pregnancy (re: hormones?) No. Once hair is dead it’s dead. You are born with a certain number of hair follicles and once they are dead they cannot come back. If you get pregnant during your treatment sessions, you can just stop and resume post pregnancy. (Laser hair is one of those treatments where it couldn’t hurt a fetus, however, most women just put their treatments on pause during pregnancy since there hasn’t been “official” research done on getting laser treatment while pregnant).

-Do you have to grow out your hair first? Nope, just shave the day before your session 🙂

-How did you decide what areas to do? I originally did my legs because I feel like they take the most time to shave and they would be the most convenient to have done. I then added on my underarms because the sessions themselves only take about 10 minutes so I figured why not add it on. The next area I’d probably do would be my bikini line.

-Can you still shave in between sessions or do you have to wax? Shaving  is fine! You actually shouldn’t wax in between because you do not want to do anything that takes the follicle out. But otherwise you can shave like normal .

-Have you gotten your eyebrows done before? Nope! Ashley said this is a “big no-no” because it’s too close to your eyes.

Let me know if I missed anything and I’ll answer below! And if you’re in the Raleigh area, definitely give Ashley a visit!!