Hi
Just a little warning, this post is a bit of a long one so grab yourself a drink!
Most of you should know by now that I am Indian. Being Indian means I get to eat amazing food and dress up in pretty asian sari’s but that also means I am a hairy beast haha.
If you are hairy and you’re confident and don’t want to remove it, that’s brilliant. If it makes you feel shit (it shouldn’t but it happens) and knocks your confidence, then I suggest taking some action.
The hair on my upper lip really bothered me growing up. I mean we all have it, it’s just my hair is darker and more visible. It was actually comments I received from boys when I was younger that made me feel paranoid about it. They would point it out and tell me I needed to wax it or bleach it (does anyone remember the days of Jolene?).
My mom was dead against me shaving and threading etc until I was about 16 years old which is when I started to get my upper lip threaded. I would shave or wax the bottom half of my legs and underarms and that was about it. However a couple of my girl friends convinced me to get my side burns threaded and it was the BIGGEST mistake I made. Apart from the pain I was left with super sore skin and spots that took months and months to go away. To be honest it didn’t bother me and haven’t done anything to it since.
Over the last year or so I’ve been contemplating getting laser hair removal. I’m fed up of threading my upper lip as it leaves me with spots and I’m at the point where the hair on my underarms really has started to bother me. I go to the gym 4 types a week and it means I’m shaving constantly. I would occasionally be able to let my hair grow to wax it but not very often and even if I did I would end up with ingrown hairs, bumps and neither shaving or waxing got rid of that dark shadow that a lot of women battle.
So, after a hell of a lot of research into the different types of laser and different companies I decided that the YAG laser was the best for my skin tone, hair type and would give me the best results. Its more expensive than other lasers but most effective. I’d been to a few local clinics to see what they were like, came away and decided that I wanted to get my treatment done at SKN clinic. The great thing about SKN is that they have clinics all across the UK and a brilliant reputation.
I booked myself in for a 1 hour consultation at the Skn clinic in Nottingham, West Bridgford. Prior to the appointment I refrained from removing my hair from the areas that I wanted treating so they could see the colour and thickness of the hair. I was seen by a lovely lady called Ashley and we sat down, went through some paperwork, medical history, all the areas I wanted treating and whether they could be treated and she answered all the questions I had.
So, I decided that the areas I wanted treating were my upper lip, chin and underarms. Ashley checked over each of the areas and told me whether the hair was suitable. I have also inserted pictures so you can see what the hair was like before any treatment.
Upper lip and Chin
So here is my upper lip and chin area. This hair type and colour is perfect for treatment and I got the go ahead. It was hard to photograph the hairs on my chin as there are very few but if you zoom in you can see them, they are very similar to the hair on my upper lip but I just get odd ones here and there rather than a consistent growth all over.
Underarms
The first picture is after a shave and the following picture is after 6 days of growth. This hair type and colour was perfect for treatment and an area I would see the best results. (You can see from the first picture that I have that dark shadowing that a lot of us battle with).
Sideburns
I wanted to show you an area of hair on me that was unacceptable. Here is a picture of my sideburns and the hair here would not be treated as it is too fine and almost fluffy. I was told that the laser could stimulate more hair growth.
This was a very interesting point as when I was doing my research I came across many bad reviews from some clinics where their treatment failed and resulted in more hair growing. I was baffled at how that was possible! This made me realise that some laser clinics would treat any hair regardless if it was suitable or not and it was a matter of just getting clients booked in and bringing in the money. I was glad they were honest and told me straight. Even if I wanted to take the risk and get that area treated they would not go ahead with it which i think is brilliant.
Once I’d had the consultation and decided what areas I was going to have treated, Ashley showed me around the room I would be treated in and continued with a patch test. This was really important for me because it gave me the reassurance that it was suitable for my skin and I got an idea of how it was going to feel before I committed to anything. 3 laser shots were done on my lip, chin and underarms.
So how did the laser feel? The test patch didn’t hurt, It felt like a little needle pricking you very gently. The hand-held laser gun has a flow of cold air that blows on your skin to cool the area. It left my skin ever so slightly red but no tenderness.
24 hours after my patch test there were no reactions, spots, rash etc so I was good to go ahead with the treatment and I was booked in 4 days later and decided to go for 6 sessions on my upper lip, chin and underarms.
I attended my appointment on the 13th Feb and taken to the laser room by Ashley and the areas that were to be treated were cleansed to ensure that there were no traces of makeup on my face and deodorant on my underarms.
I had my upper lip and chin area treated first and was provided with a pair of total black out glasses to wear to protect my eyes from the laser . The areas on my face were treated 2-3 shots at a time, about 3-5 seconds break in between to have a breather. I’m so glad it was done 3 shots at a time haha, I found it quite painful and the little break allowed me to get ready for the next round. I would say the upper lip area and chin area took about 4-5 minutes to complete. The pain/discomfort out of 10 was about a 6, with the area directly under my nose being higher at about 8. If you’ve had your upper lip threaded you will know how sensitive this area can be and that its painful but bearable. The pain/discomfort on my chin was about a 4.
Now time to treat the underarm area. Now I thought that the underarms were going to be really painful but I was surprised that they weren’t at all. The pain/discomfort out of 10 was about a 2. Both underarms were treated in about 6 mins.
That is it, I was in and out in no time and couldn’t wait to see the results.
The after care of having laser is simple, the areas in contact with the sun such as my upper lip and chin need to be protected by SPF daily. This wasn’t a problem for me as I wear it daily anyway.
I will be back at the clinic every 4-6 weeks and updating this post after every session so you can see the changes in the hair, how the skin looks etc.
Update 1- Results after first session
After just one session I know I’ve made the right decision and so happy. It was difficult to capture the hair on my upper lip as it was so fine. Basically majority of the hair in all areas that have been treated grew out and fell out. Here are some pics of my underarms so you can see the results after the first session.
Date 19th Feb – 6 days after the laser session
Date 4th March – 22 days after the first session
As you see from the last two pictures 90% of all the hair has fallen out.
I’ll be back in the clinic very soon and keep this post updated. I will try to take pictures of my upper lip. I’m on the hunt for a different sense.
If you have any questions about my journey at all please drop me and email Pam@accessoryfreaks.co.uk or contact your local SKN clinic and get yourself a free consultation, you’ve got nothing to lose. They also have some great offers on at the moment so make sure you visit their site and check it out! Please click here to view prices and visit the FAQ section.
(Please note that some of my sessions have been gifted to me but the rest have been paid for by myself and this does not affect my opinion on the treatment).
