Here’s the thing, there’s a ton of information out there about Laser Hair (LHR), and I felt after reading them I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. But boy was I wrong… so wrong. Nearly 1 year into this and I’m thinking: “How come no one’s talking about this?” And I know it’s not just peculiar to me, because I’ve shared with a couple friends who’ve also been consistent longer than I have, and they also experienced the same things. All the reviews I’d read gushed about how amazing LHR was, with a few standard warnings like: make sure it’s the sort of Laser that works for you skin-type, stick to your regrowth cycle, it won’t work on light hair, etc. We’ve even contributed to the conversation with our Laser Series: 10 IMPORTANT FACTS TO KNOW ABOUT LASER HAIR REMOVAL FOR DARK SKIN.

However there are a few important things all these reviews were missing and I’m going to share them today. I’m going to give you the real-real about LHR.

Here’s 5 things no one told you about Laser Hair Removal:

1. YOU WILL GET INGROWN HAIR

My least favourite thing about LHR is the fact I need to shave before every appointment, because my skin DETESTS a razor…. except the skin on my legs. I literally hadn’t shaved my underarms in well over a decade and had never ever shaved my bikini area until LHR. You can read all about my hair removal methods & frequencies here. However, I ASSUMED perhaps something about the Laser zapping the hairs will prevent in-growns coming through… well you know what the say about assumptions. Just know if you’re prone to in-grown hairs, LHR doesn’t automatically stop them. Even my Laser Tech in London (which is where I first got LHR on my bikini area), said it was completely normal and would subside after a few more sessions. She was right, I still get them, but definitely not as crazy as the first couple of times. And I believe they will completely stop eventually. [update, March 2024: I actually get ZERO ingrowns on my bikini area now]

2. THE HAIR DOES GROW BACK

I feel like every professional describes LHR as permanent hair REDUCTION, but for some reason our minds prefer to register it as permanent hair REMOVAL. Boys & Girls, the hair will grow back! However, a lot of things about the re-growth will change significantly, for the better. Like I shared in my last post about LHR, my re-growth cycle between sessions is much longer, the hair isn’t as thick and there is a SIGNIFICANT reduction in the amount of hair that grows back.

3. PAIN-THRESHOLDS ARE REAL, AND THEY WIDELY DIFFER

Someone who recently tried out a place I’d also been to in the past shared that the pain during her sessions was near unbearable. And I honestly could not relate. I barely flinched during my session. Here’s a timelapse video of my last session at Skye Aesthetics, I was on my phone the entire time: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cd5gr1WFCN6/

4. TIME INTERVALS BETWEEN SESSIONS WILL VARY FROM PERSON TO PERSON

Just like we are all so very different, so is everyone’s LHR journey. The commonly recommended time between sessions are:

  • Facial hair: Every 4-6 weeks.
  • Body hair: Every 6-8 weeks.
  • Hair on the back, legs, chest & stomach: Every 8-10 weeks.

But this is simply a guide. For instance, I was started off at 3-weeks between sessions and then moved to 4-weeks, then 5 and now I’m at 6-weeks. Allow your Laser Technician make the recommendations on your intervals, and do your best to stick with them.

5. THE ‘IN-BETWEENS’ ARE ANNOYING AS HELL!

I think this is my least favourite thing about LHR right now. I say ‘right now’ because I know that overtime it will change. Let me paint a real-life scenario that happened: So I have plans to head to the beach over the weekend and my bikini line and underarms are simply not ‘beach-ready’. What do I do? Do I shave and risk an outbreak of in-grown hairs or do I move my LHR appointment up and mess up the cycle? Don’t even THINK about getting a wax, because apparently that just cancels all your progress and brings you back to level 1 (don’t quote me though, this is what I was told by a friend but I haven’t tested the theory… and won’t). Anyway it’s certainly like being between a rock and a hard place. This is why I say the ‘in-betweens’ are annoying, because the decision here is to not go swimming.

With LHR sessions, the actual appointment needs to coincide with your growth cycle so it zaps the hair at the right time and you truly benefit from the results. Some people have said that after a few more LHR sessions, I should be ok to shave when these sort of things come up, and it won’t be detrimental to my skin. We’ll see….

That’s it! Those are the 5 things I wish I’d read/seen somewhere to better prepare me. They would definitely not have stopped me starting this journey, but they absolutely would’ve helped me manage my expectations better.

I hope this helped and if you’ve got more to add, please share in the comments