About 2 weeks ago, I had my first experience with laser hair removal with A Beautiful You Medical Spa. I’ve always been one for at-home grooming/maintenance treatments, but I’d been curious about laser hair removal for a while so I decided to give it a try.

First things first: while I have a high tolerance for pain, I try to avoid painful things at all costs. When it came to hair removal, shaving has always been quick and easy, but truth be told, it is a PROCESS, especially dealing with your bikini area. The positions that you have to put yourself in to make sure you remove everything borders on making yourself a contortionist (if you know, you know), so when the opportunity came for me to try it out (and finally get over my irrational fear of something bad happening), I decided to take a chance.

Prior to my actual treatment, I had a consultation with the owner Lorrie Fisk. Lorrie explained how everything works and gave me a little background information on the company (they’re formally Sona MedSpa Memphis) and while it was definitely informative and helped eased my mind about the service (because who wouldn’t be nervous about dealing with lasers in their bikini area??), I loved how personable she is. It was like talking with a girlfriend and for me, it’s very important to have a connection like that. It just makes everything go, well… smoother, if you know what I mean. Lol. So after our consultation about what I would get done (I decided to do a Brazilian -if you’re going to do it, go all the way!), I made my appt for the following week and got myself mentally prepared.

So how do you prepare for laser hair removal? Well, there are a couple of things that you have to do. They advise you to avoid tanning and long term exposure to the sun for at least 2 weeks (our bodies naturally retain heat and using lasers increases that so you definitely want to pay attn to this), and to shave the night before (this helps to lessen sensitivity). During your consultation they ask you about any medications you may be taking because some antibiotics can cause your body to hold heat as well, and then they ask you to avoid wearing fake tanner, deodorant and lotion during your appt (lasers look for color and sometimes there is dye in products and you don’t want to accidently get burned or have hypopigmentation, which lightens the skin). In the event you come with them on, they do offer wipes, towels and soap for quick removal. Before my service, my specialist came in (Michelle) and after we went over these things and chatted a bit about the overall process, she gave me a robe, glasses to protect my eyes, ice, and left me alone to undress and get situated.

Before Michelle left, she told me that I might hate her for about 5 minutes but that it would pass. I didn’t understand why she said that…until I picked up one of the bags of ice. So… because I decided to do a full Brazilian, I had to place one bag of ice on the pubic region (where you have a landing strip) and the other one on my labia. Let me tell you…this is a sensation unlike any other that I have ever felt in my life and for those 5 minutes that I had to sit like this, I did, indeed, hate Michelle. IT. WAS. COLD.

When Michelle came back in, we laughed, removed the ice (thank God!) and got started. The ice is applied to assist with numbing but they also use a numbing gel during the process to ensure that you don’t feel anything, so depending on your threshold for pain you may not even need it. A Beautiful You Medical Spa uses The Venus Velocity™, which works by delivering energy to the hair follicle, where it’s absorbed by the hair pigment and follicle. It targets the hair follicle in the anagen phase, which is when the hair responds best to the treatment. About 30% of your hair is in this phase at any given time, which is why you need multiple treatments (typically 5-7) to see results.

During the process they glide the device over the area being treated, and you can hear the laser “zaps” as it covers the area. Before doing the full treatment, Michelle tested how the laser felt and adjusted the settings (it should feel like a warm rubber-band popping you; if it feels like you’re being burned by a hot curler or touched a stove it’s too hot and they can adjust it). The goal is to use the most effective setting without it being too hot because this helps to prevent you from having any burns, scarring, etc. The first 2 zaps were intense and I flinched a little but once she adjusted it I honestly didn’t feel a thing. After about 10-15 minutes I was done.

If you follow me on IG I made a few posts making faces during the process but it was all for fun. I was actually quite shocked that it didn’t hurt! The technology for the service has changed so much over the years, and while everyone’s experience will be different, I for one, did not have a bad experience. I felt warm in the area for a few hours (this is natural because our body retains heat), but after awhile it was gone.

It’s now almost 2 weeks later, and I did not experience any pain, ingrown hairs or scarring. Hair grows in a cycle of three stages: anagen (growth), catagen (transitional), and telogen (resting), so to have the most optimal results, 5-7 treatments are typical (they occur every 6 weeks), but for darker skin tones, you may have to do up to 10 just to ensure that the hair is safely removed without harming your skin. After each treatment you’re advised to keep track of how hair grows back (if the texture is different, patchy, etc) so that they can make the proper adjustments at your next visit. I have very thick hair that grows fast (I’m talking shaving in the morning with 5 o’clock shadow by end of the day), and there was big difference in growth (very slow) and texture (hair is softer, finer). That alone let me know that this was a great decision and I’m looking forward to completing the treatments and doing it on other areas. I will keep you guys posted with updates after each treatment.

If you’re interested in trying laser hair removal but have more questions, A Beautiful You Medical Spa offers free quotes; they have customizable packages, and the staff is so informed and helpful in helping you figure out what you want and need. They currently have a Buy Any Area Of Permanent Hair Removal & Get Two More Areas Free special in place and have a “Beauty Promise Program” which offers a lifetime of protection for your investment. If you’ve been thinking about trying laser hair removal, I recommend it.

A Beautiful You Medical Spa
6750 Poplar Ave #202
Memphis, TN 38138
(901) 683-8220

If you have any questions about my experience, please comment below-I’d love to help if I can!

This post is in collaboration with A Beautiful You Medical Spa, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. Please note that I am NOT a medical professional, and that this post is based off my own treatments and experiences and that results will differ for everyone. 

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