A Guide to Facial Laser Hair Removal

Facial hair can make some guys look bad.  Imagine then having it as a woman- it's exponentially more unsightly for a woman to sport facial hair, as moustaches and beards are considered to be for men only.  To the less sensitive, it may seem a simple matter of shaving off the hair.  But this can cause the area to look, well, like a shaved man.  And shaved hair tends to just come back as stubble, thicker and darker.  There's not too many permanent solutions for women, though all treatment results vary.  Some women may have very positive results with waxing, depilitory creams, or electrolysis, and each has its upsides and downsides.  None of these treatments tends to be permanent, though they may be helpful.  While laser facial hair removal may also not be permanent, results do tend to last longer than the other options.  It is designed to remove fifty to seventy percent of hair in three treatments spaced six weeks apart.  Follow up treatments are meant to remove all hair.  Treatments are rather costly, though, with laser facial hair removal cost at around $150 to $350 per area of the face treated.  This article will explore the procedure, risks, as well as the alternatives to facial laser hair removal.

Facial hair laser removal works by focusing a beam of light on a hair.  The light is absorbed and damages the hair follicle, which discourages growth of hair.  Depending on the individual, results can persist for months or even years.  There's really no telling until you've tried it, but the best candidates for laser hair removal are pale skinned women with dark hair.  That's because dark hair and pale skin more easily absorbs the light from the laser.  Options do exist for all types of skin and hair, however, so the treatment still might work if you're not pale with dark hair.  The procedure can feel like a gentle pinch, but some may also experience somewhat stronger sensations, like a rubber band snapping against the skin.  Some women may experience scarring, so proceed at your own risk, especially with places that offer discounts on the procedure.  You will probably have a better chance of having good results if you go to a medical facility that does the hair removal procedure.  When in doubt, trying a tiny area first may be a good idea.  The quality of the laser is important, so you will want to make sure that other clients who have had the procedure done at the place you are considering have had good results.  If a place tells you that hair removal is guaranteed, there's a good chance they are untrustworthy as the success of laser hair removal is dependant on several factors and the results can't really be known before actually carrying out the procedure.

One of the great benefits of using laser for facial hair removal is that you don't risk in-grown hair like you do with waxing, which merely damages the follicle as opposed to actually killing it like laser does.  The pain tends to be less, too, as some have said that the pain of waxing is worse than childbirth.  Darker skinned women don't have to worry as much about skin getting discolored if irritated by the waxing.  That said, waxing can show good results on the upper lip, though it usually only lasts from two to six weeks.  This can be a good alternative if you only need to de-hair a small portion of skin like the upper lip.
Compared to electrolysis, laser hair removal takes less sessions and less time per session as electrolysis needs to be done to each hair follicle.  However, electrolysis can also be effective in removing hair for long periods of time (perhaps even permanently), and can be a good choice if laser doesn't work, or if it just makes more sense to you.  Electrolysis uses low level electricity to remove hairs instead of the focused light of a laser.  
Depilation creams aren't really suitable for the face because they can irritate more sensitive facial skin and don't usually remove all hairs.  These creams are more suitable for large areas of hair that need to be removed from the body, like the legs and back. 
If you can afford the facial laser hair removal cost and decide to try it, there are some precautions you need to take before getting treatment.  Firstly, you want to not shave the areas to be treated for at least a week before treatment, because hair have to be a certain length in order for the treatment to work.  Don't worry about the hairs getting too long, because they are shaved down to the proper length by the treatment specialists beforehand.  Also avoid getting sun exposure or tanning on the spots to be treated, as pigment is supposed to increase the chances of getting burned.  You should also avoid exposing treated parts to the sun after the procedure is carried out.