EXPERIENCE | Laser Hair Removal with NuAGE Laser & Skin Care Review and How It Works!

I received these treatments in exchange for my honest review.

In January of this year I embarked on something that has honestly always terrified me - laser hair removal. On the recommendation of fellow Vancouver blogger, Chelsea from Olive & Ivy, I decided to have my first laser hair removal experience with NuAGE Laser and hopefully stop worrying about shaving for good!

Located on Thurlow Street in the Coal Harbour area of downtown Vancouver, NuAGE Laser is located within The Salon Beauty Bar so you literally can also get your hair, nails and a facial done all in the same place!

The treatments I opted for were the underarms and the Brazilian area so I will not be sharing before and after photos to keep Cosmetic Proof good fun for the whole family! In total, these two areas require 6 sessions to completely eliminate hair growth. Males generally require 6-8 sessions due to testosterone.  My first consultation with CEO of NuAGE Laser, Ellie Yousiefian put me at ease right away because she gave me the full honest lowdown on what laser hair removal is and what to expect. You guys know I like the science behind things and that is EXACTLY what Ellie did. She got out her Ipad and drew diagrams of the epidermis and explained in a completely approachable way how hair normally grows and how laser prevents future hair growth. The consultation alone instantly made me feel better about the whole process!  One of the many things I learned about laser hair removal (LHR) is that each hair on your body has its own growth cycle which means that each hair goes through growth, maturity and then death (falls out). This life cycle can last anywhere from 4-8 weeks. At any given point, each hair on your body is in any of these states which is why a few sessions of LHR are often required as the laser works BEST on hair in the GROWTH state.    

Session 1: January 29th, 2016

This was my consultation with Ellie and after signing off on paperwork, she gave me the choice to either come back for my treatment or start right away. Seeing as how this was my first time, pain was DEFINITELY a concern so we decided to just do my underarms. It took 5 minutes and there was no pain at all. Like, NONE. On a scale of 1-10, I'd say it was a 1. It was so easy that I couldn't believe that was it!

When it comes to home care and LHR, only shaving is permitted. Any hair that grows cannot be waxed or tweezed out as we want to capture as many hairs as possible in that growth state. Pulling the hair out does not give the laser a large enough blood source to "see" as we put hair back into the "maturity" state as opposed to "growth" where the blood source to the hair is more significant (Ellie's diagram explains it SO MUCH BETTER).

Session 2: February 19th, 2016

As the life cycle of hair is 4-8 weeks, my next appointment was scheduled for about a month later and it included both the underarms and a Brazilian. I came a little more prepared this time dressed in relatively loose clothing, no deodorant (you can't wear it for about an hour after treatment) and had shaved both areas as closely as possible. Wanna know why? If there is hair on the surface, the laser will first burn the hair and then go underneath the skin's surface which hurts more. Shave AS CLOSE to your appointment as possible!

Underarms were pretty much painless like the first session and already by the second session I had already noticed a difference. I usually have to shave my underarms every 2-3 days, but from the first to the second sessions, I only needed to shave ONCE. Ellie had warned me that laser hair removal might not work on everyone so I was glad to see that I was NOT one of those people!

Brazilians are such a common thing and yet somewhat taboo mainly because of the areas involved. I mean, Ellie and I had just met and she was going to see what my husband sees. If you are at all nervous about this sort of thing, just remember that people like Ellie have seen it ALL! Right away, Ellie asked me whether I wanted a landing strip or have everything removed so that I looked like 7-year old again (my words, not hers). When I asked her what most people get, she said that women in their 50s want a clean look, while women in their 20s and 30s want a landing strip. Go figure. I eventually opted for a landing strip after this conversation:

Jayne: "Are you able to do my husband's initials?"
Ellie: (laughs) "I could try!"
Jayne: "Let's go for the landing strip then."
Ellie: (Slowly hands me a special pen) "Would you like to draw your own strip?".
Jayne: "Oh...that's ok. I trust you to make sure it looks good".

To be honest, having one person looking at my vagina was more than enough. It didn't need any more attention from me.

Image credit: www.glamour.com

The pain level was higher in certain areas than what I had experienced with the underarms which did not surprise me. Was it worse than getting waxed? NO. Absolutely not! Waxing hurts way more! I have heard some people equate the sensation of LHR to the snapping of rubber bands on the skin which I suppose is somewhat accurate. The "snapping" feels highly focused and the pain does not last the way it does after a wax.
Your pubic area will feel a little sore afterwards, so don't go for a bike ride or do anything that requires a lot of contact with that area.

Session 3: March 17th, 2016

This was to be another underarms and Brazilian session, but I had ZERO underarm hair! Ellie and I rejoiced and decided that today we would just focus on the Brazilian area and do the underarms the month after. In addition to the less hair growth, I noticed that the hair in the Brazilian area was just breaking off. It was growing, but was so brittle that I could just "break off" pieces of hair. It was sort of odd, but when I mentioned this to Ellie, she was very pleased. We used a different laser this session which covered a bit more area and I will admit that this session seemed to be a bit more painful in that "triangle" area. Still not as painful as waxing, but on a scale of 1-10, I was probably at a 5. I don't have TOO much hair so I was done in about 15-20 minutes. 

I am due for my next session this month, but what I noticed for the month of April was how much finer my hair was growing back. Almost like baby hair! Of all the areas I hate ridding of hair, I will be grateful to be hair-free in the underarms and Brazilian area!

This is Part 1 of my LHR experience and I know this was a wordy one, so applause if you made it to the end! Stay tuned for Part 2 of my experience with NuAGE Laser & Skin!