Don’t you just hate it when you've got dressed up ready for
a night out and you leave the house to get in your taxi and you always think you've forgotten something? For some, it’s their ID, for others it’s forgetting
to shave your armpits, which is a big no-no if you’re wearing a vest top or
strappy dress.
The cringey moment when you’re dancing the night away and
get a glimpse of your pit stubble just ruins your entire night. Well, for me,
these kinds of slip ups are a thing of the past! Never again will I have the
rush of embarrassment on the tube when I don’t get a seat and my stubbly pit is
in someone’s face. (This actually has never happened to me, but just the
thought of it makes me feel a bit ill...) So last Thursday I underwent laser
hair removal. Honestly the best decision I've made and already I'm reaping the
benefits!
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| Pulse Light Clinic, Fenchurch Street |
After doing a considerable amount of research on the subject,
I decided to go under the laser at Pulse Light Clinic, Fenchurch Street, London,
and get those pesky unwanted hairs removed permanently. Unlike getting a
tattoo... this is definitely something you can look back on when you’re 50 and
still think it was a good idea! I'm much more comfortable with permanently
removing something from my body than permanently adding something, even though I
do have tattoos!
Before you can begin your laser treatment, which, depending on the area on your body you’re having done, can take multiple visits (for underarms it can take between 4-6); you must go for an initial consultation and skin test. The appointment its self only lasted a few minutes and it’s more to gauge whether your skin will react to the laser or not. Whatever your skin type and skin colour, they are able to select a machine that is best suited to you, to ensure you get the best results in the least amount of treatments as possible
I, for some unknown reason decided to book my appointment
with Pulse Light Clinic for the day of the August Tube Strike, so it took me
many bus journeys and ended up with me running across London to make the
appointment! Upon arrival you must fill out a form detailing whether you've recently had exposure to the sun or are wearing fake tan or have treated yourself
to a sun bed or two. Secondly they assess how sensitive your skin is and whether you’re on any medication. Basic questions really!
The skin test itself is simply a session of the laser
treatment on a very concentrated area. For me, the technician zapped away 3
hairs in my left armpit. Pain-wise, it didn't hurt at all, it was just a bit
weird. Not as painful as waxing by far but more like a small pluck of the
hairs.
Blowing ice cold air on the area whilst zapping with a
piping hot laser, it’s a rather weird sensation, but after about 5 seconds it
was over! Getting to wear cool goggles and having my top off could have easily
been the highlight of my week… no joke.
After the patch test was over, I put my top back on and went
on my merry way. The next 48 hours were to test whether the skin would react
badly or not. Luckily, I had no reaction at all, meaning I could go ahead and
book my first proper appointment for the following week.
After the patch test, I didn't really notice any difference
as I wasn't too sure where she’d actually zapped me. But now my entire
underarms have been done, I'm really starting to see the hairs just fall away
and not regrow. The aim is to keep the area shaved. Not shaving before the
appointments could land you with a fine, so make sure you shave first!
At my first proper appointment, I was a bit apprehensive as I didn't know what pain to expect for the whole underarm, I could hear people in
the rooms saying “ouch”… It’s a bit like waiting for your dentist and you can
hear the drill going, working yourself up. But I had nothing to worry about,
the staff were super friendly and chatty and make you feel relaxed.
At Pulse Light Clinic, they specialise in many forms of
laser and IPL treatment, improving the appearance of veins, rosacea, tattoo removal and hair removal. They also
specialise in the hair removal from those with Asian and darker skin, which
means a minimum of 6 treatments for any area due to the hair type and thickness
and IPL is not recommended.
Treating both men and women, the staff at PLC are all fully
trained and are just as eager for you to be hair free as you are! They have 3
laser machines which can get you smooth; the Soprano XL which is pain free and
can be used on tanned skin, the NDYag which is a specialist machine for darker
and Asian skin, the Alexandrite, which is the strongest laser and gives the
fastest results, and finally they can use what they call the Duetto which is a
mix of the Alexandrite and NDYag (30%/70%) and is used to treat finer hairs
such as blonde, red and light brown and can also be used on the fairest of
skin. I think, by the look of the machine, the Alexandrite was used to treat
me, which is great as I’ll start to see results very quickly!
My first proper treatment lasted around 5 minutes and still was almost painless! I could start smelling the scent of burning by the time my second armpit was complete though, but still just felt like a few hairs were being plucked out. The technician noted that the underarm which didn't have the patch test was noticeably hairier than the one that did, meaning even a few zaps in my consultation made a huge difference!
The treatments aren't cheap, but they are affordable and
they even offer finance plans to suit your budget. No two treatments cost the
same as no two people are the same! They price the treatments according to your
skin type, hair thickness and length of appointment, so if you've got super
fine sparse hair, you’d be laughing! A typical treatment on the underarms is around £84 per treatment and can be bought in packs of 6 or 8, which if you think
about it, isn't really that far off the cost of a few waxing appointments.
Why take endless trips to your local salon and suffer the
same pain over and over again as the beautician rips away at your underarms,
when you can undergo a small collection of appointments to remove the hairs permanently.
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| My almost hair-free underarm! |
No more stubble rash, no more inflamed underarms where you've had to dry-shave, only to add to the pain by deodorising. Thankfully,
this will now be all in the past once my hairs begin falling out just 9 days
after first treatment!
Despite being apprehensive in my first appointment, I'm definitely
excited to revisit Pulse Light Clinic and keep up the treatments so this
deforestation is permanent.
Have you ever tried laser hair removal? What are your
thoughts on permanent solutions such as this? Let me know by commenting below :)
