Laser Hair Removal: I'm for real

I started having appointments in February.  I'm having laser hair removal done!

It's been a big splurge, but I am getting a killer deal:

Legs: Five sessions for 600,000₩  (approx. $534)

Underarms: Five sessions for 50,000₩  (approx. $45)

Lip: Five sessions for  150,000₩  (approx. $133)
Bikini: Five sessions for 200,000₩ (approx. $180)

I loosely calculated how much I spend on shaving my legs and underarms.  I use the Gillette Venus Embrace razor cartridges and change them about 12 times a year (more for summer, less for winter).  I never buy shaving cream; I just use Dove soap when I shave.  Assuming these razor cartridges stay at $18 for a pack of four, that's $54 I spend a year on the razors.  The combined price of my laser hair removal procedure is $667, and this procedure will pay for itself after... 12 years or so.  And that's not even accounting for the time I'll save from shaving and tweezing, the razor burn I won't give myself, and the confidence I'll get to flaunt.  (Middle school tauntings may or may not have had a mild influence in my decision.)  Keep reading for all the details!

The Set up

I asked my Korean friend Kelly to help me do some comparison shopping.  I forgot how I found this out, but I'd learned that laser hair removal was super cheap here in Korea.  I'd found this forum on waygook.org that led me to the Wynn Clinic in Gangnam and then I had a friend who started going to SDeul in Seolleung.  Kelly did some sleuthing, some haggling, and some inspecting of my legs before she hung up the phone and told me SDeul would do it for the best price, and could I go there in 30 minutes for the first session?

Here's S Deul's info.

Sduel :: 서릉
02.555.7588

에스듈읭원
서울특별시 강남구 대치4동 889-75 (2층)

 The Sessions

As soon as I walked into the clinic, the manager decided I must be the foreigner friend Kelly told her about over the phone.  The manager brought me into a side room and asked in broken English about the quality of my hair.  I showed her the hair on my legs, she leaned in close-close to my face for the lip examination, and I was about to show her the hair under my arms, but she shook her head and ushered me into the laser room where there was a robe waiting in the wardrobe.  She showed me that I should take off my shirt and fasten the robe with the velcro in the back.

I cracked the sliding door when I was ready for her to return.  She instructed that I lay face up on the table with my arms above my head; we wouldn't be doing the legs or my lip today.  She looked closer at her target.  She nodded and said, "Mm-hm" as she understood how I thought my dark, coarse hair would be the perfect applicant for elimination.

She gently told me I really shouldn't have worn deodorant that day.  She also told me there would be a little pain.  Then she smoothed on a clear gel like what they use for sonograms.  She smeared this around with a small spatula, reached for the laser gun, pulled the trigger, and moved it around on my skin.

I've gotten my underarms done again now without wearing deodorant.   That extra layer of stuff really did complicate things and add more pain, but even without the deodorant, the laser isn't pleasant.  It felt like a razor blade being dragged right up against the deepest layers of my skin.  Or like many needles being punched in all at once.  It was especially terrible when she would switch to my right side because it's more sensitive.  I tell you what, nothing feels as uncomfortable as tickling sensations mixed with needles.

The pain was strong, and I still felt it after she was finished, but I later found out that this was a side effect of the deodorant only.  Every other time I've gone in, even for my legs, once the laser left my skin, so did the pain.  In fact, my legs hardly hurt at all!  There are some particularly sensitive places like the lower shin and my ankles, but, for the most part, I was cool as a cucumber.  I asked if it was okay, and the manager let me listen to my iPod while she worked on my legs.  The first session was over an hour and a half, but the second session on my legs was closer to 45 minutes.  Both underarm sessions so far have lasted no longer than 8 minutes.

My lip -I've only had it once so far- it hurt like fire!  Like a match held right on my face!  I cried a little.  But once the laser was gone, so was the pain.  And, it only took a couple minutes, thank goodness!  Afterward, the manager put a cold clay-like compress on my lip so there wouldn't be much redness or swelling, and, when I was completely finished, she gave me an injection to further reduce inflammation.  I checked myself out in a mirror at hip hop class 30 minutes later, and I couldn't see any effects at all!

The Results

After two weeks I was able to pull gently on some of the hairs from my underarm.  I'd read about this before, about how you're not supposed to tweeze or yank it out, but when the hair follicle dies the hair will just fall out when it's ready.  All of the darkest, coarsest hairs came out before the next session!  When I happily showed the manager the next time (the bikini area in particular), she was happy with me!  "I think very success!"

As for my legs and my lip, apparently the hair there isn't dark enough or course enough.  (Could've fooled me.)  The manager said that I have a lot of brown hair as opposed to the typical Asian girl's black hair.  I've said that I'll still be happy even if only the black hair is zapped away, but I'm glad that the manager is going to sit and talk with me about other possible options after my fourth visit if we don't get the results we're looking for.  She says my young age and my hormones may be playing a larger factor than we want.  I reckon I'll keep you informed.

11/10/14 Update
I got laser hair removal at a different clinic a few months later at NOVA in Gangnam.  Read about my experience here.