IPL Hair Removal
Right, summer is coming. There is no stopping it. We’ve seen some glimpses of sunshine so far and there is more to come. Soon it will be too warm to cover up with thick tights and trousers, not to mention there is going to come the day when you actually have to shimmy into swimwear again.
Now, no matter how much I am longing for the summer to get its groove on and come and brighten up my days, I do still have that underlying dread of the behemoth of effort which will be required; the hours upon hours of shaving, waxing and plucking which inevitably lie ahead.
However this year I’m setting myself up to hopefully have an easier time. I’ve been considering Intense Pulse Light (IPL) hair removal since a friend raved about it, and although I was initially wary because of the price, I was encouraged by her perfect results; eight sessions and no more hair. There were another two main factors in my decision to bite the bullet and book in for a patch test. The first one was that I bought in to the whole ‘£40-a-go bikini waxing’ on the pretence that each time I subjected myself to the torture it was going to result in my hair growing back slower and finer than the previous time; I’m now 17 years on in this process and a terrifying £5,000 down, with no noticeable hair reduction. And secondly I find it mildly depressing contemplating how many hours of my life are going to be wasted monthly doing my contortionist shaving rituals.
On entering the beautiful third floor practice of Ellipse Cosmetic Skin Clinic I was delighted to meet Thalia Jones the aesthetician who was going to do my IPL treatment. It was such a relief that she was so open and lovely, but with the perfect air of practicality and professionalism that you reassuringly need from someone who is going to do intimate hair removal.
I found out that I was lucky to have the ideal skin tone and hair colour combination for the treatment to be most effective (it works best on light skin and dark hairs) so Thalia was confident I’d get great results in only a few sessions. Prior to the treatment you have to refrain from plucking, tweezing, waxing and the use of creams as well as avoiding tanning (sun, solarium or bottle); this is to ensure that as many hairs as possible will be destroyed by the light.
The friend who had already experienced IPL had assured me that it is pain free, but I had believed the people who sold me an epilator who also said it was ‘pain-free’ hair removal (for people who haven’t experienced an epilator it is akin to having 20 tweezers slowly attacking you, I’m sure I’ve seen a similar device being used on prisoners of war). So I was pretty sceptical as I lay back for my patch test, after all ‘pain is beauty’. As Thalia did the first zap I was braced for the pain… which amazingly never came. I could barely feel it, it just felt warm where the device was against my skin, at the very worst it was like a small flick against my skin…. but that’s me really pushing to describe it. I’m a total wuss, and it is definitely pain-free.
So with the patch test done, I happily booked in for my course of six treatments. I’m genuinely thrilled at the prospect that it is as simple as paying my money, getting the course of treatments then continuing life hair and hassle-free!
