In Her Campus’s series The College Try, our writers test out viral wellness, dating, fashion, productivity, and pop culture trends firsthand. This month, Ginger Koehler gives laser hair removal the ol’ college try.
I have been shaving nonstop since the moment I had hair. My legs, lady bits, and lady bits have been an ill-conceived, spikey rendition of a hairless cat for a solid 11 years. I’m not exactly complaining, but I don’t love upkeeping it. So, as a certified big-girl college grad, I finally made the decision: It was time for laser hair removal.
Outside of Star Wars, I had no clue what laser meant. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Laser hair removal is a medical procedure that uses a focused beam of light, called a laser, to reduce unwanted hair.” That light is absorbed by melanin, which is why the laser works better on darker hair. The heat from the light fries the hair follicles, slowing or permanently removing future growth.
Now that I knew what I was signing up for scientifically, the next obvious question was financial. Laser is notoriously expensive, but I wanted to think about it as a long-term investment. If laser can permanently zap my hair, how does it compare to a lifetime of shaving? SEV’s “Calculaser” tool estimates lifetime savings based on an 18-month treatment plan versus best shaving practices, and the numbers are staggering.
For pits and Brazilian alone, it projected I’d drop from $26,398 shaving to $1,800 lasering, saving me 65 days of my life and enough money to buy a decent car. Cute, but let’s be real — I buy men’s bulk razors at $2 a pop and swap them out every two weeks. Judge me, I don’t care.
Running my own numbers, I’d realistically spend about $4,004 and 667 hours shaving in my life. That means laser still saves me $2,204, 27 days, 4,000+ disposable razors, and 100% of my razor burn. Seemed like a fantastic investment.
Going into this experience, I decided to just go for it and signed up to get my full legs, armpits, and Brazilian lasered off. Thankfully, my laser tech, Raven Trecost, gave me fantastic advice on preparing for laser hair removal. “Come in shaved 24 to 48 hours prior. The shorter the hair, the less painful and better the results,” she says. “Sometimes people wear jumpsuits and then have to strip to get their Brazilian. Throwing on a dress or a skirt is always convenient.”
Trecost also says that many clients are nervous about lasering their intimate area, but she thinks it’s also the most worth it. “The first time is always the worst,” says Trecost, “but after you get it done, it fixes that fear.”
So shaved, in a sundress, and prepared to spread-eagled, I made my way into SEV for my first laser treatment.
The Laser-ing
I don’t know what I expected laser to be like, but it was way quicker and easier. Both of my armpits took less than a minute to complete, total. I was like, “Girl, I blocked out an hour for this.” I am a wuss when it comes to pain, and my armpits are super ticklish, but the treatment was so utterly easy. It was like 20 teeny tiny shocks, then done.
However, when we got to the legs, I did not feel the shocks. Apparently, although the laser is advanced enough to target hair on most blonde people, I am too blonde. My hair is translucent. I went through with it, for the sake of science, but my laser tech let me know it most likely would not work.
Now, the Brazilian was an experience. Trecost made the whole process more comfortable, but hit the nail on the head when she said the first time can be intimidating. She was all up in my lady lips chit-chatting, and I appreciated the distraction.
However, no amount of chit-chatting could have prepared me for my bum. I am a sex columnist: There isn’t much that makes me nervous. But lying face down, butt up, spreading my own cheeks to a stranger was vulnerable. And frankly, writing about it is also a bit nerve-wracking — but nobody told me that’s how it goes, so I’m here to tell you. You’re welcome.
Overall, the whole session was over in less than 20 minutes. They gave me aloe and said it might feel a bit like a sunburn, but I felt great all week.
Week 1, post-laser
A week later, I was still trying to determine how well the underarm and Brazilian treatments worked. It looked as if my hair was still there, but it wasn’t growing. That is when I realized that most of the roots were fried by the laser, but my hair hadn’t actually fallen out of my body. So I took a solid 20 minutes scrubbing these hairs out, and suddenly I looked like a dolphin on my pits and my bits.
My legs, as anticipated, were too blonde and stayed hairy.
Week 2, post-laser
I had two separate people tell me that I had the smoothest armpits they had ever seen. This really impressed me because armpits supposedly take eight sessions. Yet after a single session, I was as bald as Avatar Aang. Needless to say, I’ve been finding any excuse to stretch my arms up and show off my pits.
Week 3, post-laser
At this point, hair began to grow back in patchy spots. I thought this would look strange, but I actually prefer it. The laser took about 80-90% of my hair off the bat. The sparse leftover hair is less scratchy and easier to shave.
I believe the secret to being low maintenance is to be high maintenance, and laser is a prime example of this theory. By investing time and money up front, I will be saving myself so much extra time, money, and stress throughout my life.
After only one month with laser hair removal, I can confidently say I’m hooked. I would absolutely recommend giving it a try if you are sick of painful, time-consuming hair removal treatments. And if you see me and my hairless armpits on the street, prepare yourself, because I will not shut up about it.
