Laser Hair Removal with Therapie

Hair removal isn’t for everyone. Some people do, and some people don’t – whatever floats your boat my darlings! Personally, body hair doesn’t bother me in the slightest but I am a fan of de-fuzzing myself and I still remember the first time back in high school when I begged my Mum to let me shave my legs. Fast forward 15 years later and it’s something which is part of my daily routine. I am far too scared of waxing to get it done on a regular basis, my eyebrows are pretty much the only area I can endure. Last summer I started dabbling in a little bit of home IPL, which gave great results initially but it slowed down after a few months and I felt like it was making no difference whatsoever. So, when I heard that Therapie had recently opened a brand new clinic in Glasgow city centre, I knew it was the perfect time to up the ante in time for my Ibiza holiday with the girls this summer.

Therapie offer a range of services from body treatments to Botox, but it’s their affordable laser hair removal (prices here) which they are especially renowned for with clinics in Ireland, and now Edinburgh and Glasgow. The technical mumbo jumbo of hair laser removal is actually pretty simple. Therapie use a medical grade laser to emit wavelengths of light which are absorbed by the pigment in the hair. The energy of the laser is concentrated in the hair shaft, essentially destroying it without affecting the skin or follicle. A minimum of 6 treatments in generally recommended depending on the area to be treated, but it depends from person to person!

You go for a free patch test and consultation before commencing with any treatment, to make sure that your skin is compatible with the laser. After my first meeting we decided I was going to go for underarm and a full hollywood. I would love to have my legs done, as they are the most time consuming area I need to remove hair from, but unfortunately the laser cannot be done over tattooed areas as there is a very likely chance it will make them fade. So tattooed ladies, take note! At the moment I have booked in for 6 sessions, so I will see how slow my hair regrowth is after then, and hopefully I’ll just be able to go for top ups every 6 months.

It’s a common misconception that you need to have hair when you go for your treatment, it’s actually the exact opposite! You should arrive with the areas prepared (shaved, not waxed) along with no use of sunbeds or fake tan beforehand. My therapist Lee is absolutely lovely, I’ve actually had a facial peel done by her before in the past so I knew I was in safe hands. First of all, she mapped out the exact areas of my body which we would be lasering. Then she popped a clear gel on that marked out section, and got to work! You get to wear super cool glasses throughout the session which are rather attractive so I shall insta-story for my 2nd appointment which is on the 1st of April. For both underarms and my entire nether region, I was in and out of Therapie in half an hour. It is so damn quick, and is absolutely painless, I assure you! The application of the cold gel then the slight pangs/build up of heat once the laser is being moved over the area is uncomfortable at points, but only because its essentially being worked across an freshly shaved area (similar to the feeling of putting deodorant on just after a shower) My pal Sheri actually commented saying she thinks shaving can be sorer!

After one session I am already noticing a slower finer growth in the hair under my arms. I haven’t noticed much of a difference down below yet but it’s still early days. The laser is said to work best on light skin with dark hair, however the Soprano Ice Platinum is a medical grade machine and is able to work effectively on a much bigger spectrum of hair/skin colour. I was pleased to hear that both my friends with opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of skin tone and hair colour (Sheri has pale skin and light blonde hair, and Emma has deep tan skin with dark brown/black hair) are currently able to successfully undergo the treatment. With 6 weeks between each session it will probably be past the midway point when I’ll give you another full update (I think I will ask Emma if I can share her results too as we both have different skin and hair types) but I’ll be sure to let you know between times on social media how I’m finding it. To de-fuzz or not to de-fuzz, what’s your preference? I’m intrigued to see how effective the final results are, so if you’ve had laser before be sure to let me know what you thought of it.