SpectraLight Hair Removal

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

The "Red Lobster" [icon] has nothing on me right now. The Doctor has the newest machine from the same manufacturer, Palomar. The new machine has a new spectra-head that when fired sends the light as usual, down into the "bulb" area of the folicle but then, extends it's range and power by diverting out and upward to get any seconday hairs in the same folicle area.

This higher power was such that I could only take one pass...Yeow! I would not have been able to take that much power when I first started with all the beard hair in place. They made a second pass at a level that was similar to the older machines highest setting. I recognized the familiar [zap] sound from the second pass.

it has been about 1.5 hours since I was worked on and the redness has reduced itself rather well. I will put on a light coat of [Olive Oil] and then my base makeup liquid from Covergirl. There are the typical black pepper-like spots where they worked on my face, chin and neck.

Now you know me well enough to tell you the truth. At age 58, I have [white hairs] and they are still there after being zapped. I will always have to shave them off. Or, go for electrolysis. With a 24 hour no shave period, they are about 1/64th of an inch English measure. I can live with that. If I were younger or going {full-time} I would most certainly entertain the idea.

Be as it may, I have my limitations.

This is my 9th treatment and it really does work. The newer equipment and higher power levels could reduce the amount of treatments but you must consider the [heat] and other factors about your skin surface. Consult a Doctor first before going to a [spa] to just let some unknown do the work. Medical supervison is really important. With the higher power instruments you can get burned! Care and experience along with training are tantamount to having a good experience.

I will post a picture in the Gallery in the next few days of a close-up.


Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

Sorry that I have be so aloof in this thread. I did not post the photo yet but I will tell you that as of today, I am 100% free of any obvious dark hair about the face and neck. Yes, I still have the white hairs but they are not that many and after 12 hours, with the better makeup, Maybelline's "Instant Age Rewind," I have no obvious hair although of course I can feel the white hairs. No magic bulet except to perhaps have this done "before" the age at which the hairs turn white.....

Many here have this opportunity available to them still, so it is worth the money and the time in my opinion. Consider the alternatives carefully, weigh the pros and cons and I think this or LASER is a good deal for the money.

I am down to using Maybelline's product or Cover Girl (I prefer the more expensive Maybelline for sure coverage) and a little "red lipstick"for color blender so I do not look all one solid shade. It works really well for me. Less is more!

I posted a photo of me in "red" that has little Adobe effects and I used a lite coating of the Maybelline product for the photo shoot. The male like personna shows through but bottom line, it still looks good since I cannot change my "Skull." Ha ha ha LOL.



Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

Thought that I should mention some hair growth on the upper lip and sides of the mouth. The most sensitive skin area so it is usually the last to get cleaned up completely. I need another treatment if I want to banish the remaining hairs that came back from the last time. This is expected. Each folicle has the capability of supporting 3 hairs typically. They come in at different intervals. Thus, after a treatment, some seem to grow back and actually, they are the 2nd or 3rd level hair in your hair growth cycle. All very normal girls.

So if I wait to long, they may go white and they just will be there as others that are already white from years ago. Not really a problem of course with 90% of the facial hair gone now. I went without shaving for 3 days and could see and feel clearly the white hairs that I have. Electrolysis is the only answer there as of this time in technology.

So, LASER or IPL, get to it gals ASAP when you are younger. You can get more of the annoying hairs right now, than if you wait until you think that you can afford it. The hair cycle will not wait. If I had my druthers, I would have done this in my 20's or 30's at the latest.

I have posted a new picture (updated) from November 2006 using only covergirl liquid makeup and translucent powder. IPL really has been great for me!

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Melyssa Anne]

Thanks for sharing your steps through this process. It is much appreciated.

I saw some pricing information, and was also trying to figure out the total timeframe. Could you do a recap on the number of appointments (now that you are done) and over what tiemframe it takes to do this...start to finish?

also, seems like prices have come down? How much for the full process?

Also, will it vary a lot with beard thickness?

Thansk so much for all the info!

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Missy:

Recap:

3 treatments @ $350.00 each. (Initial Treatments - hair most dense).
7 treatments @ $250.00 each.

Typically, wait 30 days between treatments. Gives adequate time for hair regrowth in same folicle. Most folicles can support uo to 3 hairs, each appearing at a different cycle of hair growth. (Note: vary your appointment schedule to get into different growth cycles if possible).

I did majority of work in first year (2005). 2nd year (2006) I did two treatments, one in spring and the other in late Fall. These treatments were to get 2nd or 3rd level hairs on upper lip and sides of mouth. A very sensitive area I might add. Double ouch!

I employed the services of a medical Doctor (DO) not (MD). Different schools, both can be board certified as mine is. Dr. Heller is board certified in skin diseases and their treatment including surgical removal. Florida has a great many skin cancer patients not just from Florida but all other the Country.

There are clinics where a nurse or clinician does the work unsupervised. The Doctor is on-call. Bee---careful! This equipment possesses the power to do harm and permanent damage to the skin. LASER unlike IPL is only found in medical offices usually. IPL employs the light that is inside the LASER and is used more like a flashlight that is held close against the skin. Something like a small flash unit that you would put on a hotshoe of a 35mm camera. The difference is the energy released. Hot, hot, hot.

I would get deep red during the treatment and they use a cooling gel to control the discomfort. The redness would disappear after an hour or so. I used fresh aloe plant after my treatment that I brought with me prepared to be used immediately. It works! Processed Aloe in the store may work but do not bet on it.

Be ready to go home and not back to work. It is very obvious. You can see the "pepper" spots where the process was used. That is burned hairs. The darker the hair the better for this technology. Blond and white hair are least effected or not at all. There are claims by some manufacturers that they use RF (Radio Frequency) energy along with the light that loosens white hairs.... Baloney! Figment of their immagination and margeting guys! No proof to that claim at all.

Initial work with dense hair patches can smart! Zapping one hair is a piece of cake while going after say 500 hairs per square inch can be some real ouch time! That is a typical male beard that shows a dark shadow after 6 hours post shaving.

Most clinics price themselves by the square inch of area. It really varies a great deal. Also, how much power they use each time. One can use low power and really stretch this out for many treatments. Take all that yoiu can each time. It is going to hurt but, in the long run, you will see after your first pass, it is better than shaving everyday if you do not end up with any white hairs as I have. Still, it only takes a minute for me to buzz them away. I am really very satisfied with the end result and my nurse, Donna, was always very careful and at the same time, caring and considerate of me.

Okay. How's that girlfriend?


Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Melyssa Anne]

Most helpful....thanks again for all your time in providing all of this info!

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

Just because so many of you have followed this thread I thought it would be smart to provide the following:

Vitamin [E] is sold in a liquid form. 2oz bottle for $2.48 at the Wal-Mart chain of stores in the vitamin section.

Vitamin [E] is one of those less reported products that actually can and does effect the body in some direct manner. In particular, the skin cells.

I have been using Vitamin [E] liquid on my face as it was intended to be used by the manufacturer, "Spring Valley" products. About 2 weeks now and I will tell you it has been extremely effective along with the "first press olive oil" that I put on before bed each night.

No, you do not need to treat your face like a garden salad thirsty for oil and vinegar, .... But, by rubbing in the Vitamin [E] first and then a little oilive oil, my skin is now as soft as a baby's bottom. The few hairs that I have about the face, mostly white now, remove easily and it takes longer for them to appear late in the day if I shave around 7:00am. Point is, the hair is very soft as is the skin.

Place a hot (not to hot) washing cloth over the face for 1 minute, then pat dry in YOUR AM/PM cycle before work. Your face will really feel different in no time. Better than all the general skin creams that form a barrier over the skin to hold in moisture, this method actually feeds the skin what it needs in nutrients. You can still put on your skin cream after the washing cloth to hold in moisture during the day.

The liquid Vitamin [E] is 12,000 I.U. per bottle. So go easy on it. Know one has died from using too much Vitamin [E] in topical form. Capsules that need to be digested are a different story and follow a radically different process that needs to be monitored carefully.

I never knowing report anything here that I do not believe is completely true and proveable. Try a small bottle for 2 weeks and see the difference. My makeup really goes on so smooth now. As it should.

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Melyssa Anne]

Danielle -- thought I would let you know I have a consulatation with a spectral hair removal place near here in about 10 days. I have talked about it with my wife and she has no problem with it--she likes me better clean shaven anyways.

So we shall see. There are two different "companies" in the Chicago area. We'll see what they have to say. But I hope I can do it and hope that it is effective.

Thanks again for all the info

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Melyssa:

The concept is grounded in "Physics." Like most sciences based on mathematics, we can be sure that there are set rules that always apply and those that have variables attached which effect the outcome accordingly.

Variabls in this business are: skin color, hair color (original, sorry girls, no time to fib on this one variable), the skin of the technician, and the attitude of the patient.

No LASER or IPL will effect "white hair." The same can be said for light blond hairs. Darker shades of blond can be removed dependent on the quantity of melanin in the hair folicle (what makes the hair look dark).

Red hair is okay. The "light" range in the color spectrum for IPL is in the 4300k range. This means to you that unless your are from Sweden and related areas of the planet, unless you have gone white haired, the IPL will work to some degree which will reflect on the intensity of the melanin present in the hair folicle.

No gee I hope or oh, maybe! If you fall into the white and light blonde hair realm, it is not worth the time and money to learn a hard lesson about Physics.

That's the truth acording to people in this science and what I know for sure about Physics related matters, 35+ years of eperience. No kidding girlfriend!

It is going to smart like someone snapped you in the face with a rubber band when you first have any real quality of hair removed. It has too! By the square inch, some people have a great amount of hair density. You look like you are fair skinned and in the dark blonde to red or light brown range?

All of which qualify for removal. Keep in mind that there can be up to 3 hairs per folicle and they appear at different intervals. So, after a few treatments, you will notice that during one 2 - 3 month period you have less hair than another period and that would be the time to go again and get that cycle of hair removed. That is how I did it after well into the game plan.


It works! You must be your own best advocate and know how things work and what to expect and demand. Power to the hair! Dash away, dash away, you little nasty folicles.!

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Melyssa Anne]

Thought I would pass on information / updates on my hair removal.

Im not sure of all the technological stuff with this, but I think weher I am going is maybe the next generation or so of what Danielle used.

Instead of wanting me in close shaved, they want some growth (2 days or so is preferred). Also. I had almost no redness, no burning, or pain....other than the zaps when they are doing the procedure. With Danielle it sounded like the hair was gone within a day or so. With the process I am doing, it takes 5-10 days for it to go away.

What I have found is as I wash my face or shave I notice little black specs in the sink (started at about day 4 or 5). By day 7 or 8, most of my beard was gone, especially on the cheeks, neck and chin -- the mustache area is definately much less, but I may have caught that moving from one growth series to the next. It is now 11 days since the first treatment, and I did not shave (until this morning) since Friday at noon. I had significantly less growth and beard after 2 full days than I normally would have had from 8 hours before--virtually nothing on my cheeks and sideburn area--chin and upper lip have some.

So today I shaved --didn't take long or much effort -- and used primarily only a little liquid foundation. I used a little bit of the beard concealer just on my upper lip and a very little on the chin.

Very cool to be able to do this. Next appointment is in 3 - weeks, depending on the regrowth cycle.

The other advantage is that the price is lower. Around $150 per treatment -- they said it should take somwhere between 6-9 treatments. I am figuring it will be 12--but hopefully will be pleasantly surprised.

Hope this is useful to someone.

BTW--my wife is fully supportive and likes that I won't have stubble in the future...she likes the clean shaven look--so she is happy this is working too.

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Melyssa:

Sounds great. My Doctor did not want too much hair growth because it smells when zapped by the IPL device. Some people cannot stand the smell of human hair burning.

This left small black pepper spots on my face that eventually would rise to the surface and eventually would wash off but I opted to use some face cream and tripple-blade shaver to get at them as each post-day passed.

The price is great as well. My Doctor still charges me $275.00 per sesssion if I go back anymore. They are charging for the use of the equipment per square inch, hair or no hair as many medical offices do these days.

The redness that I got was becuase they were using a very high energy setting to insure the destruction of the hair folicle and not just the hair. The folicle is in the subcutaneous area of the skin so of course to get at it they applied a greater amount of energy that initially starts at the surface of the face. Thus, redness for about an hour or two at most.

My Doctor now has a new machine, the next generation from the manufacturer and he feels that it does a better job at lower power settings than the first model. The only way to tell is over time of course.

White hairs are my only problem as I was in my mid-fifties when starting this and will be 59 in August. I need one more treatment along the jaw bone line to rid myself of any strays. Any other hair is white and currently, not susceptible to this type of technology (laws of spectral physics apply here). I can live with that believe me!

The other good side effect is that this has toned my skin and removed some sun damage, yeah! They are now doing this type of treatment for skin surface work accross the Country.

Keep us informed of your progress. Take a few pictures close-up etc to compare with after you are done.

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Virginia]

Danielle,
I checked into the American Laser Center and the closest one to me is about a four hour drive. Then I saw their "Info-mercial" on television and the "president" of the company was answering questions and was asked about "colorless" hair, i.e., blond, white, gray and she said that their system will remove them as well as the laser they use also sends a small electrical charge into each follical (I guess like electrolysis) and they guarantee results for two years. The FDA will not allow them to say permanent. I am still considering it, but the drive is not a good thing for me right now!
What do you all think??
Virginia

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Virginia:

On the surface that sounds good. It sounds reasonable that if one were to impart a strong enough current, you could stiffle the follicle for a time. Perhaps this is temporary as the body will try to repair the damaged folicle. The damge can only be enough to stop the process and not cause cell damage which inturn could cause a boil to form which is nothing more than an infected follicle (read about this conditon last week on webmd.com).

"Palomar, the manufacturer" of the equipment my Doctor uses I think is experimenting with the same idea for future release on upcoming equipment. That of course remains to be seen.

Florida has facilities just about on every street corner these days. I still like going to my Doctor even though I am paying more than recent advertisments have indicated at these make-shift clinics. He is insured and Board Certified in skin grafting and surgery. When things go well it does not seem to be important. When things do not go well, well, you get the idea. I wanted someone that could help me if there was a problem.

Hands down, I am pleased with my results. No brown spots from sun damage anymore. You can see in my pictures in this thread. I have even, moist skin of a 40 year old. I am 59 in August. Woman mostly have asked me what I did to my face that have known me for a long time. They want their husbands to consider this but some are entirely to macho to do it. Also, I do not tell them that I have covergirl makeup on. Light base but still I have mixed to shades to get the best result for me. Liquid # 130 and 135. 130 is too light and 135 is slightly red, so I buy a bottle of each and use an older 3rd bottle to mix even amounts of the two to get what I want. Simple. Chemistry by Danielle.

So, no one can tell you for sure how well that clinic is going to do for you. Unfortunately there are no guarantees. My Doctor was careful to evaluate and even test a small area first to see my reaction and how much energy I could take on my original dense beard. I was his first [male] patient to have this done. So we photographed every thing as we went along for furture reference and show and tell to other possible patients. His services were discounted to me in the beginning and still are based on what he expects to get paid and what he charges me. $275.00 vs. $350.00 per visit now that I am relatively free of hair. He does my entire face and neck for that price to get stray hairs.

He still has to fire the unit etc per sq inch, hair or no hair and that is what you end up paying for basically. It takes the same effort to get one hair or 500 hairs per sq inch. This is where a pinpoint LASER comes in handy. It can be dialated to only about 1 or 2mm (pencil point) of area and then fired. So, there is a cost benefit that is passed on down to the patient usually.

IPL is fixed with the head size and that is a small window that is 1" by 2" usually. ZAP! Goes the hair.

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Melyssa Anne]

Antoher status report as it has been some time since my last one.

I have had 5 treatments -- number 6 is in about 10 days. Had to take 2 months off in the summer--can't do it if you have gotten sun.

I have gotten good results -- had treatments, as best I can tell, for three different growth cycles. I have vitually no blue from beard below the surface. Right now the only beard I get is after about 3 days, and then it is the white hairs that the machine doens't get--and they seem softer, and very easy to shave.

I am using only a little liquid foundation -- no concealer or red base to cover the blue. Have been out several times that way, no beard indications through the makeup even in bright sunlight.

I think it will take 2 or 3 more sessions. I suspect I will be getting some regrowth from at least 1 cycle. Looks like my total cost will be less than $1000.

Trying to decide if it would be worth it to go for laser to lose the last of the white hairs. I will probably check costs, and if under $500 do it. We shall see.

Very glad I did this, makes getting ready in the morning a much simpler task.

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Melyssa:

"Trying to decide if it would be worth it to go for laser to lose the last of the white hairs. I will probably check costs, and if under $500 do it."


IPL and LASER use the same "light" source except for the "blue cool LASER," a different frequency range of light is used.

White hair, absent of any melanin (the pigment coloration in skin and hair), will not absorb any energy from either IPL or LASER. To be blunt, unless physics has changed recently, this form of technology cannot really remove white hairs. If it did work, then anyone with skin of any pigmentation would be in serious trouble using IPL or LASER light sources and any power level.

What makes all of this work is physics. A universal understanding of how our world works on a mechanical and electrical level for lack of a better definition. The reason it all works as it does is that the energy of the “light source” (IPL/LASER), being the same light source usually, seeks out and imparts a higher impact when it finds melanin. This is why people of color are typically more difficult to under go this form of hair removal. The energy source cannot distinguish between the melanin of their hair and of the skin, it being the same bio-physical structure.

People of color use LASER for it’s pin-point accuracy so that only the hair and a few skin cells around the pore where the hair is are damaged. The small damage to the skin is no greater than a little too much sun and cells regenerate without scaring. IPL would be like using a shotgun of light on their face. Too much skin damage would occur.

So, if someone tells you that they can rid you of the white hairs by using either light source, ask them how it works…..specifically. Most girls go for the physical/electrical impulse technique of electrolysis. This imparts an electrical current into the hair bulb, thus terminating the growth of a hair. Done correctly by experienced personnel is a must. in this field. Scaring is avoided when professional technicians are used to accomplish this type of hair removal.

A final note on LASER: recent news indicates that there is a LASER using computer scanning technology that permits the operator (Doctor) to inject the source of the Laser’s energy directly into the bulb of the hair. This is so new, and expensive, that one must question the source of the LASER as to how exactly they go about removing the white hair to be sure they are not just using an older, method that will not work.

I like to know as much as I can about medical procedures before I submit myself to them. People say things without thinking or real research. 30+ years in Aerospace Electronics has given me an edge in this area of expertise. I maintained and operated in a research group for NASA at Kennedy Space Center, a modestly powered “red ruby” LASER, for 3 years. It could burn a one inch hole in diameter, through one inch plate steel. Now that’s power! This is what turned me on to IPL and LASER for hair removal in the late 90’ as I began to see it develop into a commercially available source of energy.

P.S. Want to run your own experiment? Go outside in the sunlight about mid-day in the parking lot. Find a black car and a white car. Place your had on the hood of the black car, carefully! Now the white car. Which felt hotter to you considering that both had not been running since 8:00am?

White reflects energy, black absorbs energy and colors in between absorb accordingly light (cooler) to darker (hotter).

Hugs

Danielle Marie