Laser beard removal

Mac'nCheese said:

Any lazy men out there ever go to one of those laser hair removal places to get rid of their beard just because they got too lazy to shave every day? People at work think I'm nuts for thinking some guys do this but I think they have. Now I need proof. Also, kind of want to do it when I hit the lottery....

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I've never heard anyone use it for that. There are a also a few reasons why I would think it would be a terrible idea:

• The lasers are not even close to 100% effective at removing hair, especially with thick dark hair (which beards tend to be).
• The lasers will probably discolour the skin. I believe people often report the treated skin area to have a lighter colour to it.
• Pain - the thing can be pretty painful if they have to crank up the power. I doubt you want a red swollen face for a few days after each round of treatment.

Yes some women may have used it for hair removal on the face but I doubt that is thick hair, so the power can be set quite low, and the area of treatment will be small compared to a beard.

Why do you need proof? If you're right and they don't want to admit it then whatever. If I had the cash I'd do this to my legs in a heartbeat. Call it lazy, I call it efficient. It's not as though I'm ever going to want to grow that hair back. If you're a guy and you either cannot have facial hair or know you'll never want it, I'd do it.

jj48 said:

I've never heard anyone use it for that. There are a also a few reasons why I would think it would be a terrible idea:

• The lasers are not even close to 100% effective at removing hair, especially with thick dark hair (which beards tend to be).
• The lasers will probably discolour the skin. I believe people often report the treated skin area to have a lighter colour to it.
• Pain - the thing can be pretty painful if they have to crank up the power. I doubt you want a red swollen face for a few days after each round of treatment.

Yes some women may have used it for hair removal on the face but I doubt that is thick hair, so the power can be set quite low, and the area of treatment will be small compared to a beard.

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Lasers (proper lasers, such as the Diode or Alexandrite laser, not IPL*) are very effective. It can take several treatments and while hair can still grow back it never grows back the way it once was.

Skin discolouration is unusual and typically happens if something has gone wrong, i.e., a burn. It isn't par for the course.

It doesn't hurt that bad. It's like being flicked with a rubber band. It looks and feels like a minor sunburn for about a day, even in the most sensitive of areas. There are numbing creams that are really helpful in the later treatments when they do indeed turn the laser up.



I would think the trouble with lasering a beard is that before the treatments are concluded the hair probably won't be gone uniformly, which might look weird come 5 o'clock between the 4-6 week sessions, which are important to keep because of the way hair cycles.

For the first week or so after treatment while waiting for the hair to fall out it can look a little strange and you're not supposed to shave. This might be a problem considering it's no so easy to hide a face.

The other thing is that when you're done it can look like hair never grew in that place. I'm not totally sure if this applies to a beard because the hair is pretty coarse there but if it does, the baby-face on a man may look a little odd.

The pros though, no shaving! Just thought I'd give you a little info and some other stuff to think about.


*IPL isn't total rubbish or anything but some believe it to be less effective. The first response here by Dr. Michael Law explains the differences in lasers. By far the easiest explanation I've found. Here's another link that may be of some use to you.

I don't know, something about not having the ability to grow a beard would feel a bit emasculating. Can you honestly say that you'll never want to have any sort of facial hair for any reason ever again?

But, that's just my personal opinion. And opinions are like farts, everyone's sticks but their own...

mgargan1 said:

Can you honestly say that you'll never want to have any sort of facial hair for any reason ever again?

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Yes.

I know of some places that will do your neckline, presumably underneath your chin, but I've also heard some tales that they're reluctant to use a laser on your face. Electrolysis might be a more viable option if that's the case.

mgargan1 said:

I don't know, something about not having the ability to grow a beard would feel a bit emasculating. Can you honestly say that you'll never want to have any sort of facial hair for any reason ever again?

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Yes. I hate shaving, so I wouldn't have a problem with this. I tried keeping a beard before and found that I hated having a beard more than I hating shaving.

steve2112 said:

Yes. I hate shaving, so I wouldn't have a problem with this. I tried keeping a beard before and found that I hated having a beard more than I hating shaving.

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I don't shave, I trim. If you keep it short, your facial hair wont itch.

mgargan1 said:

I don't shave, I trim. If you keep it short, your facial hair wont itch.

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My experience is the opposite - I've worn a goatee for years, and it only itches when I trim it way, way down (like 1/8"). It never itches when it's longer.

When I grow out a full beard, the first week and a half itches like poison ivy. Once it comes in, I don't get any itch anymore. *shrug*

Tomorrow said:

My experience is the opposite - I've worn a goatee for years, and it only itches when I trim it way, way down (like 1/8"). It never itches when it's longer.

When I grow out a full beard, the first week and a half itches like poison ivy. Once it comes in, I don't get any itch anymore. *shrug*

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Well, that sucks.

mgargan1 said:

I don't shave, I trim. If you keep it short, your facial hair wont itch.

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I've had a beard, in varying shapes and lengths, continuously since 1962. Long or short, it never itches.

Suggestion...check for cooties!

Shrink said:

I've had a beard, in varying shapes and lengths, continuously since 1962. Long or short, it never itches.

Suggestion...check for cooties!

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Is your hair straight or curly? Mine is curly, so it will grow back into itself and create ingrown hairs. Gets annoying and itchy. However, I was born 21 years after you started sporting a beard, so you have much more experience than I do.

mgargan1 said:

Is your hair straight or curly? Mine is curly, so it will grow back into itself and create ingrown hairs. Gets annoying and itchy. However, I was born 21 years after you started sporting a beard, so you have much more experience than I do.

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Everyone was born after me!!

My beard, when worn longish (not now, in the past) didn't curl, even though my hair was curly (ah, yes, back when I had hair)

My guess is, if you wear it fairly close cut, you might reduce ingrown hairs. If you are African-American, I take it all back. If it is that curly, I'm not sure what to tell you. You guys definitely have a beard problem.

Try trimming it close with an electric trimmer set on the third or fourth notch - I use three notches on the chin, four notches on the cheeks.

Shrink said:

Everyone was born after me!!

My beard, when worn longish (not now, in the past) didn't curl, even though my hair was curly (ah, yes, back when I had hair)

My guess is, if you wear it fairly close cut, you might reduce ingrown hairs. If you are African-American, I take it all back. If it is that curly, I'm not sure what to tell you. You guys definitely have a beard problem.

Try trimming it close with an electric trimmer set on the third or fourth notch - I use three notches on the chin, four notches on the cheeks.

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Nope, pale ginger guy here... I wear it pretty close cut.

I think the unshaven look can be very attractive on a guy. I shave once a week and it suits me just fine. To me, removing your beard permanently is akin to getting a circumcision--altering something that should be natural.

The exception I think would be a male to female transgendered person. I could understand not wanting to ever have a beard if you are trying to live as a female. However, perhaps the hormones usually take care of that so maybe its not necessary.

I dunno. This is what happened to me
Beard

By the way...how does one embed youtube videos?

Forget hair removal...I wish there was some way to use a laser or some other device to make hair grow…particularity, on top of the head.

Anyway, I've had various states of beards since graduating high school. It never itches. To me, permanently removing my facial hair would be akin to becoming a eunuch. i.e. not anything I’m remotely interested in. Before you do this, you need to think if it’s something you will really want. Just like becoming a eunuch, there is no going back….

dukebound85 said:

By the way...how does one embed youtube videos?

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Instructions here.

Tomorrow said:

My experience is the opposite - I've worn a goatee for years, and it only itches when I trim it way, way down (like 1/8"). It never itches when it's longer.

When I grow out a full beard, the first week and a half itches like poison ivy. Once it comes in, I don't get any itch anymore. *shrug*

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I had the same problem. When I did have either a goatee or beard, I liked to keep it trimmed pretty short. Every time I trimmed it, I would itch like crazy. So my choices were trimmed and itchy or feral mountain man. I just decided it wasn't worth it.

I got a decent electric shaver and didn't like it at all. Didn't shave close enough and always felt like I hadn't really shaved.

Wet shave every 3-5 days works out ok for me, although my beard is like Eli Manning's, that of a 13 year old!

barkomatic said:

I think the unshaven look can be very attractive on a guy. I shave once a week and it suits me just fine. To me, removing your beard permanently is akin to getting a circumcision--altering something that should be natural.

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Right, because natural always means better.

Tomorrow said:

I know of some places that will do your neckline, presumably underneath your chin, but I've also heard some tales that they're reluctant to use a laser on your face. Electrolysis might be a more viable option if that's the case.

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Neckline is a good idea. Though Electrolysis would be completely tedious on something as extensive as a beard.

mgargan1 said:

Nope, pale ginger guy here... I wear it pretty close cut.

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Laser hair removal wouldn't even be effective on you. Blonde and ginger hair is very difficult for the laser to "see".

barkomatic said:

... To me, removing your beard permanently is akin to getting a circumcision--altering something that should be natural. ...

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Dramatic post is dramatic.

Mac'nCheese said:

All good food for thought. Although I probably will never have that kind of cash to "waste" on something I kind of want just cause I'm lazy. I look horrible with any kind of growth on my face, my beard doesn't really come in all around. I just hate shaving. I use an electric and that doesn't even do my neck to chin area that well and if I miss a day or two, it takes forever to get through whatever did manage to grow... I did get three down votes so I guess I should take that in to consideration while I day dream too....

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Down votes are a passive-aggressive cowards way to be a jerk without any repercussion. They're meaningless, especially in a context like this.

The neckline sounds like a reasonable compromise without as much potential weirdness, if you're still considering it.