Hey everyone, it’s almost swimsuit season again! I can’t even begin to describe how happy this makes me! My fave place is the beach, but we don’t have one anywhere near us- not even a pool…lol! But, it does get REALLY hot down here in the south, so shorts are a must in the summer.
Unfortunately, being a brunette Eskimo, I also have coarse, dark hair on my legs, and it grows REALLY fast. I have to shave my legs every night, and not so much for vanity as for comfort. If I don’t shave, my legs get itchy when they touch each other. Arrrgghhh…
Anywho, I’ve tried all manner of hair removal procedures- shaving, waxing, electrolysis, creams, even sanding (yes, sand paper made just for hair removal!). The sand paper stuff really just made the coarse hairs pop back up, it didn’t actually sand them off. Depilatory creams didn’t remove ANY hair, AT ALL, no matter how strong, and no matter how long I left them on. Just ended up with red, irritated skin, that was still hairy AF.
Electrolysis? It worked in the small area where I tried it, but it left scars, and took way too long. Waxing worked the best, but it’s messy and I’d end up having to pick off leftover wax, and I didn’t have the patience to let the hair get long enough to re-wax. So, I’ve always resigned myself to shaving.
A while back, though, I started trying out IPL hair removal. I didn’t want to pay thousands of dollars getting it done professionally, but I figured it would be worth trying some home devices. I’ve tried several, and have only liked one enough to write about- many were just too pricey or too complicated. Now, I’ve found a second one that I like enough to write about- Deess was kind enough to send me theirs to try out.
First off, IPL devices target the pigment in the hair- so they will only work on medium to dark hair. If your hair is blond, red, white, or really light, it’s not going to work. Also, since it works by targeting pigment, and actually causing destruction, if you have really dark skin, you cannot use this type of system (you will need a different type of laser hair removal).
I’m an Eskimo with medium-toned skin and dark hair, so IPL is a good choice for me. I wanted to start using this type of device sooner rather than later- as aging causes hair to lose pigment, and if I wait for my hair to turn gray or white, then I’ll be out of luck…lol!
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IPL takes anywhere from a few treatments to more than ten, depending on each individual. This is why I prefer a home device- no making appointments, driving to them, or paying for them. I can do the treatments at my convenience, even while watching TV.
Unfortunately, I had to take a break from using any IPL devices for a while due to vestibular neuritis, a neurological disorder (see this post), as the light flashes would make me dizzy and nauseated. I was excited to see that Deess includes a pair of glasses to wear, to protect the eyes from the light.
The Deess IPL hair removal device comes with 350,000 flashes, which is enough to do several sessions along with touch ups. There are five settings, and you can start with the lowest, but I’ve never had any problems with the highest setting on any of the devices I’ve tried. This one is a bit stronger than the highest setting on the other one I’ve used frequently. So, despite being able to feel it more, I think it may take fewer sessions. At first, it feels kind of like a rubber band snapping your skin, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
This is actually a row of 6 green lights, 5 denoting the highest setting, and the 6th means it’s “ready”
It does take quite a few sessions, because even if you absolutely believe you’re getting every inch, there are still spaces that get missed- as you can probably see from my redness. The redness only occurs on me with the highest setting, and only on more sensitive areas. It’s not super painful, it feels kind of like a light sunburn, and goes away fairly quickly.
The flash doesn’t show up, but this is while the button is pressed.
I keep Avene Cicalfate
on hand to use after cosmetic procedures and sunburns (see our review here), Jerry even used it after a cooking burn, and it greatly reduces pain and healing time. Although my red areas weren’t painful enough that I needed to use it, if you’re really sensitive, it’s a great option.
Is it worth the time and irritation? Absolutely. While I still have at least a few more sessions to do, I have a lot less hair. So, it seems a good portion of it is gone permanently, or at least for the long term. Also, a great thing about IPL as opposed to waxing is that you DO shave your legs immediately prior to using- so no waiting for hair to grow!
Ready to try it out? It’s available at Amazon!
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
