My Experience with Laser Hair Removal as a Persian Woman

Hair

May 21

In the field of psychology, much research has evaluated how emotionally arousing events often lead to rather vivid recalls of memories. This applies to events in regards to trauma, significant joyous events and life-changing moments such as presidential results. As a psychology student, this makes me wonder why I so vividly remember my first waxing appointment.

I remember the location of the waxing center, even though it has since closed. I remember which waxing room I entered, the color of the walls and even the features of the tall, South Asian woman who waxed my legs that day. It was the beginning of my rather emotional and tiring journey with hair removal.

I first noticed my body hair when I entered middle school. Fortunately, I don’t recall ever being ashamed of my body hair. Growing up in a community where most of my peers were Middle Eastern like me, we all shared the same struggles and hairy body parts. Once my friends began waxing, I started too.

It started with my legs, then my arms and underarms, then my back and stomach. Since I’ve been blessed as a Persian woman, I’m no stranger to the struggles of body hair literally everywhere and the fact that my hair grows back within what feels like a minute of removing it.

Every two weeks I was getting nearly my entire body waxed just to be able to wear short sleeves, leggings and bathing suits. My mother did not want me to shave, so I was consistently going to a waxing center just to look “presentable.”

One of the most difficult parts was finding a wax technician who I was comfortable with. It seemed as though as soon as I found someone, they would get fired or stop working. It was so hard to trust new people with my body. Eventually, I gave up on waxing my legs as my hair would grow back way too fast. I turned to shaving and only continued waxing my arms and underarms. I often avoided wearing any clothes that would show my stomach or back because I no longer wanted to wax my entire body. It was exhausting.

For the past two years, my mother has been begging me to try laser hair removal. I refused. Not only was I unwilling to put my body through more pain to remove my body hair, but I didn’t want to commit to the sessions and time it took to completely remove my body hair. I consulted with my waxing and eyebrow lady (who I trust completely), and she informed me that for many people, laser hair removal is effective. However, she said that for some, the hair still grows back. She also recommended that I avoid doing my underarms because some of her clients had claimed that they had experienced breast cancer after doing laser hair removal. Since I am at high risk for breast cancer, I decided against that option.

Little did I know that laser hair removal was close in my future. My first laser appointment seemingly occurred in the blink of an eye, when my best friend and mother made an appointment for me before I could argue. I walked into the office the next day with my mother, and the technician – a compassionate and funny Persian woman who my mother apparently knew well – got to work.

Surprisingly, I experienced little to no pain. In my opinion, threading hurts a hell of a lot worse than laser hair removal. However, depending on the technique and machine used, pain could vary. I luckily felt very comfortable and content with the laser experience.

My technician was also offering a discount that month, so my technician charged me about $125 per session for six sessions, which came out to be $750. In my opinion, the price was completely worth it and much less expensive than other technicians may charge, and I realized that over time, it would be worth it. Before laser hair removal, I was paying about $25 for waxing every two weeks, meaning that I was spending $750 in 15 months for waxing my arms. Spending $750 for complete hair removal seemed very worthwhile in my opinion.

After three sessions, I noticed that my hair was coming back much thinner and less quickly. It took about one month for my hair to grow back, and it still wouldn’t reach the length it would before. After speaking with a relative’s oncologist, I decided to begin laser hair removal on my legs and underarms as well. The laser hair removal was much more painful on the underarm area compared to my legs and arms, but it was still tolerable.

Now, I feel much more confident in my body and am looking forward to when I won’t have to constantly worry about my body hair. While I know that laser hair removal may not result in complete hair removal permanently, I know that at least I will not have to shave my legs every week or wax my arms every two weeks.