Thursday, October 04, 2007



Fur Facts

Peta need not get in any kind of uproar. We’re talking human fur. Hair Removal. Being a fairly un-furry person, I wasn’t plagued in high school with unwanted hair. I was actually completely bald until I was 2, and yes, my father would tape ribbons on my head. You see, we were not a very pretty baby and everyone assumed (despite the dress) that we were a boy.

Despite the fact that personal fur issues were not at the forefront of our problems, we’ve recently developed an interested in such things. Since we shave our legs three times a year (ever few months) and have friends who must do it daily, we realize that this is a pretty universal issue.

Old school – shaving. We still do this on our legs and underarms, in the aforementioned thrice yearly. It’s easy and lo-tech. Dangers? Cutting yourself. We still have quite a scar. Ask us about it and we’ll show you.

Nair: and other “home-removal” products. We know nothing of this personally, but have heard that a problem was it was stinky. A lot of movies use it as a joke by putting it in shampoo bottles of the character they hate or are punking.

Waxxing: By now, everyone knows that Britney Spears does it. One universal thing we’ve heard: it hurts. And it doesn’t last all that long. Plus it’s a lot of exposure (for bikini waxes) at fairly regular intervals.

Laser Hair Removal: We have first-hand knowledge of this and highly, highly recommend it. We also highly recommend the anesthetic cream be applied a good 20 to 30 mins. Prior. Rub it in, then frost it like you’re a cake then wrap up in heavy-duty (restaurant grade) Saran Wrap and it will be a total breeze. Each treatment lasts no more than 10 mins. And the results are fantastic.

We can highly recommend Dr. Tattoff in Beverly Hills, who we see for treatments. It’s an exceptionally clean office with friendly staff and real-honest-to-goodness R.Ns performing the procedure. They use the Palomar StarLux IPL Permanent Hair Removal

Info? www.drtattoff.com/ They have offices in Beverly Hills, Irvine and Encino and plan an opening soon in Las Vegas. The website gives you pricing, procedures anything else you might want to try.

There’s a very comprehensive website, hairfacts.com that chronicles everything, from chemicals to Flashlamp to electrolysis, and also sites any products recalled by the FDA or those which have had lawsuits or complaints brought upon them. For methods, this should probably tell you all: //www.hairfacts.com/methods.html

FYI

From Dr. Tattoff’s site:

We add this because we have actual first-hand knowledge of this procedure (this, and shaving, of course).

Is IPL hair removal permanent? Yes, hair follicles that have absorbed the energy of the light and have been destroyed (usually 80%) will never grow hair again. Some hair growth may appear after 5-7 treatments but it will be thinner, lighter in color and grow at a much slower rate than before. Since your hair grows in intervals of 3 cycles, we recommend waiting 5-6 weeks in between treatments until your desired result is achieved. Our goal is to target hair growth in the Anagen phase where hair growth is active and contains the most melanin.

* Emits intense pulses of light that are absorbed by the melanin in the hair follicle disabling the hair to grow
* 2 treatment heads (R and Rs) to better target different skin types
* 5-7 treatments 4-6 weeks a part
* No hair removal other than shaving 6 weeks prior to treatment
* No sun exposure or self tanning 3-4 weeks prior
* Ideal candidate is light skin with dark hair but able to treat all skin types
* Hair grows in 3 cycles and best to target hair in the active growing stage (anagen). Usually 80% of hair is able to be treated (everyone has dormant or sleeping hairs)
* Treatment time: 1 – 60 minutes depending on body area and coarseness of the hair