Laser Hair Removal Works! (A Big Day for Me)

My laser hair removal has been going well, but it was only the other day that I noticed how well it had actually been going. Okay, confession time. I'm not living as a woman full time. Also I'm pretty lazy when it comes to shaving on the weekends.

One recent Sunday, I noticed that even after two days of not shaving my face, my beard hair had barely grown in at all. There were just a couple of little patches and that was it. Suddenly, I got an idea...what if I really closely shaved what little hair their was and tried some makeup without any foundation. Would it work?

See, the beard cover is one of those things that I hate about living as a woman. When I recently traveled, and lived full time for a while, I literally found myself having to stop in the middle of the day, shave again, then reapply some thick, heavy foundation. Not fun and definitely not something that I want to do every day. But, I thought one day, I could do laser or electrolysis and not have to wear foundation at all. It'd be so exciting! My makeup routine would be cut down by five minutes or so and appearance wouldn't be this fragile eggshell I have to work delicately to maintain (heck, I've even developed a way to scratch my nose without messing up my makeup - by pinching the columella between my nostrils ever so gently).

So, the other day, after shaving, I gave my face and chin a careful look over in the mirror. Where the two little patches of hair were there was just a little bit of that ever awful bluish-gray beard color, but otherwise my face was pretty darn smooth. Not too bad!

Skipping my Maybelline Dream Matte® Mousse and Covergirl TruBlend powder, I just started with some basic contouring, then did my regular routine for eyes and brows and lips. In the end, I did put a tiny bit of powder on the beardish spots, though they didn't really need that much coverage.






Looking myself in the mirror, I felt fantastic! Firstly, having my actual skin show instead of a millimeters thick cream just looked way better. It was a more natural look and my skin gave off that normal, healthy glow that beauty product ads are always talking about. Secondly, it just felt great. Not wearing thick foundation made me feel much more comfortable and natural and I'm hoping it helped me pass a little better too. So, yay laser hair removal!

Laser has been a little bit of an issue for me though, at least financially. It's expensive as heck and I'm thinking of maybe looking for some other options. My place charges $150 for a twenty minute session, which, as you can see, does yield results, but that's a seriously big expense every month. It's doable, but not when my cat gets sick and racks up $800 in vet bills or when the IRS decides that I owe $500 in taxes this year. It just reminds me of that sad opening scene from Up where the couple tries to save up for their dream vacation but life keeps getting in the way.

But, I think I can manage to scrape together $150 most months without dipping into my savings. That just means putting up with the nagging laser lady who acts personally offended when I skip a month. Yes, I am aware that it works better if you don't skip a month. But that fact doesn't put money in my pocket, lady! Yeah, I'm tempted to find a less-naggy, cheaper place, though I'll probably stick with a place that I know will yield good results. After all, when someone is firing a laser at your face, you kinda don't want to skimp on the quality, right?

Okay, hold still and I'll get that hair right off. 

Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to having my next session and then one day being able to just throw away my foundation for good! That alone costs $11-$12 for the mousse and $8-$10 for the powder, so eventually laser will just pay for itself. And for the rest of it, I'll just see if my daily cocktail of various drugs and hormones will take care of it. Fingers crossed.