5th session complete

Last weekend, I decided not to do the 5th session, a lot of the hair was just completely gone, so when I began most areas felt like the zap wasn't really affecting them.

That might be something to do with hair phases growing slower, I just dont know. 

So I left it for a week, and over this last week I have seen some hair regrowth. As the hair regrowth after a week is just a few mm long, its not easy to know whether its finer, shorter, I guess I wont really have any conclusive results until I get to the 12th session.

Over the last month and a half though, I've had a relatively hair free chest and abdomen, which would have been roughly the same had I been to waxing salon. So perhaps, even if there is no permanent improvement over the next 12 weeks, perhaps this is viable alternative to waxing, or other epilation treatments, especially for women.

I imagine most women would prefer to just perform a treatment once a week, to stay hair free on that spot, without stubble for that week. After this two week gap, I was still relatively hair free, so who knows just how long the results of a session would be once you have a break from the treatment.

Anyway, I have just done session 5. I can definitely confirm the pain has gone down by at least 50% on some spots. I think this is because there are some patches of hair where no regrowth has appeared, so when the light descends down to the root, there is no pigment in the hair itself to absorb the light. 

However, there are some patches, particularly around the nipple area where the treatments have not managed to slow, or reduce the hair growth. 

Let me explain.

After a session, the following week or so alot of hair just falls out. Some are stubborn, if you pluck with your fingers it easily slides out from the skin. The dark, and thick hairs around the nipple are very stubborn. Over 4 treatments, these seemingly appear to be unaffected. Growing back as normal as they were before I shaved them down in preparation for the treatment.

Today I paid special attention to these areas, the pain when zapping them it quite intense, but that's good I presume, as the light is managing to permeate the pigment of the hair, and penetrate into the follicle.

After this treatment though, I dont feel as sore as before, so Ill try to post some pics up just before I start sessino 6 next week. Then I will be halfway to where I should be noticing some results. I dont intend to stop there though, I have worked out the 20000 flashes should allow me to go beyond 20 treatments on my chest and abdomen, so I may just do that. We shall see....

Need to buy new activator gel today... 5th session tomorrow

Today I need to go to Boots to purchase some more activator gel. About £3.00, will cover two sessions of full chest and abdomen on my body, so its not too expensive really.

I took a look over the area this morning, there are quite a few patches with no hairs at all, but also there are some patches where new hair is just sprouting, and also some thicker hairs that you can just pull out because they were damaged by the previous treatment. Alot of the hairs are stuck under a thin layer of skin, this is not a problem, usually the hair comes through gradually, but I also like to use an ex-foliator scrub to help with this. 

My camera is not good enough to really get a close picture to demonstrate this, but I'll try a little later before I shave as preparation for tomorrows session.

I checked the stats of this blog, its nice to see a few people checking it, because I think I am not just reviewing the BSSP, but I am showing all of you the active results. So keep checking back. Thanks.

Day after 4th Treatment

Hi everyone

Today I posted a review about the BSSP on the Boots website, as its only my 4th treatment its not possible to write whether the treatment is working, nor would it be fair to comment on whether it offers any permanency of hair removal.

Instead I wrote a brief comment stating about the packaging, the product quality itself and posted a link to this blog, I hope they will publish it because I am sure a lot of people will be curious to know whether its actually achieving any results, for their own peace of mind.

 As for treatments, 1, 2, 3, I cant really comment if I'm noticing any change, just that on Saturday mornings I wake up, shave the area once again, hairs at that time are approx 1-2mm, and then on Sunday mornings I start the treatment. I've kind of fallen into this routine.

So with this post, I have chosen to include some pics of the areas I've been treating, and over the oncoming weeks and months I'll keep showing you the same area over and over, and hopefully we can get to see if there are any lasting results.

The sensation of the zap itself, is nothing painful, just like a flick of an elastic band I guess, but there are some sensitive areas of the body where nerves are more concentrated beneath the skin, or bone, and these can feel mildly painful, but I think no "No Pain, No Gain" and push myself through it.

The day after the treatment, all the little follicle holes on the skin are a bit red, that's a good sign that the light has managed to travel down into the shaft and hit the root. Over the next few days, the little hairs will fall out in some places, but not in all. I've noticed that the thicker hairs, seem to hang around a bit longer, and get quiet stubbly, but I just keep on treating them each time, and hopefully their stubbornness will be gradually worn down.

Ive looked closely at the hairs, and on my body it seems I have two shafts of hair very closely together, its almost like two shafts coming from one hole, but in fact, they are just very close together. This is one of the reasons I look like I have a carpet on my chest. :)

Red spots for each hair follicle

Need to work on the 6 pack!

As you can see, my arms are quite hairy, chest was very similar to this

Background to this blog

Welcome

I decided to create this blog, partly because unwanted body hair for men is very much a taboo nowadays, just as much as it is for women. Not only that, but I've often wondered how it would feel to be smooth skinned and not be so aware of the dark hair growing all over my body.

Lets be honest, nowadays men are also constantly harangued by media stereotypes, imagery of having a good, toned and often hair free body. Men too, have had to become just as body conscious as women have. See for yourself, TV adverts, TV personalities, advertisement, all steer away from hairy, manly men. This was not always the case, back in the 1960's a hairy chested man may well have been the "in thing" and there was no metrosexualism as we have nowadays, times have moved on and body hair is no longer in vogue.

For me at least, I've always been consciously aware of my body being more hairy than over guys, my father was quite hairy on his arms and chest, I wouldn't say I am quite as bad as some men I have seen but I would rate my "hairyness factor" at least an 8 out of 10!

So now I have edged onto a path to try and change it. Over the years, I have had various laser and IPL treatments at London beauty salons on my legs, chest and shoulders. But as we all know, these are costly and you need to be very wealthy to maintain the treatment routine suggested by the therapist. The results for this were far from conclusive, and after 8 or so treatments I only saw mild improvement and so judged the cost to result ratio to be unworthy of further investment.

Recently there seems to be a whole crop of websites popping up, selling hair removal devices for the home market. If you were to go back 5-10 years, there would be 99% certainty that many of these devices were scams, often stating permanency, when in fact they were completely useless, non researched, creams or machines.

But times have moved on, big brand names such as Boots, Philips, Remington have waded into the serious issue of people wanting a resolution to unwanted body hair, not just for women, but men too, not just for Caucasian but also for darker skin types. And no doubt as the technology is researched and improved, the devices and results will become a lot more successful.

So, after keeping an eye on these new devices and development for two years, I have finally plucked up the courage to invest in the Boots Smooth Skin Plus. 

Why did I opt for this machine and not others?

 Well first of all, its a new improved version of the first Boots machine (Boots Smooth Skin Intense), which has alot of negative reviews regarding overheating and also the head shape. I felt the lessons would have been learned and the technology improved, which appears to be the case. 4 sessions now and thankfully I have had no overheating issues and the new head shape seems to be easy to control.

Also, the BSSP has 20,000 flashes before the need for a replacement handset that's double and in terms of value for money, I believe its the best device for the home market right now.

The BSSP offers 10 joules per cm2, which is really important as the greater the power that can be sent down into the follicle, the more damage to the root and presumably the better the results. Time will tell for me at least.

The replacement of the bulb, requires you to drop the machine off to a Boots store, pay a fee (approx £150.00) and wait a week or so, then collect your newly updated BSSP with new headset containing another 20,000 flashes! Seems to be a fair, and affordable choice in my opinion.

So I want to do a lot of large areas, starting with my chest, then legs, then back, so those 20,000 flashes will go some way to helping. Noticeable change should occur between 8-12 treatments, treating myself each week.

Therefor, the aim of this blog is to show a work in progress of, a before, during and after guide, to answer the questions you and I are no doubt searching for.

Does it work?

Is it really permanent?

Does it give long lasting results?

Is it worth it?

Lets find out together, I paid £349.99 from Boots, and am now on my fourth treatment. So join me, on this journey and see my results for yourself, then make your own minds up whether this might be something you would consider or even try.

If you have any questions, or would like advice, please do not hesitate to contact me, also comments are very welcome.

The device is small and portable

Nice little carrying case (bit feminine if you ask me)