Silkor Laser Hair Removal:
Laser hair removal doesn’t work miracles over night. Furthermore, the extent of how effective it will be depends on factors like skin colour, hair colour and hair type. That’s why, when you go to Silkor making grand demands about eliminating everything from underarms to the soft down on your earlobes, they’ll be realistic with you. They’ll tell you how it is and give you a free consultation first to determine what kind of results you can expect. Our consultation with branch manager Samar Maatouk was informative, thorough and reassuring without false promises.
She informed us that a combination of pale skin with thick, dark hair gives the best results. This, apparently, has something to do with the laser machine being able to detect the hair roots. We were told that people ordinarily need up to six sessions, but it’s possible to start seeing results immediately after the first. Samar also booked us in for a free follow up appointment ten days later. This was to check on the progress and get rid of any sneaky hairs that had escaped the laser gun.
Silkor doesn’t have a set price list because each treatment varies depending on the individual. That’s why they offer a free consultation in the first instance and advise accordingly. On an estimate however, Silkor normally charges the following per session: Dhs600 for underarms; Dhs2500-3000 for lower legs; and Dhs400 for facial area.
The treatment
step by step:
In a room too cold for comfort we met our friendly, Liverpudlian therapist, Kerry. She didn’t like the cold either, we were told, but it was necessary for the machine. We’d soon find that it was necessary for the pain too. Kerry had us lay down, took out a red crayon and drew lines across our legs to separate it into small sections she could focus on one at a time. She then gave us a quick shave and passed us the cold air hose. We looked at it a little cynically, thinking there’s nothing we’d like less while shivering against the chill. How wrong we were. Kerry began by applying gel to a section of leg and then started running the laser-gun over it in rows. To eliminate fuzz for good you must undergo a little discomfort. In that moment we were very thankful for the cold-air hose and held it to the sections Kerry was working on.
‘Tell me when it gets too much,’ Kerry said and then engaged us in conversation to get our mind off the pain. By the time said conversation eventually lead to horror films (for some strange reason), we’d pretty much gotten used to it and were barely gritting our teeth. Front half done, we turned over and Kerry did the back. Little did we know, that the intensity of the laser was set pretty low at 12.
A full leg laser hair removal session takes an hour and a half to complete. Once done, Kerry wiped us down and offered some cream for the irritation, which smelled of sesame oil. This she advised us to also buy it from a local pharmacy and apply three times a day for the first few days.
When we returned for the follow up appointment ten days later, Kerry marked the areas where the hair had grown back, and did a quick re-zap. This time she raised the intensity to level 16, which meant double the pain accompanied by the smell of burning hair. And yet we endured it bravely, because we’d already begun to notice a difference in hair growth, which became even more noticeable after the re-touch. When we went for our second full session Kerry was waiting with her laser intensity set to 20. The first zap is always the most painful, and in all honesty it made us cry out. Afterwards we exerted a huge effort to keep schtum but then every so often our legs would jolt in a knee jerk reaction against the pain. ‘This is why we start people off on a low setting,’ Kerry explained. ‘Otherwise, they’ll never come back.’ They know their stuff, these professionals at Silkor. After all, seeing is believing, and once you see what a difference the first session makes, you’re ready to put up with the rest. Additionally, there is something sickly satisfying about seeing the results of the laser gun on the hair roots.
Pros:
No false promises, informative staff and good results put Silkor on the top of our list for laser hair removal.
Cons:
The sessions are painful and you’ll find that your skin gets quite dry and itchy during the healing process, but a hair-free future of eternal smoothness without waxing or shaving awaits. And for that reason alone, we feel it’s worth it.
The verdict:
After just two sessions (and two touch ups) we’ve found that the hair not only grows a lot slower, but is also more sparse. Bald patches have began to appear on our legs and best of all, whereas once we wouldn’t take a razor to our legs under any circumstances (we hate fast re-growth) we can now wet shave to our heart’s content knowing the re-growth will be slow.
Silkor is open Sat-Thu 9am-9pm. Sheikh Zayed First Street, next to BMW showroom, Khalidiyah (02 681 6070).
