The starting point for any area: both laser wavelengths on the Cynosure Elite IQ, settings chosen for your skin tone, and nothing to recover from.
Explore Laser Hair RemovalUnwanted Hair
Shaving every other day, waxing that never quite holds, and the bumps and dark marks that follow both. Laser takes the follicle out of the equation, on every skin tone, and a consultation is where we map which areas and how many sessions.
- Treatments that address it
- 3
- 45-minute consultation
- Free
- Treatment can begin
- Same day
Which areas, and how many sessions?
Book a free consultationWhat’s
going on?
Hair removal has always been a schedule. Shave, and the stubble is back by evening. Wax, and there is the growing out, the sting, and the monthly appointment. Either way, hair that is cut or pulled can curl back into the skin on its way out, and the bumps, irritation, and dark marks it leaves are often what people mind more than the hair. Laser hair removal works on the follicle instead. Light is absorbed by the pigment in each hair and turned to heat, which disables the follicle so it stops producing hair, or produces much finer hair.
For a long time that option was quietly closed to anyone with medium or deep skin, because the surface pigment absorbed the light the follicle was meant to. Rewind was built on the opposite premise. The Cynosure Elite IQ carries two wavelengths on one device: Alexandrite for lighter skin, and Nd:YAG, which passes the surface pigment and targets the follicle underneath, which is what lets it treat Fitzpatrick IV to VI. Your provider chooses and adjusts the settings for your skin, not from a default, and every skin tone, I through VI, is treated here.
The decision is less about whether than where. A single area like underarms or upper lip, a Brazilian treated to the boundary you choose, or the whole body on one plan and one schedule. Because the laser targets pigment, coarse, dark hair responds best and fine or light hair may not, and your provider will tell you which of yours falls where before anything is booked.
Only a portion of your hair is in its growth phase at any one time, which is why laser is a course rather than a single visit. At the consultation your provider looks at your hair and your skin, gives you a realistic number of sessions for each area rather than a standard plan, and if laser will not work for your hair, says so.
Underarms, upper lip, legs, or arms. These point to laser hair removal by the area: underarms in under half an hour, full legs closer to an hour, and most people treat more than one zone in a visit.
Curly or coarse hair that curls back under the skin after every shave or wax. This points to Brazilian laser hair removal, treated to whatever boundary you choose, from bikini line to full Brazilian, often paired with underarms in the same visit.
Legs today, underarms tomorrow, bikini before the weekend. This points to full body laser hair removal, where legs, arms, underarms, bikini, back, chest, and abdomen progress together on one visit every four to six weeks.
Disable the follicle, one growth cycle at a time
Every session of laser hair removal does the same thing: a concentrated beam of light is absorbed by the pigment in each hair and converted to heat, which disables the follicle. The catch is timing. The laser only affects follicles in their active growth phase, and only a portion of your hair is in that phase at once, so each visit catches a different share. That is why most areas take six to ten sessions, spaced four to eight weeks apart, and why the treated hair sheds over the one to three weeks after each one rather than on the day.
A Brazilian is the same treatment in the zone where it changes the most. Bikini line, extended bikini, or full Brazilian, mapped with you at the consultation and kept to every session. Once the follicle stops producing hair there is nothing left to curl back under the skin, so the bumps and the dark marks that come with them clear as the hair does. Most people need six to eight sessions here, each about 20 to 30 minutes, and it is often paired with underarms in the same visit since those are the two places ingrowns are most common.
Full body laser hair removal changes the planning rather than the physics. Legs, arms, underarms, bikini, back, chest, and abdomen are treated in the same visit every four to six weeks, so you are not tracking separate courses. Hair on different areas cycles at different rates, and hormonally driven zones like the underarms and bikini can need eight to ten sessions where the legs finish in six to eight, so your provider paces the plan around that. Most people see a significant difference by the third or fourth session.
A course, not a one-off
The honest tradeoff with laser hair removal is patience up front for long-term reduction afterward. Each visit is short, a few minutes for an upper lip and closer to an hour for full legs, with no downtime: a cooling gel goes on, you leave with written aftercare, and the redness and warmth fade within a few hours. Most people describe each pulse as a warm flick of a rubber band, and settings are adjusted if an area is more sensitive. But the result is built over months, and the course works best when you keep to it. What to know before your first session covers the preparation.
The areas differ in how they feel and how long they take. A Brazilian is more sensitive than a leg or an underarm, so you may feel each pulse more there, though it is over in about 20 to 30 minutes and most people find it easier than waxing. Full body laser hair removal asks for the longest visit we do and roughly six to twelve months, in exchange for one plan instead of a second course later. After any course, what grows back is finer and lighter, and hormonal changes can wake follicles that were dormant, so many people book a maintenance session once or twice a year.
Choosing between one area, a Brazilian, and full body mostly comes down to how much of your week the razor currently owns and which zones give you bumps. That is the conversation at the free 45-minute consultation: your provider looks at your hair and your skin, tells you which areas will respond fastest and which will take longest, and gives you one clear plan before anything is scheduled. Treatment can begin the same day. If laser is not going to work for your hair, we will say so rather than book you.
The treatments we reach for.
Listed in the order we most often recommend them. Your consultation decides which actually fits your skin, your goals, and your downtime.
Bikini line to full Brazilian, treated to the boundary you choose. The zone where clearing ingrowns matters as much as reducing the hair.
Explore Brazilian Laser Hair Removal
Legs, arms, underarms, bikini, back, chest, and abdomen on one plan and one schedule, when it is not one area that bothers you but all of them.
Explore Full Body Laser Hair RemovalWhere to next?
From the blog
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Experience the freedom of smooth, hair-free skin with laser hair removal, now available for all skin tones. Learn more about this safe and effective treatment.
Read the postFrom the blog
Laser Hair Removal: Is It Right for You?
Discover if laser hair removal is the right solution for your hair removal needs. Learn about the benefits, candidates, and what to expect from treatment.
Read the postRelated concern
Ingrown Hairs & Razor Bumps
End the bumps by removing the hair itself
Start from the concernReady when you are.
Bring the concern.
Leave with a plan.
A free 45-minute consultation is the first step. Your provider looks at what is actually going on, tells you plainly which treatments fit and which do not, and can treat you the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 908-427-4675
Medically reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Martinez, MD, Internal Medicine, Medical Director at Rewind Bar Med Spa. This page is for education and is not a substitute for a consultation with one of our providers.