Brazilian Laser Hair Removal (Cost vs Bikini Line)

Brazilian laser hair removal is an increasingly popular method for women and men who normally shave or wax their pubic region. Given how quickly the hair grows back and since neither of these options are permanent, laser is increasingly seen as a longer term but more expensive and slightly painful choice.

Full Brazilian laser hair removal removes all pubic hair but you can also choose to leave some hair so the results can be tailored to what you like. Laser hair removal can permanently reduce the amount of hair and also lessens the chance of ingrown hairs and is suitable for both men and women.

What is Brazilian hair removal?

A Brazilian refers to the process of completely removing all pubic hair for either a man or woman. Historically this process was referred to as a Brazilian wax where wax was directly applied to the area (or wax strips were used) and the hair was forcibly pulled out by the root. The results last several weeks, the hair will eventually grow back in full and has to be removed again, if desired.

Brazilian laser hair removal therefore refers to the removal of pubic hair but using laser instead. This leads to a more permanent removal of hair as multiple treatments usually lead to a reduction in the total hair in the region over time. A full Brazilian is an expression used to describe where all pubic hair is removed so you might hear Brazilian and full Brazilian thrown around where they might refer to the same thing.

The thing to keep in mind is when you visit a laser clinic for Brazilian hair removal, you can tell them what you want: If you want all hair removed, you can get that. If you want to leave a small strip of hair, a triangle, or some other style, you an have that done too.

Bottom line: Brazilian refers to a wide variety of hair removal styles that generally results in the removal of all or most pubic hair in the region.

Bikini line laser hair removal vs Brazilian hair removal

Basic bikini laser hair removal. Full bikini laser hair removal. Brazilian laser hair removal.

You may come across various marketing terms or service offerings for pubic hair removal and are wondering what they mean. Traditionally a bikini wax was a process where women could have pubic hair removed so that none showed when they wore a bikini.

Over time, both women and men now have various forms of pubic hair removal and service offerings have popped up to meet the needs of each person and their goals.

A basic bikini line hair removal refers to removing any pubic hair that would otherwise be visible when wearing a bikini or swim suit.

A full bikini line hair removal involves removing more hair than a basic bikini line treatment and generally removes more hair including off the top and sides.

Bottom line: You will see marketing lingo that hair removal clinics use to advertise various pubic hair removal services. Worry less about the marketing terms and approach a hair removal clinic to tell them what you want to accomplish, they can tell you what they call it and what they charge for the service.

Safety of Brazilian laser hair removal

While the bikini area is clearly a sensitive part of your body, a skilled laser technician at a professional clinic can do the job using the right equipment with the proper skill. In some respects using a laser for hair removal in the pubic area might be safer than shaving or waxing.

A research report on sexually transmitted infections (STI) from the University of California—San Francisco concluded a correlation between frequent pubic hair removal and self-reported sexually transmitted disease prevalence. People who more frequently groomed pubic hair through shaving, waxing, trimming or plucking were twice as likely to have sexually transmitted diseases than people who don’t. These diseases often get spread through cuts on the skin from shaving presumably with the same razor you use on other body parts and thus wasn’t sterile.

Lesser side effects from pubic hair waxing include skin irritation, ingrown hairs and burns from hot wax. Plucking pubic hair also tends to produce ingrown hairs and can lead to infection and reddened skin bumps.

When it comes to laser hair removal, the risk of infection, skin irritation and ingrown hairs is not the same. Laser hair removal side effects in general tend to involve minor skin irritation that passes in a few hours post treatment. In that regard, laser hair removal when done professionally tends to be a safe option even for the Brazilian process.

You have fine, blonde, white, gray or red hair

Unfortunately, you’re probably out of luck for any form of laser hair removal. While laser hair removal has improved over the years from the days when laser was only able to target dark hair on light skin, newer laser technologies still have trouble targeting unwanted hair that is fine or thin, blonde, white, gray or red.

Dyeing your hair won’t help as it’s likely that the dye won’t go all the way to the bottom of the follicle which is where laser targets.

Laser technologies now have options available to target people with darker skin tones but lighter hair is still a problem. We’ll talk below about the importance of skin tone not only from a hair removal success angle but also from a safety perspective, too.

If you’re in doubt regarding the color of your unwanted hair, consult personally with a trusted laser hair removal clinic and get their advice. If you do have any of the above-mentioned hair colors though, be careful if they tell you that they can successfully remove that color hair.

Also remember that when talking about hair color, we’re specifically referring to the color of the unwanted hair which may be different from the hair on your head.

Which type of laser is best for Brazilian hair removal?

You may or may not be aware of the four main types of lasers that exist for hair removal. If you click the link in the previous sentence, you can learn more about each one.

The best type of laser for any hair removal is the one that suits your skin type. Some lasers are better at darker skin tones (Nd:Yag) whereas other types are good for lighter skin tones (Diode). Familiarize yourself with the 6 Fitzpatrick Skin Types and determine what your skin type is. That way when you visit or speak with various laser clinics, you can ask what type of laser machine(s) they have and know which ones may be best for you.

If a hair removal clinic isn’t aware of the Fitzpatrick Skin Types or the importance of skin color for laser hair removal, you should probably look for another clinic.

Modern laser hair removal machines are versatile

There are now laser hair removal machines that not only offer two or more laser types built into the same unit for versatility, all six Fitzpatrick Skin Types – from the lightest Type I skin tone to the darkest Type VI skin tone – are capable of being treated by at least one of them.

Not all laser clinics offer each technology and some lasers are better than others for a wider range of skin colors and hair colors than others.

Some laser technologies also offer pain reduction features like air cooling, cryogen cooling and other built-in options to protect the skin while treatment is taking place. Higher end machines can even measure your skin tone for a very customized experience. This is especially useful for treating a sensitive region like your bikini area.

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) for Brazilian hair removal

Is IPL a viable option for Brazilian hair removal? Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) uses a light-based technology and although similar to laser in terms of the process from the patient’s perspective, is not the same.

With IPL, a cooling gel is first applied to the area being treated. Then the IPL treatment can begin in a similar fashion to laser: A wand is held right on the gel and a flash of light is emitted through the gel onto the hair. The gel acts as a protective barrier and immediately cools the skin to a degree too.

IPL can be suitable for Brazilian hair removal in the bikini area assuming you meet the criteria of having dark hair and relatively light skin. The Intense Pulsed Light can only pick up the contrast between dark hair and light skin. The addition of the cooling gel may give you some confidence that you are protected against the pain but I can tell you from experience that it still can hurt in sensitive areas. For me it was the collarbone and back of the neck that tended to hurt the most.

IPL has been a viable hair removal option since the 1990s but over the years I’ve noticed that it doesn’t get as much attention anymore as does laser. Laser hair removal is still the gold standard and much of the new innovation is there, not with IPL.

You can read about my series of IPL hair removal treatments to learn more about the process. I happened to notice that the clinic that I visited for the IPL treatments no longer offers it and now strictly uses laser.

So while IPL can be suitable for bikini area hair removal, the hard part might be finding a clinic who still offers the service.

How many laser treatments does it take to remove pubic hair?

Expect to have 8 – 10 Brazilian laser hair removal appointments spaced out over time to achieve results you are happy with. Hair grow in cycles so you only want to do laser hair removal during the growth phase which is when the hair above the skin can be treated. Any dormant hair that is below the skin can’t be treated with laser.

So if you go for a Brazilian laser treatment today you might not visit again for 4 – 6 weeks for your second visit, and so on. Your schedule should be determined by your laser hair removal practitioner and you should try to stick to their suggestions if you trust their advice. Which you should be able to since you’re paying for their expertise.

Over time you should notice less hair and the hair that does return should be finer and thinner.

How much does Brazilian laser hair removal cost?

Expect to pay $250 – $500 for a single Brazilian laser hair removal appointment depending on how much hair you want removed. A full treatment schedule of 8 – 10 appointments could therefore cost $2,000 – $5,000. When you shop around you will find different prices but also different levels of service and possibly results.

Expect to pay $150 – $450 for a regular bikini laser hair removal visit. The average cost of a laser hair removal treatment in general is $287 to give you a bigger picture cost.

By comparison, a Brazilian wax may cost $50 – $100 plus tip per appointment. You can do the cost benefit analysis to see if a laser treatment regimen meets your budget and longer term hair removal goals.

How painful is Brazilian laser hair removal?

Compared to other body parts, the pain of laser hair removal on pubic hair is about an 8/10. Underarms and lip hair removal with laser is about a 9/10 so it’s slightly more painful than the bikini area. Chin and facial hair are about a 2 or 3 out of 10 by comparison.

So it hurts. The removal of pubic hair around the bikini area with laser hurts more than other body parts treated with laser. It’s a sensitive area and you will feel some pain depending on certain criteria which we’ll discuss in a moment but the flipside is this…

If you’re used to waxing, with around 8 – 10 Brazilian laser treatment sessions, you may be happy enough with the results that you don’t need anymore laser treatments and may never have to wax again.

As mentioned above, modern laser machines have pain reducing features that you should ask about prior to agreeing to treatment with a specific clinic. Your pain tolerance and amount of hair to be removed also matters.

You may also take pain medication before treatment. Ask your laser clinic for advice before your first session.

Permanence of Brazilian laser hair removal

As with any laser hair removal treatment, the results are more a case of permanent hair reduction rather than guaranteed permanent hair removal. While plenty of marketing and advertising – including from laser clinics themselves! – claim that laser offers permanent hair removal, it does not.

Hair grows in cycles and you will require multiple treatments for any laser treatment to achieve desired results. For Brazilian laser hair removal, 8 – 10 treatments is the generally accepted range before a noticeable and desirable level of hair loss is achieved.

Dormant hairs may then grow in the future which would then need to be removed. That’s how when we age, we suddenly notice hairs growing in places we didn’t previously have them.

Shaving, waxing, epilation and laser for bikini area comparison

How long can you expect to go hair free with various forms of hair removal for the pubic region? While bikini shaving and waxing are the go-to standard for bikini hair removal, epilation is increasingly available. None of these options provides the length of hairlessness as laser however as we’ll see below.

Shaver

Shaving will give you a few days without noticeable hair, 1 – 3 days on average. Of course, as with anything you shave, the stubble starts growing back again quickly. So while it’s cheap, relatively quick and pain free unless you cut yourself, the results don’t last long.

Wax

Waxing your bikini area will typically last 3 – 6 weeks and while the time of going hair free increases so does the pain level. You do get used to the pain of waxing and each rip of the wax strip lasts only a second or so. Given that you don’t have to wax nearly as frequently as shaving, it’s a good option for a vacation or during the summer.

Epilator

Epilation is a newer and lesser known technology. It involves using an epilator of some kind, which is an electronic device that effectively pulls the hair out forcefully. So you’re going to feel some pain but the results last around as long as waxing and since there is no wax, there is no chance of burning and no mess.

Laser

After several or more laser hair removal treatments, you may expect to go 6 – 12 months before having to do another treatment. Over time and with repeated treatments, you should notice a decrease in the total amount of hair, hence the expression permanent hair reduction. This is something you won’t achieve with a shaver, wax or epilation.

So the 6 – 12 month time frame is somewhat in the air since it’s a wide range and also assumes you will have multiple treatments during that time. Each time the amount of hair that returns is expected to decrease and the hair that remains will get thinner.

Summary

As we’ve seen, the term Brazilian hair removal is somewhat of a moving target because it does depend on how much hair you’d like removed. While a Brazilian wax was the traditional way for women and increasingly men to go hair free down there, Brazilian laser hair removal has grown in popularity and offers longer term benefits at a cost.

You can decide how much hair you’d like removed, how much you’d like to remain and your total cost and treatment time will thus change accordingly.

If you would like to consider options other than laser for pubic hair removal that offer longer term results than shaving or waxing, take a look at IPL and electrolysis.