How many times have you signed up for ‘painless’ hair removal treatments and felt totally duped? Whenever I buy into one of these promises, I can hear Mr. T at the back of my head yelling, ‘I pity the fool!’
Two years ago I did a laser session that claimed to be painless. It felt like I was being repeatedly zapped by an angry robot who had a vendetta against humankind. I had to convince myself not to jerk my leg away every time the technician stepped closer to me.
But I have good news: I found one that actually delivers. I heard through word of mouth recently that Kaya Clinic has a pretty decent, if slightly pricey painless laser treatment. Two years felt like enough time to heal from the emotional scarring that came from my first experience, so I booked myself in for a half-leg session.
I don’t say this lightly — I have extremely low pain tolerance — but... it didn’t really hurt. I ended up doing my full legs in one go.
First I had to meet with a doctor at their BurJuman branch, who recommended I sign up for four to six sessions of the Kaya Ultima Laser Hair Reduction. (They call it reduction because no hair removal is truly permanent; it will require some maintenance over time.)
Fatma, a bilingual technician who has been doing laser treatments for 10 years (she says technology has come a long way since then) explained the process before we started. They shave the area with a razor, mark it up with a white pencil, and go over it with quick, cold laser pulses courtesy of a cryogen-based Dynamic Cooling Device (DCD). This basically feels like a cool blast of air, and the occasional discomfort is equivalent to a hair being tweezed.
I was told to wait a month between my first and second sessions, then a month and a half, and so and so forth. By the time four weeks had passed, there was some sparse, scattered regrowth. Worth noting: thicker, darker hair is typically more responsive to laser, facial hair is generally less responsive to treatment.
The bottom line is, hair removal is not for everyone, so only consider this if it’s something you really want.
Prices at Kaya vary depending on body area and size. For example upper lip is Dh270 for one session (Dh950 for four sessions and Dh1,730 for seven), while full legs are Dh2,760 per session (Dh9,500 for four, Dh15,875 for seven.) Meanwhile, full body is Dh4,105 for one session, Dh15,875 for four sessions, and Dh24,275 for seven.
Kaya Clinic is located in Barsha Heights, BurJuman Centre, Town Centre Jumeirah, City Centre Mirdif and Marina Walk.
This month they’re offering 15 per cent off on single sessions and four session packages — or an extra session free when doing four sessions — and 25-35 per cent off on seven sessions.
