I have wanted to try laser hair removal, but haven't. From my understanding you are a best candidant if there is a big difference in your skin color and hair color. Like pale to med-light skin color with dark hairs. Doesn't work as well for someone pale with light colored hairs or somone dark with dark or light hairs. It's the same whether you are naturally darker toned or are usually light but have a tan from sun exposure or sunless tanning products. Also, your hair grows in 12-week cycles where it is dormant for 10 weeks (approx) and actively growing for 2 weeks. Only the hair follicles currently active will be killed in any one treatment. I don't think 100% of the active hair follicles are killed, but I don't know what percentage are. I know that it takes about 6 treatment sessions to get about 70-80% of all the hair follicles. That being said, being the cheap-o that I am, I am trying the Igia Finally Gone. It only claims to kill 50% of the active follicles in any one session. So, if only 2/12's of the hairs are active and it only kills 1/2 of them, that is 1/12 of the total hairs per session, so I can expect to be hair-free in about 12 sessions ? I have only done about 4 (maybe 5) sessions over the last couple years. It is very very time-consuming even with the pads that cover more area at a time because I am doing my lower legs ... a lot of area to cover there. I can see some reduction in the number of hairs that grow on my legs and both legs have areas that are almost completely bald on the lower half of the lower legs towards the front and the inside. These are the areas that are the least "meaty". Don't know if that has anything to do with it ? For what it's worth, I have very hairy very coarse very dark hair on my lower legs and I am able to tell a difference already. When I "treat" my lower legs, I shave and then let the hairs grow for about 1-1/2 to 2 weeks, then I spend a saturday morning zapping my legs, and a few days after I have my legs waxed. Igia says you are to pull out each hair after the treatment, and waxing is the fastest way to get all of those hairs out ! I have also heard the "infomercial" for Nad's and they say after you wax a number of times that eventually the hairs stop growing. Not sure how true that is but don't try Nad's ... it does not work ... it is painful and it does not remove all of the hairs. If you want to wax, buy Gigi Honee All Purpose Hair Removal Microwave Formula from Sally's. It's also painful, but at least it removes all of the hairs ! You can also buy a Numbing Spray by Gigi that helps a lot. http://www.sallybeauty.com/ I don't have the guts to rip the waxing strips off myself, so I have someone else do the ripping.

I have used all of the products I referred to above, and many more that I cannot recall the names of at the moment. I have used the appropriate shades for my skin color and they do look orange. The Clarins product is an expensive product that unfortuantely also gives an orange hue. I have never aimed for a deep dark tan as I am fair skinned as well. With the exception of professional airbrush tan, you cannot get a deep dark tan if you are fair skinned. No one ever had to tell me the products I mentioned made me look orange, I could see it for myself. Sorry to disagree, but I see people all of the time using products that look orange. Of course, I wouldn't tell someone I didn't know that they look orange, I'd hope they could see it for themselves. I really don't think most people aim for the orange look, they just don't realize how orange the product makes them look. With regard to the price, you get what you pay for. Affordable is a subjective term. I'd rather pay a little extra for a realistic "tan". Also, the realistic products usually produce at least 4 to 5 all over body coverage applications per bottle. The product only has to be applied one time unlike other products where you "build your tan". It works out to about 8.50 per week for a great color tan. I think that is a reasonable price, as there isn't any waste with the mousse products. They go on evenly, and you can see where you are applying them as opposed to the products that have no color to them upon application. The color only appears hours later, and if the application is not even, there isn't much you can do about it. If I couldn't afford a product that gave me a realistic "tan", I would not use a cheaper product just because it was cheaper, despite the result. If there were a more realistic and cheaper product available, I would be all for it! IMHO, there is nothing worse than a fake tan that looks orange. I'd rather be tan-free than look orange. Yes, I too have tried the Coppertone self tanner, and it does look orange. You may have to go outside to see what your "tan" really looks like. If money is an issue and you want a good brown color "tan", buy the Whipped Chocolate, and you will get a nice light brown color. At approx. $10 per bottle, the tan works out to about 2.50 or less per application. I have also found that the creme based products tend to look streaked and take much longer to dry. The mousse produts are completely dry within 10 minutes. I guess it really a matter of how you want your "tan" to look. Also, if you only need to tan your legs for an evening out, the Sally Hansen spray product works well rather than wearing hose. I was attempting to share years of experimentation with the orange-looking substandard products, and provide a list of tried and true great "tan" results.

Just a follow-up on my visit. I wish I had gone to sunless.com and read their Mystic tips *before* I went, as the salon gave some conflicting information. My first visit was free, and following visits are $27 unless you buy a package deal. I felt as if I needed to hold my breath during the spraying, even though they said it was OK to breathe in, and I didn't stand in the booth for 30 sec. after it was done because they didn't tell me to. I only read that afterwards on the fine print wall instructions. They said I didn't have to remove make-up...it tans right thru, but sunless.com said it was better to do so. I also did not protect my feet enough and they got too tan. Next time I'd wear the paper booties and apply a self-tanner to my feet by hand. They said I could get dressed right away, but sunless said to wait 15 minutes to allow the solution to dry well and absorb in. I also was in my work clothes, so next time I would have a loose dark cotton outfit(including dark bra & panties) to change into to prevent sweating or too much rubbing against the tan solution and color guide. It did not come off on my clothes....only a tiny bit on my white bra from the color guide tint...and I was sweating outside from the heat. They told me to wait 4 hr. to shower, but sunless recommends even longer...overnight if you can, then shower off the color guide in the morning. The coverage was good and very even. There was no smell any more than an average suntan lotion smell...like a Coppertone smell, not tropical. Next time I would prep a few days in advance with good exfolitation, shaving, and cocoa butter the day before, in order to make the tan last as long as possible. I've been doing some good reading on sunless.com about how to be more successful with self-tanners, so now that I have an even Mystic base I will try to maintain on my own. Using their advice and how-to's, I bought the Coppertone Effortless creme self-tanner with vanishing tint, and applied it today (48 hrs later) as a second layer. I would recommend the Mystic as a quick tan for a special event, a good base for using tanning creams, or as a good option for someone who cannot go in the sun due to medication or medical conditions. According to Sunless, depending on the local prices, Mystic can work out to nearly the same cost as using a good quality tanning cream. (but the look is very even if you follow the tips and instructions) Karen

The brand Fake Bake. I used to use the original lotion but discovered their Flawless spray and now prefer that. They both come with gloves and the Flawless comes with a mitt. It's recommended to keep this one in the refrigerator for longer shelf life. (Not sure about the Original.) I use both of these products on my face also with no problems. You'll want to apply it at night after showering/exfoliating. Wash it off in the morning. I don't notice much product coming off on my pillows and sheets, but anything that ever has comes clean in the wash. You can build the color up if you use it a few nights in a row. The color doesn't wear off streaky and weird either. When doing your face just make sure to blend well into your hair line the whole way around and don't forget your ears. For the wrists, knees, hands etc. I like to apply mineral oil (or lotion) to those areas and that helps with application. I do this before I put the gloves on and when I'm done with everything else, I spray (using Flawless but you could do the same thing with the lotion) some on the mitt and tap around the top of my hand and blend in and down the fingers and up the wrist. It's pretty easy to do. I personally never apply sunless tanner to the under sides of my arms since that area doesn't get tan if I'm out in the sun. I think it looks more natural. If you do that, just make sure you blend out the edges along the top of your arms. If my legs won't be showing a lot of time I'll cheat and only use the tanner from the chest up. They both have fragrance. The original lotion had a sunless tanner smell. I haven't used that one in a few years to know if that changed. The Flawless spray has a beachy coconut smell. I dislike a lot of scents, but find it pleasant. The Flawless was a little cheaper and I had other people tell me they liked it better than the Original lotion. For Flawless, wash the mitt after each use. Have fun in Florida!