I know through reading months of postings on usenet that there is quite a wide interest in depilation, and that many are keen to find a permanent solution, but I think we've finally found the answer.

We too have tried plucking, shaving, creams and waxing, with all the usual limitations and side effects, and investigated electrolysis and laser treatment, but whilst watching a C4 programme on 'the smoothy club' the subject of the programme mentioned 'Epilight' as the form of treatment he was using. Shortly after, I did a search on the net for Epilight and found a medical cosmetic services company that offered treatment north of Cambridge and also Chelmsford.

I spent a while trying to find out if they would do a total ladies pubic hair removal, and after initially saying they didn't, eventually they said yes they could. The price is not cheap, so I ummed and aahhed a lot, but compared to say a short holiday break, it was worth a try. All I can say is the results justify every penny, and we are delighted by the outcome.

We've chosen the 'one year treatment' option of 6 sessions at two-monthly intervals, which costs only marginally more than three treatments. The hair is dry-shaved and then covered with a gel. A light unit the length and thickness of a domino is held against patches of the skin and produces a great intense pulse of light, which is felt as a hot twang, like a rubber band, but not as painful as waxing, apparently. This energy is absorbed by the follicles of the currently growing hair. The skin is then immediately cooled with a cold glove. The session takes from 15-25 mins.

What was once a very quick-growing and coarse patch of hair has been transformed. Immediately after that first treatment, there has been no itching at all. Instead of being smooth in one direction and almost like sandpaper in the other, with visible hair regrowing within hours, it stayed unchanged, in some places as a slight stubble. Over the next 2 or 3 weeks the treated follicles died and dropped away, leaving the skin hairless and as smooth and silky as you could wish for. Then during the second month the underlying 'resting' hair began to grow, but the coverage was much lighter than before. After the second treatment (which dealt with that growth in the same fashion) the skin was almost perfectly smooth and hairless, apart from the odd few hairs here and there.

Three sessions into the process, and we are down to a few single hairs, and some of the trickier parts underneath which are harder to zap easily.. But its getting to be a pretty good coverage and we still have half the treatments to come! The skin has stayed perfectly smooth and hairless for a few months now, with no sign of anything growing at all.

Needless to say its changed our behaviour quite a lot <g>. As there is absolutely no need for any preparation, and the skin is totally smooth in all directions *all the time*, it gets a great deal of attention!

I'll let you know how we progress over the next few months, but I can thoroughly recommend this as the answer. The only downside I can think of, apart from the cost, is choosing to let the hair regrow naturally between sessions, so they can see exactly where it is, and so it can be zapped (although they are quite happy for you to shave it in between sessions if you want to). But the thrill of seeing it reduce so quickly in such a dramatic fashion is quite a bonus, and the idea that it will be this way *for ever* is pretty cool...

David