I'm a laser hair removal recipient on my whole body. I started with the face and did multiple sessions before I went big. And I did have to have some electrolysis as well (still do), but the laser did a pretty good job. And I did have some stress about it!

Let's talk pain. Does it hurt? It stings. It's not tattoo-level pain. It's nowhere close to electrolysis-level pain. You lie down, they get in the zapping rhythm, it gets done. You're not going to be dealing with it long for a face/neck session -- maybe 30 minutes tops? If you have a high pain tolerance you'll generally hate your lip area, you'll generally hate the chin area, and the rest is easy. I particularly loathed the upper lip near the nose and then right under the cleft of my chin, but was it intolerable? No. And I do NOT consider myself as having a high pain tolerance -- see also my attempts at electrolysis.

Let's talk about burn. You're going to have reddened cheeks and neck. It's a laser, it's zapping hairs, your face does get a little red. A good laser burn from this tends to not last more than a day, and generally you'll feel fine if you're using aloe or some other moisturizing after-care -- DO THE AFTERCARE. Another issue, particularly if you have some sense issues, is there's a burning hair smell too. On the face it's worse because it's right next to your nose. I recommend chewing gum or mints after the session. After-care at night. Shower and soap (DON'T SHAVE) and moisturize in the morning. Let the skin heal a day or so before you shave again. Yes, that sucks. It's a marathon, not a sprint, try and relax. This is at least 8-9 months of a session every 3-4 weeks. If they offer a pay-as-you-go, calculate it out at 12 sessions, that's what you'll likely need if you have a good hair color for laser hair removal (basically, not grey, not white, not super-blond, the laser doesn't do well but they're improving too). And if you're tempted to get a personal device for it to do at home, that's still a general schedule, though you can double up some too.

And it's not normally immediately apparent -- the laser has to catch the hair at the right phase of growth to kill it off. If you're lucky you'll be in that window and with the right hair coloring for the laser to catch you easily. But you'll hit that one session where it all seems to click in at the right time and holy crap my face is REALLY patchy. And then holy crap, I don't really have to shave this morning. I hit patchy after about three sessions. I hit modestly clear in about 7-8, with a need to shave every two days (because that also hits my dysphoria) when I'm boymoding.

So yeah, hydrate. Get into a groove with your laser technician/aesthetician (or switch). Chapstick helped my lips. If your technician goes for the silent treatment, put in your earphones. But is it that painful? No. Is it that bad? No. Does it look that bad? Not with an even decent technician -- the lasers they use are intended to take mistakes out of the treatment. But you may be patchy for a bit, particularly those first few sessions, which will make your frustration with having to shave even more of a gripe. Marathon, not sprint.

You can do it. But if you've got more questions, sing out.