Groupon Review - IPL @ Ginza Calla

Updated: Additional review on Ginza Calla here~

Bought another Groupon a month plus ago...

Apparently loads of my friends already have similar packages with other IPL salons like Musee Platinum. So am I the only one who is using ancient methods?! Haha. Anyway, Musee also have similar promotions on Groupon before but I saw this post.. that turned me off, also from their Facebook page, it seem really hard to make appointments. Ginza Calla on the other hand have quite a number of bloggers (paid advertorials unfortunately) raving about it, less is known about Ginza so I decided to try it on the assumption that I can make future appointments easier.  

It only has a branch in Plaza Singapura and when I was there, there were some road show about Jurassic Park movie! Rawr!

My review:   Apparently while the Groupon entices you with UNLIMITED sessions, the staff said that hair would stop growing after 3-5 years. In addition, membership will automatically be cancelled if you didn't go for treatments for more than six months. So by their logic, it is not unlimited afterall. Anyway it is only $35, so not much to complain about really. 

Everything was done really professionally, with the staff explaining the various do's and don'ts prior to and after each IPL session. Stuff like no alcohol drinking, sauna, spa on the day before the session. 

The whole session took about 20 minutes from prepping to the actual lasering and finally some post-IPL moisturising work.  As it was my first time doing IPL I was a little nervous. Would I go blind?! What if it is too freaking painful?! As you know, our eyes are covered to protect us from the strong beam, so our other senses are HEIGHTENED. 

It is NOT entirely painless like what some other people said. It felt like hot ashes from joss sticks on certain parts, or the hot wax dripping down from your birthday candle, but it only last for a short while. Most of the time though, I felt nothing, except the light and warm heat.  If your pain threshold is extremely low, you can tell the staff to stop for a while before continuing. Also, I liked that the staff tells us what they are doing before doing it, this helped me calm down a lot. Post session, it was completely painless for me, though my friend (also another first timer) reported tingling sensation an hour after the treatment. 

Booking of appointments are also relatively easy. Basically you book your next appointment (in two months time) when you come the session. I cannot say if I have lesser hair growth since I have only done it once, but in general it was a pleasant experience :) 

The room itself is small, but really you don't need a big room to do IPL. 

These are the machines they used, it can be a tad too loud at times...

For those who are interested in other packages, these are the current promotions. 

Update: Hair growth was really slower which means it works yay! Went for the second appointment too! This time they tried to use a higher intensity laser, which was more painful. I gave up half way on one side and the therapist advised that the effects would be lesser - fine by me!