Looking for Brazilian laser hair removal near you in Chicago? V&P Laser Hair Removal & Skin Care has been treating clients out of our Old Town studio since 2018. We do one thing all day, every day: laser hair removal with the GentleMax Pro Plus, the same platform dermatology clinics across the city rely on. A full Brazilian session with us takes about 20 minutes and costs $225, which is roughly half of what most Chicago medspas charge for the same treatment on the same laser.
If you’ve never had laser before, the rest of this page walks through what’s included, what it costs, how many sessions you’ll need, what it feels like, and how to tell whether you’re a candidate. If you already know what you want, book a free consultation and we’ll get you on the schedule.
What “Full Brazilian” Actually Covers At V&P
A lot of clinics use “Brazilian” loosely. Here’s how we define it, so you know what you’re paying for.
A full Brazilian at V&P clears every hair from the front of the pubic bone down through the labia, the perineum, and the buttocks (the strip between the cheeks). It also picks up the strays along the upper inner thigh that tend to escape a regular bikini line. It doesn’t include the lower abdomen, the upper thighs, or the cheeks themselves. Those are separate areas, and we’ll quote them separately if you want to add them on the day.
You don’t have to take it all off, either. Plenty of clients want everything gone, but some keep a landing strip or a small triangle on top. Tell us at your consultation and we’ll mark the shape before the first pulse, so the edges stay even as the rest thins out. One piece of advice from years of doing this: the reduction is permanent, so pick a shape you’ll still like in ten years.
The difference between a bikini and a Brazilian is mostly how much you want gone. A bikini cleans up what shows in a swimsuit. A Brazilian removes everything. If you’re not sure which you want, we’ll talk it through at your consultation. There’s a more detailed breakdown on our bikini laser hair removal page.
How Much Does Brazilian Laser Hair Removal Cost In Chicago?
A single Brazilian session at V&P is $225. Most Chicago medspas charge somewhere between $350 and $650 for the same area on the same laser, so that’s the comparison point.
| Package | Total | Per Session |
|---|---|---|
| 1 session | $225 | $225 |
| 3 sessions | $600 | $200 |
| 6 sessionsSaves $200 | $1,150 | about $192 |
Most clients need six to eight sessions, so the six-pack is what most people buy. It saves $200 over paying one session at a time. If you need a seventh or eighth, you can book those individually. If you’re done at six, you’re done, and we’ll tell you so. Every other area is on our full laser hair removal price list.
What’s included in the price:
- The treatment itself with the GentleMax Pro Plus
- A skin check before every session, where we look for irritation, recent sun, or anything else that would change the settings
- Written aftercare instructions and a follow-up text 48 hours later
There’s no consultation fee. The first appointment is free whether you book a session that day or not.
How Many Brazilian Laser Sessions You’ll Need
Most of our Brazilian clients finish their first series in six to eight sessions. Clients with PCOS, a mix of fine and coarse hair, or deeper skin that we treat at a measured pace usually need eight to twelve, plus a touch-up or two a year. It’s rarely fewer than six, and nobody is done in one.
The Brazilian takes longer than most areas. The hair is coarse and dense, it’s driven by hormones, and a couple of spots (the labia and the strip between the cheeks) are harder to reach at the right angle. Faces and bikini lines respond faster.
Why One Session Can’t Do It
Every hair follicle runs through three phases: a growth phase (anagen), a short transition (catagen), and a resting phase (telogen). Then the hair sheds and the cycle starts over. The laser only disables follicles in the growth phase, because that’s when the hair is still attached to the root and can carry heat down to it.
At any given moment, only about 15 to 20% of your Brazilian hair is in that phase. The rest is resting or in transition, and the laser passes right over it. So each session catches one wave of follicles, and we time your next visit for when the next wave has come up.
How Far Apart We Schedule Them
For the first several sessions, we book you every four to six weeks. Later in the series, once regrowth slows down, the gap stretches to six or eight weeks.
If life gets in the way and you come back at ten or twelve weeks, you haven’t lost anything. Hair that’s already gone stays gone. That visit just catches fewer growing hairs than it would have, and you may need one extra session at the end.
Why Your Friend Finished Sooner Than You
Two people can buy the same package and finish two sessions apart. These are the usual reasons:
- Hair color and texture. Dark, coarse hair soaks up the most laser energy and responds fastest. Fine or lighter brown hair takes longer. White, gray, blonde and red hair don’t respond to laser at all.
- Skin tone. On deeper skin we use the 1064nm Nd:YAG wavelength. It’s the safe choice for melanin-rich skin, but it’s a little less efficient at the follicle, so an extra session or two is common.
- Hormones. PCOS, perimenopause, pregnancy, and starting or stopping birth control can all wake up follicles that were dormant. Clients with PCOS usually need more sessions plus ongoing maintenance. We wrote a separate PCOS Brazilian maintenance plan for that.
- Consistency. Stretching the gaps well past the schedule is the most common avoidable reason people end up at session nine.
- Habits between sessions. Waxing or plucking pulls out the root the laser needs to find, and a fresh tan forces us to lower the settings. Both quietly add sessions.
We go deeper on this, including how we estimate your number at the free consultation, in why some Brazilian clients need more than 8 sessions.
What Progress Usually Looks Like
- Sessions 1 to 2
Treated hairs shed over one to three weeks. What grows back is slower and softer, with less stubble.
- Sessions 3 to 4
Bare patches start showing up. You’re shaving noticeably less.
- Sessions 5 to 6
Most of the area stays smooth between visits. The hair that’s left is finer.
- Sessions 7 to 8
Around 80 to 90% reduction for most clients. This is where many people stop.
The full result shows about three months after your last session in the series. If you’d like to see a real series from start to finish, we tracked one in our patch test to final session Brazilian timeline.
After Your Series
Most clients come back once or twice a year for a touch-up. Hormonal shifts like pregnancy, a birth control change, or perimenopause can wake up dormant follicles, and a quick maintenance session keeps things smooth.
Does It Hurt? Honest Answer
The “doesn’t it hurt down there” question comes up at every consultation, so here’s the straight answer.
The upper part of the Brazilian, above the pubic bone, has fairly few nerve endings, and most clients describe it as a warm rubber-band snap. The labia and perineum are more sensitive. They feel warmer, and the first session is usually the worst because the hair is at its thickest. By session three or four there’s so much less hair that most clients say they barely notice.
The GentleMax Pro Plus has a built-in cooling system called the Dynamic Cooling Device. It sprays a tiny burst of cryogen onto your skin a fraction of a second before each pulse, which numbs the surface and protects against burns. We don’t use numbing cream. The cooling makes it unnecessary, and numbing cream in this area can hide the warning signs we need to see during treatment.
If you’re especially nervous, book your first session for the second week of your cycle, when pain tolerance tends to be highest. It really does make a difference.
Why We Use The GentleMax Pro Plus (And Why It Matters For Darker Skin)
Not every laser is safe for every skin tone. This is the part most clinics gloss over.
The GentleMax Pro Plus has two wavelengths in one machine: a 755nm Alexandrite for fair skin (Fitzpatrick I to III) and a 1064nm Nd:YAG for olive, brown and Black skin (Fitzpatrick IV to VI). Single-wavelength diode lasers, which many discount chains use, can cause dark spots, light spots or burns on darker skin. Having both wavelengths is what makes the Brazilian safe for everyone.
A few specifics:
- The spot size goes up to 26mm, so we can clear a full Brazilian in 15 to 20 minutes instead of the 45 it takes on older lasers.
- The pulse durations are short enough to catch fine, stubborn hairs that older machines miss.
- It’s FDA-cleared for permanent hair reduction, not just the “long-term reduction” language some lower-grade devices use.
You can read more about the device on Candela’s product page.
The laser only sees pigment, though, and that’s a real limit. It doesn’t work on white, gray, blonde or red hair. If your hair is too light to see clearly in a photo, it’s too light for the laser, and we’ll tell you at your consultation if you’re not a candidate.
How To Prep For Your Brazilian Appointment
The most important thing: shave the entire treatment area the night before or the morning of your appointment, with a fresh razor. The skin should feel smooth. If you can feel stubble, the laser spends its energy on the hair above the skin instead of traveling down to the follicle, and that’s where the burning-hair smell and surface irritation come from.
Other prep:
- Stop waxing, plucking, threading and epilating six weeks before your first session, and don’t go back to them. The laser needs the root in place.
- No sun exposure or self-tanner on the area for two weeks before.
- No retinoids on the area for one week before.
- Skip exfoliating scrubs the day of.
- Keep the skin bare on the day of your appointment: no lotion, oil, deodorant, powder or numbing cream on the area. We need it clean and dry.
- Show up clean (shower beforehand) and wear loose clothing for afterward.
We don’t shave for you. Some clinics do, most don’t, and at $225 a session we’d rather pass that time savings on to you. If you miss a small spot, we’ll work around it.
Full prep instructions are on our pre-laser hair reduction page.
What The Appointment Is Like
On your first visit you’ll fill out a short intake form covering skin type, medical history, medications and recent sun exposure. We do a quick patch test on a small area to confirm the right wavelength and energy for your skin. Then you change into a treatment robe, and the laser part takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
We don’t make you wait around. Door to door, your first appointment usually takes about 45 minutes. Follow-up sessions take about 30 minutes, including check-in and check-out.
You can drive yourself home or go straight back to work. Save the gym for the next day, since sweat in freshly treated follicles can cause irritation. The skin will look pink for a few hours, and the follicles around each treated hair will look slightly raised. That’s normal, and it means the treatment worked.
Over the next one to three weeks, the treated hairs shed on their own. Don’t pluck them; they’ll come out in the shower. Some people scrub gently with a washcloth to speed things along, which is fine.
For everything to expect afterward, see our post-laser care page.
Who’s A Good Candidate
Brazilian laser hair removal works best for:
- Adults 18 and over. We don’t treat minors for this area.
- People with dark hair, whatever their skin tone.
- People who aren’t pregnant or breastfeeding. There’s no evidence laser causes harm during pregnancy, but there’s no safety data either, and pregnancy hormones often cause new growth that settles after birth. We’d rather wait.
- People who haven’t taken isotretinoin (Accutane) in the last six months.
- People who can commit to the four-to-eight-week spacing.
If you have PCOS or another condition that drives hormonal hair growth, laser still works, but you’ll likely need more sessions and ongoing maintenance. We’ve treated dozens of PCOS clients and will walk you through realistic expectations at the consultation.
If you’re trans and looking for pre-op or transition-related hair removal, we have experience with this, and your consultation will cover what you specifically need. The Brazilian protocol may be different depending on your goals.
Where We Are
We’re in Old Town, about a four-block walk from the Sedgwick Brown Line stop. There’s free street parking and garage parking near the building. Most clients come from Lincoln Park, the Gold Coast, River North, the Loop, the West Loop and Wicker Park. Plenty of people drive in from the suburbs too, mostly Evanston, Oak Park and Naperville, for the pricing.
By appointment only; we don’t take walk-ins. We’re open Monday through Saturday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and we speak English, Romanian and Russian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Brazilian Laser Hair Removal Permanent?
The FDA term is “permanent reduction.” After a full course, which is six to eight sessions for most people, most clients lose 80 to 95% of the hair in the treated area for good. What’s left is fine, slow-growing, and handled with occasional touch-ups.
How Is Full Brazilian Different From Regular Brazilian?
At V&P they’re the same treatment. Some clinics use “full Brazilian” to set it apart from a partial Brazilian that skips the buttocks. We treat the buttocks by default, so our standard Brazilian is what other places call full.
Can I Get This Done On My Period?
Yes. Your period doesn’t affect how well the laser works. Some clients prefer to wear a tampon for the labia portion. Pain sensitivity can be a little higher in the first few days of your cycle.
How Soon Will I See Results?
Most clients see noticeable thinning after the second session. Significant reduction shows up around session four. The full result is visible about three months after your last session in the first series.
Can I Shave Between Sessions?
Yes, as much as you want. You just can’t wax, pluck or epilate.
Is Laser Safer Than Waxing For The Brazilian Area?
For most people, yes. Waxing rips hair out at the root every few weeks, which leaves open follicles in a warm, damp area. That’s how you end up with folliculitis, ingrown hairs, and sometimes an abscess that has to be drained. Before laser was common, we saw a lot of that in people who had waxed monthly for years. Laser disables the follicle instead of pulling the hair, so after a full series there’s very little left to grow in sideways or get infected. If you’re weighing the cost, we compared a year of Brazilian waxing against laser in this Chicago cost breakdown.
What If I Miss A Session Or Wait Too Long Between Appointments?
Book the next one as soon as you can. You don’t lose the hair that’s already gone. A long gap just means that visit catches fewer follicles in their growth phase, so you might need one more session at the end of your series.
Do You Offer Numbing Cream?
We don’t, and the cooling system makes it unnecessary for almost everyone. If pain is a real concern, we’ll talk through options at your consultation.
Is The Deposit Refundable?
Yes, the deposit is refundable. Booked treatment sessions follow the policy on our booking and arrival page.
If you’ve been thinking about Brazilian laser hair removal in Chicago for a while, the consultation really is free and there’s no pressure to book. We’d rather you come in, ask everything you’re worried about, and decide afterward.
