So, I've been shaving since way back in middle school, turning it into a daily thing by the time high school rolled around. Fast forward to when I was 21 and joined the military—things got even more intense with twice-daily shaves.

Initially, as a fresh private, I wasn’t even allowed to wash up in the mornings, but my officer would call me out for looking unkempt. So, it became mandatory to wash and shave every morning. My beard was so thick on my cheeks, chin, and neck, that I had a permanent blue shadow from it.

Eventually, I got so fed up I decided to try laser hair removal. I went through 15 sessions, spread over 5-6 weeks each. The routine was pretty straightforward: show up at the clinic, get anesthetic cream applied, wait 30 minutes, then have it wiped off and undergo the laser treatment. Those first five sessions? Brutal. They hurt so much that I’d clench my fists so hard I’d leave nail marks on my palms, and I'd be close to tears by the time it was over. Each session only lasted 5 to 10 minutes, but it felt like forever because of the pain.

I couldn't shave for almost a week after each treatment—it was just too painful. Then, about 10 days later, the beard hair would start to fall out by itself. By the eighth session, I was down to shaving once a week, and after the twelfth, I didn’t have any stubble left at all. I decided to complete all 15 sessions, just to be thorough.

Now, it's been four years since I finished, and I haven’t had to shave at all. There's a tiny bit of hair near my lips that the laser didn’t catch, which I just tweeze off once a week. All those blue marks are gone too. My face is smooth, and my girlfriend loves it—I don't even have to think about shaving anymore, whether I'm home or away for a few days or weeks.