Laser for hair removal

My friend has recommended laser removal for unwanted hair. Is this a good idea?

Next to acne, unwanted hair is a major pain in the rear for most women. There are zillions of treatments hyped up to remove unwanted hair and one of them is laser. Today, hair is being removed by a variety of lasers including alexandrite, diode, neodymium, YAG, ruby lasers and intense pulsed light. Even though every Tom, Dick and Harry is now offering laser for hair removal, there are no decent studies to determine if it is an effective treatment. The few reports indicate that both alexandrite and diode lasers do reduce hair by 50% in some people and this partial hair-free period lasts anywhere from 3-6 months. The reports also indicate that there is little evidence that IPL, neodymium: YAG or ruby lasers do diddly squat. 

There is no evidence that any laser treatment can permanently remove hair. For those of you still interested in laser, do understand that lasers can cause pain, skin redness, discolor your skin and cause keloids- and some of these changes are permanent. And finally, lasers do not come cheap and there is no guarantee that the treatment will work.