Oh, for the soft, squishy bits (or, rather, the furry parts nearby), I use my spouse's old electrical razor's beard-trimmer attachment. I occasionally nick myself, but not very painfully.

The laser zap is painful. It's... Hm. They talk about a rubber-band "snap" feeling. It's a little more, in my opinion, like you suddenly get a flash of sunburn all at once. It STINGS. However, it's over pretty quickly. The amount of sting depends on 2 things: first, how much (dark) hair is in the area, because that absorbs the heat, and secondly, how much the nerves are collected. It hurts worse on my upper lip (though there's less dark hair) than on my chin (which had a damned Shaggy goatee), for instance.

The laser treatment lasts many weeks, though, and after 4-5 of them, it seems to be having a lasting effect on many of the little buggers.