Laser is truly permanent too. Its just that it doesn't permanently remove all of the hairs it targets. Each laser sweep will leave hairs and the more sessions you get, the fewer hairs that escape.
I've had no hair removal except laser and my last laser session was 6 or 7 years ago, and I don't need to shave anymore. There's the odd hair that still comes through, but they're so few I can tweeze them.