laser hair removal

How effective laser hair removal is depends on the skin tone and color of the hair. The laser definitely works better on light skin.

The more contrast there is between the skin tone and hair color, the more effective a laser will be at destroying the hair follicle.

The laser is attracted to darkness, so when skin is lighter and hair is darker, the laser beam will concentrate more on the hair and be more effective. The laser targets melanin (pigmentation) in the hair so the darker the hair and the lighter the skin, the easier it is for the laser to seek out the hair. There is also melanin in skin which the laser can be attracted to. The darker the skin, the harder it is for the laser to distinguish what is hair and what isn’t so the laser can end up targeting the skin by accident which might cause burns and not effectively remove the hair.

The reason for this explanation is to give you a general idea of how much laser treatment may affect your hair growth. If you have pale skin and darker hair, you will be more at risk for patches where the hair follicle is destroyed. If your skin is darker and hair lighter, you will be less at risk. Generally, for hair removal, multiple treatments are needed for complete smoothness, so it’s possible that you may have some follicles destroyed, but not enough to make an obvious difference in appearance. This is something you should discuss with a laser specialist before deciding for or against laser treatment.

It is recommended that you shave the day of your treatment. This is because the less hair that is on the surface of the skin, the more energy that can be delievered into the source of the hair - the follicle. Shaving the day of will only increase the efficacy of the laser.

As a patient you can shave anytime throughout your laser hair removal sessions. For best results we highly recommend for you to not wax, tweeze or use any hair removal creams during your laser hair removal sessions. When using any of those laser hair removal techniques it affects your results with the laser and you may not get the desired laser hair removal results you were seeking. It is recommended to shave the area being treated 24-48 hours before their laser hair removal session.

Shaving the hair a day or two before the treatment is not a good idea, because some of the hair might grow back and be visible on the surface if the skin. To prevent side effects, such as burning we recommend to shave the same day. In addition if there is hair on the surface of the skin that hair takes up some of the energy of the laser and the treatment is not very effective.

It is best to a have cleanly shaved area before treatment. The laser Light will follow down the hair follicle. If you don’t shave you could have black dots that need to be exfoliated off. It could be Painful and Irritating. I would recommend shaving before treatments.