At Philosophy of Beauty, we offer laser hair removal, (LHR) as a popular treatment for clients who wish to eliminate unwanted hair on their body or face. We welcome you to visit us for a consultation and learn about how this simple procedure can let you do away with costly and frustrating hair removal products for good. Prior to your initial meeting, we are happy to provide answers to commonly asked questions about LHR which explain the technology and benefits.
Laser technology works to remove body hair by emitting a specialized beam of light with a wavelength that selectively targets melanin in the hair and its follicle, without affecting surrounding skin. Melanin is a naturally-occurring compound within hair responsible for its colour. The follicles are the hair growth centres of our bodies. When the papilla in the hair follicle absorbs the laser energy, the follicle is damaged to the point of being unable to grow more hair. This results in gradual removal of hair because of arrested hair growth at the follicular level.
Lasers made their appearance in medicine nearly 50 years ago, in the 1960s. The use of this technology for the purpose of hair removal began approximately 15 years ago and has become a common and trusted procedure in the past decade.
Most people choose to remove their unwanted body hair with laser technology because it produces a long-lasting, and sometimes permanent result. Traditional hair removal methods like waxing, shaving, tweezing etc., provide only a temporary solution, with some lasting fewer than 24 hours. A problem associated with these traditional methods of hair removal is that they often stimulate more coarse hair growth because stimulation of the follicles and surrounding tissue leads to increase blood flow and deeper roots.
Hair which has been cut off bluntly, as with shaving, will feel rough to the touch as well. Razor bumps, ingrown hairs and the pain of waxing make these methods consistently more troublesome compared with the long-term results from laser hair removal.
The three main benefits of using laser technology for hair removal are:
- Precision – the lasers work by selectively targeting the undesirable body hair while leaving the surrounding skin perfectly healthy
- Effectiveness – clients who have undergone laser treatments to remove hair have witnessed a noticeable reduction in further hair growth
- Comfort – using lasers compared to other traditional hair removal methods prevent the development of ingrown hairs that could be uncomfortable or painful
The face and bikini line for women and back for men are some of the favorite treatment areas but LHR is safe to use virtually anywhere on the body except for surrounding the delicate eye area.
LHR essentially requires no downtime time, however, despite the low risks, it is important to speak with a healthcare professional regarding the suitability of your skin pre-treatment.
Depending on your pain tolerance, laser treatment may feel a little bit uncomfortable. Most report discomfort to be minimal compared with waxing, but the sensation of a rubber band snapping, which the laser creates can be annoying. Our caring staff are happy to provide topical numbing solutions to help make your experience as comfortable as possible.
Excellent results can be achieved with laser hair removal for individuals of all skin and hair colours, although LHR is most successful for clients with light skin and coarse, dark hair because of the increase in colour contrast that allows the laser to target the hair follicles and melanin.
The answer to this varies between clients. Typically, LHR will require more 3 or more treatments because the process is only effective for hairs in the active growing, (anagen) stage of the growing cycle, the hair will be affixed to the papilla during this phase which means that the laser can target it effectively and destroy it. You will see some hairs shed and others remain or grow after treatment because hairs are in different stages of growth. Each time you receive LHR treatment, more follicles can be successfully affected.
LHR after effects are generally temporary, mild and can include slight redness or sensitivity for a short time after the session. There are very rare cases of blistering which resolve after a few weeks.