Removing body hair is an inevitable step in the personal care of the average person. You may hate your body hair, or you may feel like it gives it strength, but either way, most people rely on hair removal methods to get smooth, frizz-free skin. For all hairy girls, trying to have hairless limbs can be a constant chore. Popular hair removal methods such as shaving, epilation, and waxing can be time consuming and painful. Luckily, beauty innovation has led to the miraculous technology of laser hair removal, which is a boon for the furry and lazy.
Although laser hair removal is considered the most expensive hair removal method, the pros far outweigh the cons. First, laser hair removal is more effective than shaving or waxing, which tend to let hair through. Laser hair removal is also relatively painless compared to waxing and hair removal. In fact, there are several models of lasers that are almost painless. If you’re still unsure about this, here’s the bottom line: laser hair removal is about as close to permanent hair removal as you can get. However, it is important to understand that laser hair removal is not as permanent as you might think. Below is an overview of how laser hair removal machines work and how long a laser treatment lasts.
Before we get into how long laser hair removal actually lasts, it’s important to understand how the technology works. There are five main types of laser machines: intense pulsed light (IPL), diode, alexandrite, ND:YAG, and ruby (from SpaMedica). IPL and alexandrite laser are the two most commonly used lasers, but IPL is becoming more and more popular as it can treat all hair and skin types thanks to the machine’s customizable settings. Alexandrite, on the other hand, is not recommended for people with darker skin tones and cannot be customized. Diode and ND:YAG machines are best suited for people with medium to dark skin tones and coarse hair.
Typically, laser hair machines use a concentrated beam of light to damage hair follicles by converting light energy into heat, according to the Mayo Clinic. The focused light is attracted to the melanin or pigment in the hair follicle. IPL works differently than other laser machines, it uses pulsed light. In any case, laser hair removal can be used to treat most areas of the body. Several treatments are required to notice changes, and results vary from person to person.
Many people think that laser hair removal is forever. However, the truth is that it is impossible to completely remove hair with a laser. Instead, it’s more accurate to say that laser hair removal reduces hair growth rather than removing it. According to the Mayo Clinic, lasers can significantly reduce the amount of hair on the skin by destroying hair follicles and slowing down the future growth process.
Why laser hair removal is not permanent? Well, back to the two main types of hair: terminal hair and vellus hair. Terminal hair is thicker and darker than vellus or peach, finer hair that can appear on most skin areas (from Cleveland Clinic). The laser targets the melanin in the hair follicle, which means that laser hair removal cannot target vellus hair that lacks pigment.
Laser hair removal also does not take into account the hormonal fluctuations that affect the hair growth cycle. Your hormones, especially androgens, can turn vellus hair into terminal hair. This is why laser hair treatment requires regular monthly or bi-monthly maintenance as you may grow new untreated terminal hair. That being said, laser hair removal is the most durable method of hair removal, and while it’s expensive and not exactly permanent, it’s worth every penny.
Post time: Jul-20-2023