How awesome would it be if you didn’t have to worry about shaving your legs everyday or booking your monthly bikini wax appointments anymore? It would be life-changing! Being able to take hair removal off your beauty to-do list would save both time and money. That’s why laser hair removal is increasingly popular. But, how much do we really know about the treatment? We spoke with Dr. Mulholland of Toronto’s SpaMedica to get all the details you want to know before booking a laser hair removal appointment.
You can treat all skin types, but dark hair is ideal
Light or dark skin with dark hair yields the best results when it comes to laser hair removal. Having the right equipment helps, and that’s why SpaMedia offers all the wavelengths, with the Syneron-Candela GentleMax Pro machine, to treat all skin types.
It takes about 5 treatments to see significant results
After a series of about five treatments we can most commonly achieve 75 percent or greater permanent reduction of hair, says Mulholland.
You might be left with fine whispy hair
For those hair follicles we can’t kill, we miniaturize them, lengthen the sleeping phase and synchronize growth cycles, so what is left all comes up at once, explains Mulholland. Which makes maintenance easy, and visibility so low that you might not even have to remove the leftover at all.
If you have blonde, grey or red hair, there is still hope!
With a topical pigment gel, called Meladyne, they can dye the hair shaft, but results are lower – from 30 to 50 percent permanent reduction.
Dead hair won’t grow back
The hair follicles that are rendered dead by the laser are dead and never to grow a hair shaft again (75 percent of all hair follicles on average), says Mulholland.
Laser hair removal can be painless
SpaMedia offers lasers with Cryogen spray, a blast that freezes the skin just before the laser to minimize the pain. They also use a slide and glide laser that pre cools the skin, fires the laser, then cools the skin again. And they at times they may also use a topical anesthetic cream beforehand.
Denser areas of hair, don’t mean more appointments
You don’t need to book additional appointment for areas with dense hair like your bikini line or underarms. The technicians should recognize when there are large follicles and more density and then use more effective parameters like longer pulse duration, larger spot sizes and more energy to attack the deeper, denser and larger follicles, says Mulholland.
Don’t wax in between appointments
That removes the target, the shaft under the skin, which the laser needs to connect with. Opt for shaving instead.
It’s best to avoid the sun before treatments
For darker skin types prone to pigmentation, important to avoid sun bathing and UV light after for 3 weeks to avoid hyperpigmentation, suggests Dr. Mulholland.
