If you’re considering laser hair removal, you probably want to know one thing right off the bat: Is it permanent? Well, the answer depends on the laser that’s used, how many treatments you get, and your skin type. Here’s everything you need to know about laser hair removal before you book your first appointment or buy your first laser hair removal machine?
What Is Laser Hair Removal?
This treatment is also known as laser epilation, laser depilation, or phototherapy. It destroys hair follicles to prevent regrowth of unwanted hair. Laser hair removal has become one of the most popular cosmetic procedures performed today.
There are several types of lasers that can be used in a procedure for hair removal: Alexandrite, diode, Nd:YAG, and frequency-doubled Q-switched ruby. The type used depends on your skin tone and hair color. Each technique can vary from person to person depending on how many treatments are needed to achieve a desired result.
How Does Laser Hair Removal Work?
Laser hair removal is a semi-permanent hair reduction technique. The machine works by emitting pulses of light that are absorbed by the pigment in your hair shaft, damaging and destroying it at a cellular level.
Some people choose to get laser treatments with their skin’s melanin, or pigmentation, factored in, which makes treatments more effective on darker skin tones. In other words, if you have lighter skin and dark hair, you may need more sessions than someone with darker skin and dark hair to remove all of your unwanted body hair. If you plan on having children after getting laser treatments for unwanted body hair removal, experts say that you will likely regain some or all of that lost body hair when pregnant or nursing.
How Long Does Laser Hair Removal Last?
Laser hair removal is a form of long-term hair reduction. In other words, after treatment, you’ll notice a significant reduction in hair growth for several months to several years—but that doesn’t mean that your body will stop growing hairs altogether.
As with waxing or tweezing, laser treatments can remove hairs from individual follicles and regrow those hairs slower and thinner than before. The more often you have treatment sessions—as well as how old you are when you start—affects how long your results last.
What Are the Benefits of Laser Hair Removal?
The biggest benefit of laser hair removal is that you don’t have to shave or wax. Once your hair has been removed, it won’t grow back again. Some people will see results after a single treatment and many see continued improvement with additional treatments. If you use a good-quality laser hair removal device like the Bareskin at Home machine, they will be able to tell you how many treatments you need based on their experience with previous clients.
What Are the Disadvantages of Laser Hair Removal?
Laser hair removal is a major time commitment, and if you have dark skin or multiple areas to treat, it may be more expensive than you anticipated. In addition, laser treatments must be done one area at a time (you can’t laser your entire body in one session), and follow-up sessions are needed as hair grows back.
Another disadvantage is that your hair and skin type may not be appropriate for laser hair removal — for example, people with darker skin types might need to consider other options such as electrolysis or waxing. Finally, as with other forms of treatment like chemical peels or microdermabrasion, laser hair removal isn’t considered permanent; eventually your treated hairs will grow back after several months.
Will laser be permanent?
While laser hair removal is a permanent solution, results may not be immediate. And if you’re looking for a quick fix, you may want to look into a different kind of hair removals, such as waxing or shaving.
But those aren’t always as effective as laser hair removal and they can cause discomfort and other issues. In many cases, laser hair removal can help remove unwanted hair from your body permanently—but for it to work properly, there are some precautions that need to be taken. For example, going out in direct sunlight after getting a treatment could lead to the darkening of your skin at that spot.
Conclusion
Laser hair removal is commonly touted as a permanent way to remove unwanted body hair. While results are generally long-lasting (for most people), there is no such thing as permanent hair removal. At some point, all of us will need to shave, wax, or undergo another form of grooming. Our advice is to focus on finding a practitioner who knows how to make laser treatments last longer and avoid treatments that aren’t likely to be effective for you.