5 Things You Need To Know Before Starting Laser Hair Removal

Laser hair removal is the type of things that always arouses questions. Despite a wide coverage on social media, TV and other media, it is a topic that still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. This of course, can cause confusion and misunderstanding, which in turn may lead to a fear of laser hair removal. As a matter of fact, people express a lot of concerns about the procedure itself, the safety of laser hair removal, the cost, etc. As it is a fairly new long-term hair removal technic, a lot of research is still on-going and most people are still unfamiliar with it. That's why today, we are sharing with your five things you must know before starting laser hair removal.

At Infinity Laser Spa, we get a lot of questions about laser hair removal. This is one reason why we offer a free consultation to any prospective clients. Thus, our technicians can answer any questions and soothe any worries. Those consultations also allow our laser technicians to assess how many sessions a patient will need. As we want to make sure laser hair removal is affordable to all, we also try our best to educate our clients about laser hair removal and other beauty treatments. As a matter of fact, we make it a point to explain in details everything that laser hair removal entails, including potential side effects.

To us, transparency is key to deliver the best services and ensure our customers trust us. We answered a lot of questions around the procedure itself. Whether pregnant women should undergo laser hair removal, whether laser hair removal is permanent, the cost of laser hair removal, etc. Today, we are focusing on what you must know about a session with us at Infinity Laser Spa and before starting laser air removal in general.

5 Things To Know Before Starting Laser Hair Removal

1. You are eligible for a free consultation

We briefly mentioned that you can get a free consultation at Infinity Laser Spa prior to purchasing your treatment and starting laser hair removal. We dedicate this complimentary consultation to making sure you have all the answers to your questions. Thus, before you come in, write down any worries you may have. During the free consultation, the laser technician will walk you through the process of laser hair removal. They will explain the procedure, as well as how the experience should feel, give a brief explanation of the hair growth cycle, give recommendations for pre and post laser hair removal care, etc.

Make sure to raise any concerns you have. One key aspects to getting the best results after your laser hair removal treatment is open communication with your laser technician. They need to know of any past laser hair removal experience, of your skin sensitivity, of past and current medical history, etc. Indeed, some medication might increase photosensitivity, slow down the process or even be clearly contraindicated with laser hair removal.

This free consultation will also allow the technician to asses whether you can actually undergo laser hair removal and the chances of success of the procedure. Indeed, the treatment works best on fair skin and dark hair. Yet, new laser technology make laser hair removal successful on dark skin as well. However, even though blonde hair can still do laser, light hair are more delicate to treat. Thus, you may need more sessions. You will get an idea of how may sessions you need for the treatment and a personalized quote.

2. A laser hair removal does not take much time

Contrary to electrolysis which targets one hair at a time and whose treatments take a long of time, a laser hair removal session is pretty quick. The laser will blast beams of light at a very high speed over a few centimeter square of skin. Thus, the energy will target a lot of hair at once and laser technicians will be able to move onto another area pretty quick. That is why during a session, technicians slide up and down with the laser gun.

Depending on the size of the area or the number of areas you are treating, the laser hair removal session will take up more time. However, it can be as fast as ten minutes for a small area such as the underarms, up to 30 minutes for a large area such as the full legs. Full body laser hair removal will take up to a two hours. Treating multiple areas at once will allow to save a lot of time. You will not need to schedule multiple appointments, just one will suffice.

3. Stop waxing, tweezing, plucking and hair bleaching

This is one crucial thing to know before starting laser hair removal. Laser hair removal needs two things to work: hair pigments and access to the hair follicle. Targeting pigments, the laser sends energy through the hair down to the follicle. The heat damages the follicle, removing access to blood vessel, to prevent any further growth. Thus, it is essential that the hair connects to the hair follicle. If there is no contact, the energy cannot get to the follicle and the treatment will not work. There must be hair underneath the top layer of the skin.

Unfortunately, waxing, plucking and tweezing achieve the opposite results. All three hair removal methods remove the hair along with the root. Thus, not only is there no hair to target but the energy can't get anywhere near the follicle. The hair will need up to six weeks to completely grow back again. Thus, waxing between sessions will interfere with the treatment and badly impact the results. It would also be a waste of money.

Bleaching is also forbidden for one simple reason: it remove the natural pigment in the hair. If there is no pigment, the laser cannot target anything, which will lead to ineffective laser hair removal treatments. If you used to bleach your hair, make sure you stop a couple of months before starting laser hair removal to ensure the hair grows enough with new pigments to target.

4. You need to shave before your session

This is a fact that surprises a lot of our clients. We understand why. After all, the point of starting laser hair removal is to ditch any other short-term hair removal methods, including shaving. Thus, why would you need to shave before your laser hair removal session? Excellent question. That we covered in deep in this blog post. Yet, we will still give you a brief summary here.

The laser targets the pigment in the hair. The thing is, the machine will not make a distinction between short and long hair. It will just target pigment, which is a problem since the energy would heat up the whole hair. Unshaven hair risks causing burns and/or scarring. Furthermore, it may also increase pain. A long hair would absorb too much of the energy and less heat would get to the follicle. In short, long hair reduces the effectiveness of the procedure.

To ensure success and avoid any side effects, shave the night or the morning before your appointment. Make sure you leave your skin to rest for a few hours as the razor will have irritated it a bit. Clean your skin with soap and water to remove any traces of creams, oils or lotions.

5. You won't see results immediately

Laser hair removal is not like shaving or waxing. It is not immediate. Indeed, it is a long-term hair removal method, in all senses of the term. Laser hair removal is a procedure that will need a few sessions over a year to be successful. Plus, you will not see your hair fall off immediately after your first session. You will have the growth hair cycle to contend with as well as time to hair ejection as well.

The pulse of light energy will get to the hair follicle through the hair itself. Thus, you need hair that connects to the hair follicle. This only happens when the hair is in the anagen stage of the growth cycle. Unfortunately, only 20% of all your hairs will be in that stage at any point in time. Thus, the laser will only be able to target 20% of your hair during each session. This is why you need several sessions to target hair as they get through different stages of their growth cycle.

Then, the hair will not fall off straight away after one session. Even though the follicle is damaged, the hair still needs to leave the hair shaft. This takes time. It will seem that the hair is growing back, but in reality, it is just being slowly removed from the hair shaft. This is why we tell our patients that it takes between 10 and 12 days to see shedding as well as the first results.

That is it for those five things you need to know before starting laser hair removal and coming in for your first session. Those are pretty standard facts in the laser hair removal industry. Should you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comment section below! If you are ready to book your first laser hair removal appointment, follow that link!

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