Laser Hair Removal

During your consultation, we will discuss the treatment areas and whether you will be a suitable candidate for treatment. You’ll have a patch test two weeks before your treatment to determine how your skin reacts to the laser.

We will assign a select number of laser hair removal sessions to your treatment programme, which will be spaced apart according to hair growth cycles. You will be asked to shave before treatment and ensure that your skin is entirely tan-free.

Before the treatment, we will outline the treated areas. You’ll be advised to put on some protective goggles. If you’re treating your bikini area, you’ll be given a pair of specially designed underwear. Some patients prefer to wear a skirt or a dress (with or without tights), so that it’s easier to change. If we’re treating your underarm area, you may be required to remove your top.

During the treatment, the device will pass over the skin a few millimetres away. The laser ‘zaps’ across the skin. If you think of the area as a grid, the laser will treat one box at a time with each zap.

In between treatments, you can continue to trim or shave hair. However waxing, threading, plucking, and epilation must stop as they make fewer hair follicles visible to the laser, reducing the effectiveness of the treatment.

Following the treatment, you should protect treated areas from the sun with SPF50 and avoid exposure to the sun.

Those who (have)

• Excessive hair growth or unwanted body hair 
• No longer want to go through the other time-consuming hair removal processes
• Those who suffer from ingrown hairs
• Lighter skin and dark hair

Though the treatment is suitable for all skin types, the treatment is most effective for those who have fairer skin with darker hair. Laser hair removal works by absorbing pigment, so the more contrast there is in the skin tone in hair, the more efficient the laser will be. 

Laser hair removal is not an ideal solution for those who suffer with sensitivity and those who have darker skin and hair, or very fair hair and very fair skin. Laser hair removal cannot treat blonde, red or grey hair because the hair needs to be dark and enriched with melanin.

We advise patients to avoid treatment whilst pregnant. 

Laser Hair Removal targets individual hair follicles with precise wavelengths, inhibiting future hair growth in a safe, and reliable way. It identifies this follicle by emitting a light that is absorbed by the pigment of the hair. For this reason, it’s particularly essential to remove any trace of tan from the skin, because the light cannot differentiate between the melanin of the hair and the skin.

The hair has four phases of growth. During your laser hair removal treatment, we will be treating the hair during its growth phase (anagen), destroying it before it can regrow. Not all hair is at the same stage, and some hairs will be in their rest phase. Therefore, you’ll require several sessions and will expect to see regrowth that will gradually diminish and become thinner with each treatment, until the hair does not return.

Depending on how your hair responds to the treatments and your skin tone and genetic background, you may decide to return for a top-up-treatment once or twice a year to maintain your result. Hormonal changes such as pregnancy may also affect your hair growth, and further treatments may be needed.

You can expect to see up to 79% reduction in hair in just a few short sessions, but the results vary from person to person.

The exact number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, depending on the size of the area and the hair growth. Hair responds differently to the laser at various stages during the hair growth cycle. Therefore a course of treatments is required. Typically, areas of the body such as the chest or legs require 6-8 treatments, whereas facial areas require 8 to 12. Maintenance treatments may need to be carried out once or twice a year depending on skin type and ethnicity, and hormonal discrepancies.

There is no downtime following treatment. However, your skin will be more sensitive to the sun, so it is important to keep the skin covered and wear a broad-spectrum SPF 50.

Once every six weeks until you have finished the treatment programme.

Laser hair removal is a relatively quick treatment as each pulse of the laser only takes a fraction of a second. The exact length of treatment depends on the size of the area being treated, but small areas like the upper lip can be treated in a matter of minutes, while larger areas like the legs or back may require an hour or more.

Pain is subjective. Some may find Laser Hair Removal slightly uncomfortable, while others may find it more painful.

The first laser treatment session will be the most uncomfortable, but our device has a cooling effect which helps counteract the heat.

You may experience more sensitivity in certain areas such as the bikini region or underarms. The bikini area takes longer (around 10 minutes), so with each zap you may find the treatment more painful than if you were having your underarms treated for example.

Top tip: Remember to shave your bikini area beforehand if you are treating this area! The longer the hair, the more painful it will be.

You can also ask your aesthetician to start at a lower frequency and gradually build up your tolerance to the pain. A higher frequency will be more effective in treating the hairs and will be more cost-effective and efficient as you will require fewer treatments.

We use Cynosure lasers for laser hair removal, which uses two of the safest and most effective wavelengths. It is safe for all ethnicities and skin types but is best suited to those with fair skin and dark hair. Some risks include:

• Laser burns – You should avoid tanning before and during your treatment programme as it could make the treatment painful and your skin could burn.
• Blistering
• Crusting
• Scarring
• Skin redness
• Pain
• Discomfort