In a cosmetic world built around “tweakments” and touch-up treatments, laser hair removal has become an invaluable part of so many people’s regular in-clinic routines.
There are a lot of reasons to have it but laser removal is a popular, long-lasting way to get rid of hair with less hassle or irritation than is often caused by waxing or shaving.
Whilst millions of people have had the procedure and it has been approved for use for nearly three decades, it is still new enough that a lot of people are still taking the plunge and trying it for the first time.
Here are some answers to commonly asked questions you need to know before you start.
Laser removal works by using a focused light source on hair follicles, which subsequently absorb the laser and are vaporised.
Before the procedure, you will wear protective glasses and the area where you will have hair removed will be cleaned and potentially numbed with numbing gel to avoid too much irritation and pain.
A larger area can take up to an hour but small areas can be completed in mere minutes.
How effectively it does this depends on the level of melanin pigment in the hair strand, so people with darker hair colours such as hazel, dark brown and black hair will see much more noticeable results than natural blondes and people with greying or white hair.
Laser removal is typically done in stages, so it will take between nine to 12 treatments depending on hair growth to see a noticeable and long-lasting reduction in hair.
It is often described as feeling like a rubber band snapping against the skin or a series of stings. It usually is nowhere near as painful as waxing, but numbing gel is available to reduce the pain in sensitive areas.
