How does in salon hair removal work?

“Salons could have multiple machines with different wavelengths, which means they can choose the exact wavelength for the colour and type of hair and skin you have making it more targeted and precise,” she says. “Also, because professional machines are stronger, you get better destruction of the growing cells so there’s a more thorough reduction of hair growth.”

How long does IPL hair removal take to work?

“For areas like legs, bikini and underarms, expect 6-8 treatments for almost complete removal of hair with a maintenance treatment every 9-24 months, while most home devices will need double the treatments and much more regular maintenance sessions,” says Thomas.

Will at-home IPL ever be as effective as in the salon?

“New types of technology are being created all the time so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. However, the main concern is always the potential damage that lasers and IPL could cause if used incorrectly (e.g. burns),” she says. “If used as directed, at-home devices shouldn’t put too much power into the skin as a single pulse is intentionally set at a level not to cause damage to skin. Unless a new way of getting the energy in more effectively without substantially increasing the overall power is developed then I don’t think we can risk higher-powered machines in inexperienced hands.”

Can people of all skin tones use at-home or in-salon lasers?

“Light-based hair removal works using melanin, which means the more melanin you have in your skin the harder it is to treat as safely or easily. That’s because the pigment absorbs too much energy and builds up heat where it isn’t wanted,” explains Thomas. “We have three hair removal devices in our clinic and only one is safe to use on darker skin tones and even then, we have to be cautious.”

“There are a lot of home devices and some do say they are safe for all skin tones, which they couldn’t claim if it wasn’t proven. That’s why it’s important to always follow the instructions, and the reason you shouldn’t try and overuse them to get faster results. That won’t happen due to growth cycles, instead you could end up damaging your skin.”

At-home hair removal: “I used an at-home IPL device to get rid of facial hair and the results surprised me”