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It may sound like your dream come true, but permanent hair removal can be a costly and painful procedure. Usually carried out in a beauty salon, a laser targets the melanine at the hair’s root to damage cells, preventing regrowth. The area to be treated is sprayed with a cooling gel or even anaesthetic cream beforehand to make it less painful, but it usually tingles or stings a little during the treatments, which can last between 15 and 45 minutes. The skin is left slightly red and swollen, but this quickly disappears, leaving the damaged hairs to fall out over the next couple of weeks.
Because the laser targets the pigmented tissue, it won’t work for blonde body hairs, but it does mean that they come back finer and paler. Sessions are booked around the hair’s growth cycle, usually once every six to eight weeks. Five sessions should be enough for underarms, bikini line and half-legs for dark hair, six to eight sessions will be needed for paler hair.
Body hair growth is controlled by hormones, making treatment a lot longer for men. Aftercare sessions are often required.
Good to Know: The intensity and effectiveness of treatment depends on your colouring and skin type. The drier your skin, the more care should be taken. Tanning is not a good idea during a course of laser epilation, as it can cause scarring and skin damage as the lasers works on the dark skin as well as the hair itself. It is not suitable for pregnant women.
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