I don’t know about anyone else, but I get ridiculously lazy during the winter months when it comes down to maintaining my hair removal routines. I admittedly let my bikini line go weeks past it’s shaving due date and if I can get away with it, I do the same for my underarms and legs. But as we get closer to the start of the summer season, I gradually begin to fall back into a weekly routine of alternating days of shaving. It has truly become a draining process.

I’ve started researching some of the best and most long lasting hair removal techniques. I’ll share my findings with you over the next several days.

Hair Removal Options: Laser Hair Removal

In researching laser hair removal options, the very first thing that hit me was the cost. To begin, laser hair removal is a relatively new procedure that has very little side effects.Laser hair removal selectively targets the hair follicle under the surface of your skin.

 During the procedure, the doctor presses a special handheld laser device to the area of your skin being treated. The laser device emits pulses of laser beams. Each laser beam may sting a little, but a cooling gel will protect your skin from most of the laser beam, allowing it to pass through to the follicle. The light turns into heat once it has been absorbed by the skin, and this heat disables the follicle instantly. Because follicles are where hair growth originates, that follicle will no longer produce any regrowth.

Laser hair removal works by targeting the melanin in the hair follicles. The melanin is the pigment that turns hairs dark. Because of the way the laser targets the hair follicles, it works best on dark brown or black hairs. These colors are produced because there is more melanin in the hair follicle. A drawback of this method is that it is not usually effective on blonde hairs or fine “peach fuzz”. These hairs may completely regrow after treatment because the laser beam cannot disable the hairs follicle without enough melanin.

The hairs color and skin type are two main factors influencing the effectiveness of the procedure. For laser hair removal, ideal candidates are those with light skin and dark, course hairs. While older lasers could only be used with this combination, newer lasers are also effective on medium or darker skin tones, as well as slightly lighter hairs.

In order for you to achieve long lasting results, you will likely need several treatments. Now this is where it gets costly. One laser hair removal treatment can range from a low price of $300 to a high of $500. There are “affordable” options, however – affordable is all relative. With most experts suggesting anywhere
between three to six treatments, removing hair from your body using this method can be extremely expensive.

People often confuse laser hair removal with electrolysis – but they are actually pretty different techniques. Electrolysis can be a permanent solution to an unwanted hair problem. While it is one of many forms of hair removal, it is the only permanent method.

Using a tool called an ‘Epilator’ each individual hair is treated by inserting a tiny surgical probe into the hair follicle and directing an impulse of energy down to the root of the hair. The energy impulse causes localized damage to the area surrounding the hair. Electrolysis cannot be completed in one treatment, it is a weakening process. Each treatment causes the hairs directly treated, to die, but the energy impulse stimulates new hair growth directly around the area previously damaged.

 The new hair grows finer and thinner, so they are less noticeable. Each additional procedure will treat these new hairs until the growth stops completely. This is a very slow and exact process, but the time and care taken ensures permanent results. One downfall of electrolysis is that all technicians are not created equal. In other words electrolysis is only as good as the technician.

Using lasers to remove hair is safe for most areas of the body, including larger areas like the legs and back as well as smaller areas like the upper lip and bikini lines. Larger areas may take up to two hours, while smaller areas may take just ten or fifteen minutes.

Laser hair removal is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures, and for good reason. As long as you choose a qualified and fully trained dermatologist, it is very safe. Other than redness and swelling, the risk of side effects is very low.