Laser Hair Removal

Laser hair removal can be carried out on most facial and body areas, but common areas include:

• Face - upper lip, chin, beard and jawline, nose, neck and ears
• Body - arms, underarms, legs, toes, bikini area, back, shoulders, chest and stomach

You will be required to fill out a medical questionnaire during your initial consultation. This will enable your practitioner to assess your suitability and safety and determine the right method of hair removal for you.

Laser hair removal is effective for the majority of hair types, except very light blonde, grey or red hair as these have little or no melanin for the laser to work on. Laser hair removal is, however, suitable and safe for darker ethnic skin types.

Laser hair removal for men is a very popular treatment at Cadogan. We typically treat those with excess chest and back hair, or those who suffer from ingrown facial hairs.

To prepare for a laser hair removal treatment you will need to shave the area of skin the day a few days before.

On the day, you'll wear specially designed goggles to protect your eyes. Local anaesthetic isn't necessary but the aesthetician can apply a numbing cream to the area of skin being treated if required.

A hand-held device is then held to your skin and the laser is triggered. This may feel like an elastic band snapping at your skin. Most patients find this bearable, but slight discomfort may be felt if you are extremely sensitive. Each session takes between 15 minutes to an hour depending on the number of areas being treated. Once the treatment is done, a cooling gel is applied to the area and you are able to resume your day.

Laser hair removal permanently reduces the number of unwanted hairs in a given area by up to 90%.

Once an area has been treated, actively growing hair follicles should not re-grow, but some patients like to come back for a top-up treatment after a couple of years as maintenance.

The number of treatments you need will depend on the area being treated and your hair and skin type.

Most patients require between four to six treatments, six weeks apart, in order to see permanent hair reduction. This is to ensure we are able to follow the hair growth cycle, as the laser only destroys hair in the early growth phase and at any time 20% of the hair is dormant.

Many clinics are reluctant to treat Asian or darker skin because of the specific skills and technology required as well as the risks of burns and hyper-pigmentation.

We treat patients of all skin types at the Cadogan Clinic.

We are pleased to be able to treat any skin type, ranging from very fair to very dark. Our lasers can be adjusted to work with any hair and skin combination, provided that there is enough pigment in the hair (i.e. it is dark enough to attract the laser.) Laser hair removal is now safe for olive, brown and black skin tones.

If you have a suntan or have used fake tan, you will not be able to be treated straight away as it is possible to have a reaction to the laser.

This is due to the fact that UV (ultraviolet) exposure stimulates the melanin activity in your skin, and laser hair removal predominantly works by targeting melanin in order to prevent the hair follicle from producing hair.

When tanned, it is advised to wait 4 to 6 weeks before resuming your treatments. You will be required to have a patch test on the areas being treated to ensure that there is no remanence of an active tan.

Lasers can not distinguish between the active melanin in the skin and the melanin in the hair.

If your aesthetic practitioner feels that your skin is tanned, the procedure will have to be postponed, to allow the tan to fade and a patch test will be required to commence your treatments safely after a minimum of 48 hours.

Yes. Unlike waxing, tweezing, threading, bleaching and epilating, it is absolutely fine to shave your hair in between your sessions, making laser a much more manageable 'self-maintenance' method of hair removal.

You should shave no less than 24 hours before the day of your next treatment to avoid irritation on the skin. When you shave the treatment area, you also superficially exfoliate the skin and this may cause some sensitivity.

After your laser hair removal session, you may shave the area after 48 hours, if need be.

There is no downtime required with the Cynosure Elite+ meaning you can continue with your day immediately after treatment. The area may be red with a raised rash for up to 24 hours afterwards. Your skin will be more sensitive to the sun after laser hair removal so avoid sun exposure for a few days after treatment and use sunscreen. Your aesthetic practitioner will advise you on any other aftercare needed.

Our treatments are very gentle and virtually pain-free. Some of our patients compare the sensation to the flick of an elastic band.

Waxing regularly and over long periods of time can cause damage such as darkening and lightening of the skin (hyper- and hypo-pigmentation) and can cause ingrown hairs which can lead to scarring. It is also a process that requires ongoing repetition.

Laser hair removal, by contrast, permanently reduces the thickness of the hairs, is not abrasive and does not have a negative impact on skin tone and texture. After a course of treatment, you can expect a permanently improved area requiring no ongoing treatment to maintain results.

We use the Cynosure Elite+ as its wavelengths are the gold standard in the industry for laser hair removal. It's the first machine of its kind that is able to treat darker skin types and is the safest wavelength for hair reduction. It also has a dual-wavelength function so it can safely work deeper into the hair follicles, meaning you can expect to see results with fewer sessions than other hair removal procedures.

There are many different manufacturers of hair removal lasers. We use the industry's leading brand of laser device, The Cynosure Elite, which is suitable to treat both fair and dark skin types and the majority of hair types, effectively and safely.

The Cynosure Elite emits two different laser wavelengths, the Alexandrite 755nm and the Nd:Yag 1064nm. These both work in different ways to destroy the hair follicle in the dermal layer.

• The Alexandrite works by converting high energy light into heat energy, which is then targeted on the melanin in the hair, destroying it. This is also known as thermolysis.
• The Nd:Yag wavelength works by targeting the blood supply of the root follicle using long pulses of energy, which is also converted into heat. This coagulates the blood supply to the hair follicle slowing down growth and the production of quality hair.
  Those patients that have been exposed to direct sun or tanning light will require a test patch. The increased melanin of tanning competes with oxyhaemoglobin of blood vessels of the hair follicles and may cause increased pigmentation of the skin.

Lasers only destroy hair follicles in the active growth phase known as Anagen. Hairs grow in a cycle known as Anagen, Telogen and Catagen. Anagen is the first stage of active growth. Catagen is the resting stage of growth and Telogen is when the hair follicle recedes and the hair is shed ready for the Anagen stage to begin again. This process takes approximately 6-8 weeks. This is why it is recommended to have your sessions at these intervals catching another third of the follicles each time.

The recommended minimum number of sessions for hair removal is 6-8. You may require more sessions if you have an underlying hormonal imbalance, you are male or have dark hair on dark skin or light hair on light skin. The contrasting dark hair on light skin works best.

We use the Fitzpatrick scale to establish the skin types of our patients.

• Type 1: always burns, never tans (pale, freckles).
• Type 2: usually burns, minimal tanning.
• Type 3: sometimes burns mildly, tans uniformly.
• Type 4: burns minimally, always tans well (moderate brown).
• Type 5: very rarely burns, tans very easily (dark brown).
• Type 6: Never burns (deeply pigmented dark brown to darkest brown)

Both laser and IPL produce energy to destroy the hair follicle but that is where the similarity ends.

Cynosure and Soprano laser hair removal technology provides results that last much longer than IPL hair removal since it can focus on a concentrated area and is a lot less painful. IPL involves a much wider distribution of energy.

IPL is also usually limited to lighter skin types whereas Cynosure and the Soprano XL can be used on Asian and darker skin. We use the IPL machine at Cadogan Clinic is used for skin rejuvenation treatments for which it provides great results.