At-home laser hair removal devices use light to damage hair follicles, but their effectiveness varies. Here are some details, positives, negatives, and ingredients or materials to consider:
Details:
- At-home laser hair removal devices work by killing the hair follicle, but hair grows in cycles, and the lasers only damage follicles during an active cycle of hair growth. So it takes multiple treatments, about a month apart, to completely stop hair from regrowing.
- Most at-home devices use intense pulse light (IPL) and are not lasers at all. They are legally not allowed to make the claim of "hair removal" but "hair reduction".
- The medical grade lasers used for laser hair removal generate a large amount of heat, which is why most use a special cooling device to cool the skin at the same time the laser is activated to destroy the hair follicle. These home light devices do not incorporate cooling technologies because they are not powerful enough to require it.
Positives:
- At-home laser hair removal devices can save time and money compared to professional treatments.
- They can be used in the comfort of your own home.
Negatives:
- At-home devices only work on a narrow range of hair and skin colors.
- They are not as powerful as medical grade lasers and require multiple treatments to see results.
- Most review sites report between 30% and 50% reduction in hair after a year of constant use.
- The spot size on these devices on average is 1/4 of an inch, so just one session of repeating multiple pulses on a large area such as your legs could take days to complete.
- At-home devices are not as effective as professional treatments and may require maintenance treatments every year or so to keep stray hairs from cropping up.
Ingredients or materials:
- At-home laser hair removal devices use intense pulse light (IPL) or low energy diode laser to damage hair follicles.
- Medical grade lasers used for laser hair removal generate a large amount of heat and use a special cooling device to cool the skin at the same time the laser is activated to destroy the hair follicle.
- Patients should not be using skincare with strong actives such as retinoids and alpha hydroxyl acids during the treatment period.
