Laser Hair Removal

Six to eight for lasting reduction, spaced four to six weeks apart. The laser only affects hairs in their growth phase, and at any given moment that is roughly a fifth to a third of the follicles in an area — so the course exists to catch the rest as they cycle in, not to sell you more visits.

It is permanent reduction, not permanent removal, and the distinction is worth knowing before you book. A completed course leaves far fewer hairs and the ones that remain are finer and lighter, but hormones and ageing can activate dormant follicles later, so most people come back for occasional maintenance. Anyone promising permanent removal is overselling it.

Often yes, but the settings and sometimes the wavelength have to change, which is what the assessment is for. The laser targets pigment, so the more melanin the surrounding skin holds, the more care is needed to treat the follicle without heating the skin itself. We patch test first, and if your skin and hair combination is not one that can be treated safely we will tell you rather than treat you conservatively and charge you for a course that cannot work.

Yes — shave the area the day before or the morning of. The laser works on the follicle beneath the skin, and hair left above the surface absorbs energy where it does no good and can cause a surface burn. Do not wax, pluck, or thread for four weeks beforehand: those remove the root, which is the target.

Each pulse feels like a warm rubber band snap. The upper lip and the beard area are the more sensitive spots because the skin is thin and the hair coarse; the underarm is usually easy. Sessions on small areas are over in a few minutes, which is most of why it is tolerable.

Yes, if the area stays out of the sun. A tan — including self-tanner — makes treatment unsafe rather than merely less effective, because tanned skin competes with the follicle for the laser's energy. Underarms are easy to keep covered; an upper lip in July takes real discipline with sunscreen.