As far as hair removal goes if you’re someone who likes smooth, stubble-free legs, then you know just how hard it is to achieve. Between the expensive waxes and the inefficient razors, it’s time-consuming and pricey. Though permanent solutions have been available for a while, they’ve even been an unaffordable salon experience or a patchy at-home treatment.
As a naturally fair-skinned, dark-haired stubble-dodger I am supposedly the perfect candidate for IPL hair removal. This is because the light source targets the pigment in the hair follicle and can get confused when there is a higher melanin level in the skin. Armed with Smoothskin’s IPL Hair Removal Device, I tackled my winter fuzz.
What’s The Difference Between IPL and Laser Hair Removal?
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and laser hair removal essentially do the same thing as they both use light-based technology to create heat, which damages the hair follicle at the root. IPL works by sending a light over a patch of skin with the hair on the zapped surface absorbing some wavelengths of light. This heats the follicle and causes it to stop producing hair. Laser, however, is much more precise (and painful!) as it uses a concentrated, narrow wavelength of light that annihilates the hair at the root. When the hair is thicker and coarser IPL is less effective.
How Does IPL Work?
Self-proclaimed as the fastest IPL hair removal solution on the market, it pulses 100 flashes of high-intensity light on your skin per minute. This efficiency effectively allows you to glide the tool along your skin, which makes the whole process faster. For instance, it takes under five minutes to zap your whole leg and probably under ten to do your whole bod.
Unlike other devices, it doesn’t have power settings as it can detect your skin’s surface and hair’s pigment and target accordingly. And, it shines a line on the area that's being zapped, so you don't go over one place twice. So, it’s foolproof in other words.
Does IPL Hurt?
In a nutshell, yes. Similarly, to waxing, it hurts more on areas with thinner skin. However, as the treatment is so quick and the pain subsides just as fast, the discomfort was worth it.
How Long Does It Take To Show Results After IPL?
Between four and six weeks depending on how religiously you keep up the treatments, how dark your hair is and what body part your zapping. But, the results don’t last forever as you’ll have to keep topping up the procedure to keep the hair at bay. I went renegade and would go over my underarms twice in one session even though it was the most painful area on the body I tried as I was keen to see fast results there.
Should I Buy An IPL Device?
SHOP: Smoothskin IPL Hair Removal Device
1 of 1SmoothSkin Bare + Ultrafast IPL Hair Removal System
Priced at £155, Smoothskin’s device is competitively priced and is effective in that context. For the price of nine bikini waxes or 30 Venus razors, it makes an attractive solution in the long term. But, that’s just the thing, it takes a long time for it to get to the hair-free stage and once you’re there, you still have to top up the treatment every so often. Personally, as someone whose hair follicles shows their dark roots beneath their pale skin, this is a small price to pay for lasting bristle-free legs.
Follow Lucy on Instagram @lucyalicemorris.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.
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