Laser Hair Removal vs Electrolysis – Get the Facts!

Laser Hair Removal vs Electrolysis – Get the Facts!

Guest post by Aleya of VS1 Salon in New York.

One of the most commonly asked questions I get from my new clients is which one is better: laser hair removal vs electrolysis? Truth be told, they both have qualities that you have to consider before dedicating yourself to either one. To help you decide which treatment is right for you, here is the information that you will need to know about both techniques.

Laser Hair Removal VS. Electrolysis

Laser Hair Removal

• First and foremost, laser is not permanent hair removal, its permanent hair reduction. It’s been proven that the laser treatments reduce hair growth and make the hairs that grow back thinner. So usually the hair will be gone for two years and after that you keep it up by getting one treatment per year. Whatever doesn’t go away with laser you can remove permanently with electrolysis.
• In order for this technique to work on you, you must have dark, thick hair. If you have white, grey, red, blond, light brown or thin hair, the laser will not be able to see the pigment in your hair color and won’t be able to treat it. The reason that people with thin hair or very little hair should not attempt to get laser treatments is because, it is possible for thin hairs to get thicker and darker if they’re worked on. It’s also possible that you will suddenly start seeing hairs where there weren’t any because they’re suddenly made active.
• Depending on the type of machine that is used, people with dark olive skin can also get treated and see good results.
• Contrary to popular demand, laser will not get rid of 100% of your hair. The laser machine companies guarantee 30-70% of hair reduction and it’s not very often that you meet someone who sees 100% reduction.
• The laser can treat several hairs at a time.
• You should get one treatment every four to six weeks and will usually need 6-8 total. If you have a dark skin tone and the energy has to be reduced you may need a couple more, but you will never need more than ten in one series. If the technician tells you that you need more, you’re throwing your money in the trash.
• It’s very easy to burn someone with a laser so be sure to get test shots done before you start your actual sessions. There are two types of burns that you may be exposed to: light and dark. Light burns are the ones that you need to really worry about because it’s very difficult to get your skin back to normal. The dark burns normally take a few weeks to months to heal. There are creams available to help with each burn type but they can get very expensive.

Electrolysis

• Electrolysis is the only form of permanent hair removal in the world and has over 100 years of results to prove it.
• This technique works on everyone regardless of their hair color and thickness and their skin tone.
• Electrolysis removes one hair at a time because the technician has to use a probe to electrify, weaken and kill one root at a time.
• There’s no way of telling how many sessions you will need to get before the hairs vanish. Depending on what kind of techniques you used to remove the hairs in the past, the stubbornness of the hairs and genes, everyone sees results at different times. If you want to decrease the time it takes to be hair-free, try seeing your electrologist every one to two weeks because the longer the strands grow, the stronger they will become.
• Although it’s very, very difficult to burn someone’s skin with electrolysis many people shy away from it because they get little brown dots resembling scabs for a few days or weeks. The best way to avoid this happening to you is to ask the electrologist to use a gold probe instead of a silver one and to immediately apply an ice pack after the session.
• People can see marks on their skin that look like scars if the technician uses an old or dirty probe so be sure that you always get a new one.

Laser Hair Removal VS Electrolysis

In the battle of laser hair removal vs electrolysis, how do you know which one is right for you? My recommendation is to do laser on larger areas or areas that have a lot of thick, dark hairs and then use electrolysis to get rid of whatever is left over. I prefer electrolysis for the eye area and areas where you have thin, sparse hairs. You can do electrolysis on the legs, bikini and underarms but it will be time consuming and expensive. As for the pain, they can both be painful so be sure to get some lidocaine (such as Emla) to make your treatments more comfortable.

Aleya has been performing laser and electrolysis hair removal in New York for seven years now but have just now moved my practice to VS1 salon in Great Neck. Please visit her Facebook.com to learn about her monthly specials.