Laser hair removal costs vary according to a variety of conditions, because not only do the results vary tremendously from person to person, but also even within different body areas. What is the Best Hair Removal System?
That said, laser hair removal is an area where vast improvements in both technology and cost are being made. This makes sense when you think about it: the amount of laser hair removal surgery being carried out worldwide has been growing in double-digits for the last decade. Why? Overall, it’s actually relatively cheap, it’s semi-permanent (more on that in a minute!), and it saves you an immeasurable amount of time and stress compared to shaving, waxing, plucking, epilating, etc.
There are some instances where the cost of laser hair removal isn’t worth it, or there are options better suited like electrolysis. First, though, I want to give you a bit of an overview about laser hair removal technology and the process involved.
Laser Hair Removal Basics
Laser hair removal isn’t new. It’s been around for a while, but what has previously been a new technology, but it has seen lots of improvements and refinements in the last five or six years.
Up until the early to mid 2000′s, laser hair removal equipment had been prohibitively expensive. Finally, though, some more manufacturers came onto the market, broke through the monopolies that existed previously, and the cost has come down through competition and an increase in mass production of the gear.
This is, of course, nothing but good news for you. After a significant price drop about 5 years ago, prices for laser hair removal treatment have remained relatively stable, and are actually decreasing slowly over time. Laser hair removal equipment lasts for a fair while – these are industrial bits of equipment – and once a clinic has one, they want to use it!
So how does it all work? Relatively straightforwardly, thank goodness. More than a decade ago, if you told someone you were going to go have lasers shot into your skin to burn off your unwanted body hair, you’d get more than a raised eyebrow. These days, nobody even blinks.
What happens is this. The cosmetician uses a small pen, or pointer, to direct a laser onto parts of your skin. The laser is, essentially, a very intense burst of light. The light’s energy is absorbed by your skin as heat. Because darker objects absorb radiant energy more quickly, the majority of the laser’s energy is soaked into your hair, heating it up right down to the follicle.
Because the hair absorbs more of the laser’s energy, it rapidly heats up while the surrounding paler skin is left relatively unheated, stopping it from burning. The heat travelling down the length of the hair burns out the follicle, meaning it won’t produce any more hair in the future and you’re left hair-free.
The laser is obviously incredibly safe. They have been designed with multiple fail safes and stoppages in order to make sure that your skin doesn’t get damaged.
Worried about cancer? Don’t be.
The laser light used can’t actually affect your DNA – it’s not like sunlight, which actually arrives in the sky in a broad spectrum, some of which can pass through your skin and cause cancerous mutations. Laser hair removal lasers are simple heat and light, and as such sit on the surface of your skin and don’t have any other effects.
Now, one interesting thing about human hair production is that it doesn’t all happen at once. Instead, each hair goes through periods of dormancy and growth. While it is dormant, the hair is essentially hibernating and not producing any of the actual hair proteins that come out of your body. If you’re having hair removed from an area that you’ve previously been bleaching, shaving, waxing or otherwise plucking, this means that not all your hair will be going through a growth cycle when you get your laser treatments.
The end result of this is that while one laser session will produce measurable results, it’s standard to need two or three sessions, spaced a few weeks apart. Some people need more, but most will be happy with the results from as little as four or five sessions if they have more ‘stubborn’ hair.
Semi-permanent is a word that, unfortunately, we have to bandy about in the industry a fair amount. Unfortunate because it seems wishy-washy, but the truth is the efficacy of laser hair removal treatment does vary from person to person. In addition, the laser treatment may not actually kill off hair production entirely. In 90% of those cases, however, the remaining hair both grows very slowly and is a much lighter color than before, usually pale grey or white, which stands out much less on most people’s skin.
How much more slowly Growing? If you had to shave, say, your underarms every second day, then after a batch of laser hair removal treatments you should expect to give it a trim maybe once a month to keep things optimally smoothed over. Much, much less effort!
What are the best laser hair removal options?
There are essentially three variations on ‘advanced’ hair removal systems that work: Intense Pulsed Light or IPL treatment, and electrolysis.
While I have separate articles posted on IPL and electrolysis, each have their own strengths and weaknesses. IPL and electrolysis are both markedly cheaper than laser treatments, but require many more visits to achieve similar results. IPL is in essence a less powerful version of the laser technique, but because the light is less focused more of it is absorbed by the skin, creating a harsher version of the soreness and mild skin reactions of laser treatment.
Electrolysis is another order again more painful, and involves sending an electric shock down the hair into the follicle, killing the follicle entirely. Electrolysis is also a much slower process to carry out -most people need dozens of sessions, and even if they’re a little cheaper individually, the overall inconvenience and inefficiency, not to mention the pain, means I very rarely recommend electrolysis.
Feel free to have a browse around the site for more information on these options. For now, though, I’ll assume you’ve stuck with laser treatment – the option that I tend to recommend to most of my clients, assuming that their skin and the areas they want treating are appropriate.
Laser Hair Removal Costs
Unless you’re on a tight budget, I generally recommend choosing laser treatment over the occasionally cheaper IPL laser hair removal machines. Beware some beauticians who will advertise generic ‘laser hair removal’ but actually use an IPL machine. These became popular a few years ago because they required less licensing and training to use and were generally cheaper, but in my opinion any cosmetician who relies on one is doing herself and her clients a disservice.
IPL treatments are also generally harsher on your skin, and nobody wants unnecessary discomfort.
The best option if you aren’t in a rush for good, cheap laser hair removal is to wait for a sale. Most laser hair removal treatments are cyclical, with people’s bookings being dictated by weather and the seasons. Planning ahead can save you a significant amount of money.
Keep your eyes peeled. Some salons offer sales when their booking sheets are running empty, often only good for 24 or 48 hours. This is especially common with savvy cosmeticians when it’s gray and gloomy – nobody wants to get cosmetic work done in the rain! Take advantage of everyone else’s staying indoors and nab yourself a bargain.
Another thing you can do to save a goodly amount of money is economising by purchasing in bulk. If you’ve got a bosom friend or two who are after the same or similar treatments to you, you can usually either buy a ‘bundle’ of treatments or negotiate a collective discount off the price.
Most clinics will happily offer magnificent discounts if you buy ‘bulk’ treatments. Keep in mind that you’re unlikely to need more than three or four treatments for any one area, so work out with your friends how to split up the sessions in advance. Once you’ve all been in a few times, any follow-ups can usually have a discount knocked onto them if you ask nicely.
If you can wait until a great offer is advertised and then snaffle up a 40%-off voucher for 10 visits, you will save yourself a goodly amount of money. Remember that you’re almost certainly going to have to come back for treatment more than just once.
Location is another thing that factors heavily into the cost of laser hair removal treatment. Generally speaking, there are always more and less ‘classy’ areas of town, whether it’s distance from the CBD or more or less desirable neighbourhoods.
Invariably, if you go to a cosmetician or beautician in one of the more expensive suburbs, you’re going to end up paying more than you should. Why because if you’re in an upper-class area, there are certain expectations that your business has to meet. Attractive shop fronts, keen receptionists, the ‘latest and greatest’, glossy advertising and even things like rent for the shop all stack up in expensive areas.
- Related: Tria hair removal laser review
What are the best areas for laser hair removal?
Because laser hair removal is best suited for darker hair on lighter skin, areas like the bikini line, that generally only see daylight during the summer months, the underarms, and any stray bodily hairs are the best ones to target with a laser treatment.
Practically anywhere on a man can be lasered, due to their higher levels of body hair and generally thicker, darker hairs overall. Men, interestingly, usually see better results from laser hair removal over a few sessions than hair removal for women do because of this difference.
Thin, pale hair – ‘peach fuzz’ – is probably better suited to electrolysis, as laser treatment will be less effective with such little melanin for the lasers to ‘cling’ to. With this sort of hair, it does vary a lot from person to person, so get yourself a consultation and some one-on-one advice. What is the Best Hair Removal System? you can read laser hair removal after care now