How does Eternal Youth/Silk Light IPL hair removal work?
Our IPL 's system works by emitting an intense pulsed
light which is absorbed by the pigment in the hair and the
hair follicle.
When absorbed by the pigment, this light energy turns into
heat, in turn heating up the hair follicle to a high enough
temperature to cause destruction to the growing capacity
of the hair follicle without causing any significant reaction
to the surrounding skin and its structures.
The hair follicle then loses its capacity to produce any
more hairs. It is important to note that the light's target is
pigment so if the hairs are white or grey and therefore
contain little or no pigment the treatment will not work.
Am I suitable for treatment?
As the light's target is the pigment in the hair, white or
grey hairs are untreatable. The most suitable hair type to
treat is thick dark hairs. Skin type is important too as the
light must target the pigment in the hair.
If there is pigment in the skin there may be a danger that
the light will be focused into the skin and cause
unnecessary burning.
If you have dark skin which contains a lot of pigment then
the therapist will have to adjust the energy output of the
machine to avoid any possible over heating of the skin due
to the fact that the light will also be absorbed by the
pigment in the skin.
This could mean that you might need more treatments than
someone with very white skin. All this should be explained
to you at your consultation.
No treatment can go ahead without a test patch and
treatments should not be performed on skin that has
melanin being actively produced - you will need to wait for
a month after sun exposure and should not have a
treatment if you are going on a sun holiday within a
month.
Also you should not be treated if you have used the sun
bed or are wearing make-up, fake tan or any other colour
enhancing product in the area to be treated.
How many treatments should I expect to have?
As with laser hair removal and electrolysis, the hairs must
be actively growing for the treatment to work. And when
you appreciate that at any one time there can be as few as
20% of hairs actively growing in a given body area, such
as the legs, with 80% resting - and resting for up to six
months - then you realise that it cannot be a one off
treatment!
No one can promise you complete results in only two or
three treatments even when administered at the ideal
prescribed interval as many of the hairs that are resting
will not have reached their actively growing stage during
that time.
For optimum clearance of hair we recommend on average a
course of between 6-10 treatments. Many people have
reported no return of hair growth since the completion of a
course of treatments but occasional top-ups might be
required over the years.
What should I expect from the treatment?
At your initial consultation the therapist should find out
what expectations you might have for the treatment and
whether they are realistic.
In the UK we cannot refer to Laser or IPL hair removal as
being "permanent" as the systems have not been around
long enough (about ten years in the medical profession
and three or five years in the beauty business).
However, in the USA the FDA are happy to classify
anything as being permanent if it is permanent for twelve
months hence the confusion when referring to the same
machine in the UK!
"Long term hair removal" or "permanent hair reduction"
are terms that are acceptable in the UK and you should be
able to expect a long-term reduction of at least 80% if the
treatment is being carried out correctly and when using a
high powered, water-cooled machine such as Quanta
Eternal Youth or Silk Light Systems.
How should I prepare for treatment?
Firstly it is imperative to ensure that the area to be treated
is not tanned. The area should have had no sun exposure
for at least a month prior to treatment.
Ensure that sun block is worn both before and after the
period of treatment as this will reduce the possibility of
any pigment changes that can be caused by sun exposure.
The therapist will probably ask you to shave the treatment
area the day before - do not wax or pluck the area as this
will remove all of the hair from the follicle and leave
nothing for the light to target.
The therapist will discuss all the preparation requirements
in your consultation.