Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic

Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk  Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned.  To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here.

March 7th, 2010: Laser hair removal

Q I am sick of having my bikini line waxed and since having my baby, I just don't have the time or the energy to get it done. I'm not talking about a little extra hair but a great deal. Things would be a lot easier if I could just get it all lasered off. So I wondered if it actually works before I go and spend £600 on getting it done. And also, the growth seems to have increased since having my baby (oh joy!) - so is it likely you can have regrowth if I have another baby after having it all lasered?

A Laser hair removal technology where the hair follicle is effectively cauterised has advanced hugely in the last few years.  Previously only dark hair could be lasered but now any colour hair can be removed by one of the hair removal lasers, according to consultant dermatologist Dr Nick Lowe of the Cranley Clinic, London.  And while there used to be a problem treating coloured skin, new lasers protect tanned, Asian or black skin from losing pigment.  The modification involves the cooling method, says Dr Lowe, who prefers to use the Alexandrite 755 nanometre laser, which cools the skin with a high flow jet of cold air.  (He also cites the ND yag 1032 nm as a ‘theoretical’ option.)  Other types used chilled cryogen freezing material which, in his experience, can cause a freeze injury on quite a few patients, with a risk of developing hyperpigmentation (discoloured patches of skin). 

Beauty salons use IPL (intense pulsed light), as do some cosmetic surgery clinics, but Dr Lowe thinks this is ‘a bad idea, I have seen so many pageints that have burns and blisters, loss of pigment and scars’.  In fact, he cautions against booking laser hair removal with beauty therapists: you should go to an experienced trained physician at a reputable clinic.  (Dr Lowe uses IPL systems for removal of thread veins, solar lentigos and for rejuvenating skin.) 

It will take between three and six sessions to get the optimum reduction of hair growth, depending on the thickness, says Dr Lowe.  And please note reduction nor permanent removal.  ‘None of the lasers will totally and permanently remove all ahir, but this method will achieve up to 70 or 80 per cent in a lot of patients.  Trials also showed significantly greater reduction with specific hair removal lasers rather than IPL.’  You can extend the duration and reduction by using a prescription cream called Vaniqa, which interferes with some of the proteins that form hair. 

Laser hair removal is not suitable for anyone with vitiligo (patches of de-pigmented skin) as it may stimulate new areas.  Anyone with eczema, psoriasis, hives or urticaria should have a patch test first.  IPL could theoretically cause problems with certain drugs, eg tetracycline antibiotics.  Very occasionally, hair growth may be stimulated instead of reduced, due to the technology not delivering enough energy to the hair follicle; very often the problem can be overcome by switching to a different laser system.  But it’s another big argument for going to someone who is trained properly and experienced. 

On the positive side, Dr Lowe says laser hair removal usually works extremely well, and is also useful for ingrowing hair.  As you will have gathered, there is a possibility of regrowth in general and pregnancy hormones can be very powerful so no guarantees, but you could see what happens after the birth and decide whether to have a top-up then. 

We . . . Estée Lauder Hydrationist, £32 for 50 ml. Sometimes what skin needs is simply a jolly good drink. No fancy anti-ageing ingredients, no sun protection (what’s the point when you’re bunkered down indoors, February-style?), no turbo-charged anti-agers: just simple, skin-quenching, instantly relieving moisture. Slather it on and you can almost hear your skin cells plumping up gratefully. Available nationwide.

Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic Archive

February 28th 2010 - SPF Moisturisers
February 21st 2010 - Eyelash enhancers
February 14th 2010 - Night-time skincare
February 7th 2010 - Moisturisers
January 31st 2010 - Concealers
January 24th 2010 - Primers
January 17th 2010 - Choosing skincare products
January 10th 2010 - Parabens free make-up
January 3rd 2010 - Cosmetic Dentistry

Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic Archive 2009