The thought of smooth and hair-free skin could be oh so tempting, but the procedure needed to achieve hairless skin successfully may not be for everyone. Hair removal processes could involve do-it-yourself procedures or visits to the aesthetician, depending on what you feel is right for you. But before spending on a procedure, there are a few things you might need to keep in mind to help you decide on the proper treatment for you.
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1. Shave Before Your Appointment
Your aesthetician would take care of your hair removal, but one thing to keep in mind is that their services are limited to using laser on your skin. Some aestheticians would inform their clients to show up with shaved skin 24 hours before the laser hair removal session. They may also ask you to refrain from using oils, creams, or lotions on the day before the appointment.
It may be difficult to reach specific areas when removing hair, but aestheticians would help do a minor cleanup where you’ve missed. This would also be favorable because the procedure would go faster. Also, shaving close to the skin would allow the laser to work on the leftover hairs and damage them enough to stop or delay growth.
2. Protect The Skin From Sun Exposure
Before your session, try to avoid exposing the treatment area to the sun and using ultraviolet (UV) tanning beds. If you need to go out, whether sunny or rainy, it would be best to wear SPF 30 or above sunscreen to protect your skin against UVA and UVB rays. Sunlight could cause skin sensitivity, and a laser uses light energy that may irritate it. Without protecting your skin, you’d likely get burns, scarring, or hyperpigmentation after the procedure.
3. Avoid Specific Skin Topicals
Before the treatment, try not to use skin products that are likely to cause photosensitivity, such as retinol, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, or hydroxy acid. It’s best to avoid them 24 hours before the session to lower the risk of irritation. Also, try not to use depilatories, tweezers, waxes, or epilation in between sessions. It’s advised to only shave your skin and use gentle cleansers on treated areas.
It’s the same if you’re getting facial treatments. It’s important to know that these treatments would be using chemicals on your face, too. So if possible, skip the facial if you’re getting hair removal on your facial area as it may cause irritation and other adverse effects.
4. Seek Your Doctor’s Advice
Laser hair removal may be a tech-based skincare solution, but it could trigger some form of issues if you’re taking a specific medication. There are prescription drugs that could cause adverse reactions, such as sensitivity to UV light, which is being used in laser hair removal.
It may cost you to not take your medication for a long time, so try weighing your options since missing your medication could be life-threatening. In any case, it’s essential to inform your doctor before deciding to have laser hair removal.
5. You Must Pass The Test First
Laser hair removal may not be for everyone because light technology could be irritating to other persons’ skin. Before deciding on hair removal, your physician or aesthetician would have to perform a skin patch test to see how it would react to the laser. If your skin develops an unusual reaction to the laser, it’s a sign you can’t undergo the session as you could get scars or discoloration during your treatment. But while this procedure may not be for you, there are still other ways you could remove excess hair.
6. Hold Off Bleaching Before The Session
If you’re thinking of bleaching your hair and then getting a laser hair removal afterward, you might need to drop the former. The procedure uses light energy to target the roots of each strand of hair. The follicles would then absorb the light and destroy the hair ultimately. Bleaching could cause more difficulty in removing hair. Try to refrain from bleaching your hair six hours before the procedure to allow the natural hair color to come back.
7. Decide: Laser Treatment Vs. Tattoos?
It may be bad news if you have a tattoo on the area you want to get treatment on. Laser removers for hair are not designed to get rid of tattoos. It could easily distort the image of the tattoo and cause blisters and burns on the area. What could happen is that the aesthetician would point the laser outside the lines of the tattoo to remove these. You may be left with a patch you’d want to get rid of, which could be unsightly.
8. Leave Your Skin Bare During Sessions
Perhaps one of the worse things a patient could do is apply makeup on the day of the appointment. The treatment area of the skin needs to be fresh and devoid of any cosmetics before laser light is applied to it. If your face is covered with foundation and other skin topicals and the procedure went on, you could end up with burns. This could cause problems with the pigment of your skin, and it may not fade away until after a few months.
9. Skip The Gym For The Meantime
If you’re a fitness buff, you might want to forget going to the gym after the procedure. Instead, directly head home to have a good rest. If you work out after getting the treatment, you could create a warm environment on your skin for bacteria to breed. This carelessness could give you dark spots on the treated area because the heat from the laser would stay on the skin for the next 24 hours. Working out adds to the warm temperature of the skin, which could cause problems later on.
10. Expect Changes On Your Skin
After the procedure, you’d likely start to notice swelling and redness in the treated area. It could feel like a burn caused by overexposure to the sun or shaving. You could try to relieve the pain by using fresh aloe vera gel or hydrocortisone to help ease the symptoms. After two weeks, you’d also notice the hair would continuously shed throughout the sessions.
In Conclusion
It’s essential to know how to keep your skin from getting exposed to specific elements before getting laser hair removal. Being prepared is crucial if you want successful sessions where you achieve softer and smoother hair-free skin without encountering problems. While some of these tips may seem hard to follow, your discipline would go a long way eventually.