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Shower & Be Clean
Showering & cleansing your body of all oils, lotions and skin products is ideal so that when the laser or Intense Pulsed Light is applied to the skin by your at-home laser hair removal device, or by the laser at a clinic, that there are no unintended consequences. Also ensure that you do not apply any topical products that may cause photosensitivity for at least 72 hours before treatment such as hydroxy acids, retinols or acne medication such as benzoyl peroxide).
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Shave (but do not wax!)
It is important that prior to getting laser or IPL hair removal done, that you do not wax as the preservation of the hair root is required for the success of the laser hair removal. However, shaving is recommended to avoid thermal injury to the skin surface before treating an area, ideally within 24 hours of when you intend to treat the area.
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Do a test area
If you are using an at-home IPL laser hair removal device such as the EvenSkyn Pulsar, do a small test patch 48 hours prior to doing the full treatment at a moderate intensity (level 4, for example) for your skin tone. Doing so will help confirm whether you’re indeed a good candidate for laser/IPL hair removal (also ensure you reference a skin chart, similar to the one available at www.evenskyn.com on laser/IPL product listings).
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Avoid tanning
For at least two weeks prior to laser hair removal or IPL hair removal, avoid tanning (such as on UV tanning beds) or significant sun exposure, and if you must go out, ensure you protect the areas you plan on treating with you at-home laser hair removal device, or areas that you will be getting treated as a laser hair removal clinic from sun exposure, and at all times during the two weeks pre-treatment wear sunscreen (SPF 50 or higher) when going out.
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Familiarize yourself
If you intend to do the IPL or laser hair removal yourself, by using an at-home laser hair removal device such as the EvenSkyn Pulsar, please ensure that you have read and understood the device’s user instructions manual, or watched helpful videos and/or tutorials on how best to operate the device. As a general rule, always select a lower intensity level for your very first treatment and slowly work your way up to higher energy levels with more experience using the device. Also please ensure your skin tone is suitable for higher energy levels since darker skin types ought to exercise extra caution and maintain lower levels of intensity even after they’ve been using the device for a few weeks (since the device target melanin in the hair root and some melanin around the hair root can also be affected in people with darker skin tones).
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Avoid artificial or inert skin fillers or injectables
For two weeks prior to laser hair removal, kindly ensure that you do not get any dermal filler procedures done (such as Botox), or any other significant procedure that may be harsh for the skin and require recovery time, such as chemical peels.
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Do not pluck hair
Similar to the advice above about not waxing prior to laser / IPL hair removal, ensure that you have not been plucking hair in the areas you intend to have the laser hair removal done. The logic here is the same as for waxing, i.e., preservation of the hair root so that the laser hair removal procedure can be successful.
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Ensure safety of your eyes
While clinics tends to invariably be really good about this, i.e., providing you with safety glasses to protect your eyes, if you’re saving a ton of money by doing it at home by using an at-home laser or IPL hair removal device, ensure that you have proper eye protection. At EvenSkyn, every laser / IPL hair removal handset we sell by default comes with a pair of protective eye glasses.
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Do your research
Whether you go the ‘laser’ route and go to a clinic and are willing to fork out a significant amount of cash, it is preferable that the place doing your laser hair removal have a supervising doctor or licensed nurse on-site. This is important because the lasers used at professional clinics tend to be quite precise in their targeting of hair follicles, and invariably much more powerful than most at-home hair removal solutions. To avoid risks such as skin irritation or pigmentation, or to remedy the an adverse situation, it would be to your advantage were you to choose a place where licensed board-certified staff are present. However, if you choose to go the at-home laser hair removal route and do the procedure in the comfort of your own home, while you may find comfort in knowing that most devices are based on the IPL technology which is more scattered, and whereby such devices apply less energy, this also means that you will require weekly sessions to get the same results as you would from laser hair removal at a clinic (that may be several weeks apart). If going the at-home laser / IPL hair removal route, ensure that the company manufacturing the device follows all strict manufacturing guidelines and that their devices comply with all major regulators’ requirements. For example, EvenSkyn’s at home laser hair removal products such as the Pulsar IPL handset is manufactured in a factory that complies with all major global manufacturing standards, and further, also complies and is registered in all jurisdictions where it is sold.
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Understand the limitation of LHR or IPL
Read up on where you simply cannot have laser hair removal (LHR) or IPL hair removal done. Some areas where LHR or IPL cannot be done include: eyelids, eyebrows, or areas that have tattoos. For eyes, and areas surrounding eyes, extra care is recommended to avoid eye injury, and for tattoos, the fear is that the pigment or ink in the vicinity of where the IPL or LHR is being done might be affected by the intense light or laser and the tattoo might appear distorted after the procedure.
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