Why is IPL Permanent Hair REDUCTION and not “removal”?

Jun 30
2010

Clients often ask us if Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) is a proven form of permanent hair “removal”. However there is only one treatment for permanent hair “removal” and this is Electrolysis. Neither Laser nor IPL can claim to be methods of permanent hair removal – Only “reduction”: A permanent reduction of between 80-90% of the hair.

So what does this mean to the consumer? If you wish to have hair in any given area permanently reduced then we would recommend our services. To say reduced this is a permanent reduction and you will reap the benefits of hair free – care free skin.
Before you make that decision, here are a few points to consider:

• Electrolysis is an extremely painful method of hair removal which involves removing one hair at a time with a needle/probe which is inserted into each hair follicle. Thus making it not only painful – but exceedingly time consuming.
• IPL treats a small “area” with each shot of light, thus making it quicker and also less painful. In fact clients report it as a comparative feeling to a mild pinching pain. In comparison to Laser: IPL treatment “heads” are often eight times large than a laser “spot” making treatment more effective and time efficient.
• Electrolysis is a very antiquated method of hair removal – there are now not as many centres that offer this type of hair removal, so finding a reputable clinic can prove to be more difficult. Laser was developed in the 60-80´s, whereas IPL in the 90 and noughties, so it is a more developed technology, and can in fact treat more skin phototypes.
• Electrolysis can be quite an expensive method of hair removal, especially so when compared to the low-cost alternative provided by DepiCool. Please see our Price List for full details of cost involved, and please note that cost varies depending on area treated.
• For intimate or sensitive areas, you should always consider your own personal pain threshold.

Many men and women alike have chosen DepiCool as their preferred provider of hair depilation services, but we will never brand ourselves as anything but “Hair Reduction” providers.
Clear, concise and self explanatory are our beliefs, so should you have any further questions regarding IPL as a form of permanent hair reduction, please contact us and we will be only too pleased to answer such questions. Alternatively you can call us on: 020 3397 0084.

Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

Comments • Posted in Permanent Hair Reduction & IPL, Questions & Answers

E-News Update

Jun 29
2010

DepiCool Franchise E-News July 2010

Welcome to the July Edition of the DepiCool Franchise Newsletter.

Over the past few months we have had some exciting developments within the DepiCool franchise opportunity! Our UK store coverage has steadily expanded over the first half of this year and we are pleased to report we now have 15 DepiCool stores opened or opening soon in the UK!
This excellent news puts us well on our way to our commitment to open in every major UK city within the year. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to secure the territory of your choice as locations are being snapped up quickly!!

Our unique franchise offer allows you to be part of the DepiCool network from just £7,500! And the personal service combined with dedication, experience and professionalism you receive from the team is second to none, making opening a franchise with us hassle free and easy!

We would be excited to share more DepiCool franchise news and progress with you over the coming months, so keep your eyes open for more exciting developments!

If you wish to know more about this unique opportunity in the beauty field feel free to contact a member of the team where we would be more than happy to answer individual queries, or even arrange for a visit to one of our DepiCool centres in London to give you a real feel for the opportunity and to see for yourself!

Also; don’t forget to check out our online video franchise interview and also our keep up to date on our Twitter Page and Facebook Group with all the latest goings on in the DepiCool world!!

We look forward to you being able to join us in this exciting franchise opportunity!

Best regards,

The DepiCool Team!

Comments • Posted in DepiCool Franchise

Covent Garden Hair Removal under £50

Jun 25
2010

DepiCool has been thriving in the UK since the summer of 2008 offering permanent hair removal with IPL at our revolutionary £49 flat rate! This has diversified the approach and accessibility to this previously high end market product and serves to reinforce our main goals to deliver great value-for-money in combination with quality service and safe treatments.

Our London Covent Garden centre is our flagship DepiCool store and from here the DepiCool chain radiates across the rest of London, offering permanent hair removal at a fraction of the prices of those centres on Harley Street, whom offer the same CQC certified service.

Our stylish stores and friendly approach simply slide into the London aura and an experience in a DepiCool centre is effortless and enjoyable. Our London Covent Garden centre is within easy reach of both Covent Garden and Leicester Square underground lines and only a stones throw away from the famous Long Acre.

Our £49 flat rate can save you up to 60% on average compared to our local competitors in the permanent hair removal market, and combined with such a wealth of experience and centrally located stores: position DepiCool as a market leader in the Intense Pulsed Light beauty industry – and all of this for under £50 per body area!!

Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

Comments • Posted in Permanent Hair Reduction & IPL

Hair Removal London for Gay Men/Women

Jun 24
2010

DepiCool are noticing an increasing number of men choosing to have permanent hair removal and despite the trend being popular amongst the straight males in society – the trend is ever more popular amongst the gay population too.

Saturday 3rd July 2010 sees the annual gay pride festival hit the streets of London!
The festival culminates around the UK’s capital in Trafalgar Square and this year celebrates the sixth year of the festival since its roots were established in London in March 2004 when the Pride London attracted a little over 30,000 which last year grew to over 1,000,000!

With centres located in and around the city’s capital it is an ideal opportunity to pop along for your free consultation for IPL hair removal treatment and make sure you’re in shape and ready for the biggest fiesta the summer has seen so far!

At DepiCool we are metrosexual and homosexual friendly and don’t shy away from depilating even the most sensitive of zones: bikini extensive, inside buttocks and even full legs are prime candidates.

So get in the festival spirit and show some pride in your appearance!! With our £49 flat rate everyone can now afford permanent hair removal and benefit form this previously high end market product.

To contact a member of the team or for more information or to book an appointment call us now on: 020 3397 0084 or email us at info@depicool.co.uk

Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

Comments • Posted in Male Hair Removal, Permanent Hair Reduction & IPL

Safe and Effective Permanent Hair Removal for Summer

Jun 17
2010

As the summer season is upon us most of us are thinking of ways to get that beach body in shape ready to dare and bare!
As such out come the exfoliators, razors, wax strips, fake bake and the sun shades… all in an effort to get glam and gorgeous!

It’s at this time too usually that lots of start to think how much easier it would be to not have the worry of shaving week in and week out and instead what a dream it would be to wake up every day like we were in the Venus adverts on TV! Well… there is a solution! Hair removal can be permanent and long lasting with the help of techniques such as laser and IPL, making your summer prep season far less labouring and instead free up more of time to shop till you drop for that perfect beach look!

However, I think its time to reflect on a few do’s and don’ts as the summer season is now upon us. To ensure you are able to have safe and effective hair removal treatment:

• DO stay out of the sun 4 weeks prior to and following a hair removal session. This is because if you expose the treated are to sunlight (be it the real deal or even sunbeds) you run the risk of your skin hyper or hypo pigmenting. This means it could leave you with dark or light patches – which aren’t conducive to that perfect beach bod!

• DO NOT apply fake tanning lotions or tinted moisturisers during the 4 weeks before and after each permanent hair removal session.

• DO tell your therapist if you have plans to go to the sun or indeed expose your skin to UVA or UVB light 4 weeks either side of your session so she/he can best inform you for the next actions in order to maintain your health and safety.

• DO NOT pluck or wax the hair to be treated prior to a session. This is because IPL and laser work by killing the hair at its root – if you remove the root: the treatment won’t work.

Adhering to the four simple guidelines will ensure you undergo safe and effective IPL or laser treatment and will ensure your hair free sun-sational beach bod for the coming year!

Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

Comments • Posted in DepiCool & Health, Male Hair Removal, Permanent Hair Reduction & IPL, Questions & Answers

Welcome to our new Kings Cross Therapist!

Jun 17
2010

The DepiCool team would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new therapist at Kings Cross: Karly Everson.

Karly is a qualified beauty therapist of 5 years, with specialism’s in: laser hair reduction skin rejuvenation, medical grade lactic and amino acid peels, ultra sonic visage facial treatments and inferred light therapy.

Karly will be working in our London Kings Cross store and will be on hand to help clients with queries and questions in relation to treatment as well as provide comprehensive IPL treatment.

You can book an appointment online now for our London Kings Cross store or simply call the DepiCool contact centre on 020 3397 0084 where a member of the team will be happy to assist you.

Opening hours for DepiCool Kings Cross are as follows:
Monday – Friday 11.30am – 8pm and
Two Saturday’s per month 10am – 3pm

Due to Karly´s arrival in the business the £19 underarm offer has been extended until the end of June! For more details simply click here.

Author: Lauren Taylor: DepiCool UK

Comments • Posted in DepiCool News

Phillips Lumea Hair Removal System With IPL Technology – A Comparison to Clinic offered IPL

Jun 10
2010

DepiCool have been in the hair removal industry for years, and we have a proven track record for successfully depilating our clients both in the UK and Spain. Given this we are in a good position to give you the honest truth and comparisons with home devices such as the Phillips Lumea verses the service in a professional salon such as DepiCool! May I add there are a lot of things to think about!

In today’s economic environment we are all more cautious about watching the pennies, and since the introduction of devices such as the portable hand held IPL: we have had more people questioning whether or not they should opt for this type of device or visit a clinic (be it ours or anyone else’s). We do pride ourselves on honesty and we would never offer an opinion a product we have not tried, but what we would do is ask you to consider some of the comparative issues in order to make a suitable conclusion yourself about which option is better for you.

Phillips Lumea Hair Removal System With IPL Technology

Clinic Hair Removal with a qualified practitioner

Conclusion

Quality of the machine

3cm2 application window for an effective treatment of large areas.
Integrated UV filter protects your skin from UV light.
Rechargeable device with quick charge functionality (full charge in 1 ½ hours, 80% charge in 1 hour). The battery life lasts about 15 minutes.

DepiCool machines for administering Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatment:

Use the latest technology to ensure safe and effective IPL sessions.
Regular checks and maintenance on the machines, to ensure they are working to their best ability.
Integrated thermo-electric coolers for the light guide. This means that the temperature of the skin can be kept cool to reduce the sensation and discomfort of heat during the pulses.
High energy output (maximum energy 48J/cm2) and a large spot size (8x34mm), which ranks them among the strongest and fastest available in the market.
Certified to the strict quality standards of ISO 9001 and CE 0197 certified

You would be carrying out your own checks on a Lumea machine, and machine upkeep and maintenance is critical for safe and effective IPL treatment. If this is not performed properly – it could cause adverse reactions.

To depilate the legs we recommend a 45 minute session which would cover half of the legs. (For example the lower legs) A further 45 minute session would be needed to treat the upper legs. We appreciate this is both tedious and time consuming: so we would recommend splitting these sessions. With the Lumea you would have to, as each charge reportedly lasts 15 minutes as an average – so that’s 6 recharges for a full leg depilation, with 1.5 hours needed between each for a full recharge)

The DepiCool Machines have a high energy output making repeat sessions only necessary a third of that compared to the Lumea.

Quality of the results

Phillips claim:

“You can enjoy smooth skin even between treatments”

“Silky Smooth Skin everyday”

DepiCool offer:

Permanent hair reduction of between 80-90% on all areas treated. The IPL device is for hair removal and permanent hair reduction as approved by the FDA. (Food and Drug Administration)

Phillips are not advertising “hair free skin” between treatments or even hair free skin everyday. Yet this device is not for smooth skin: it is marketed for “hair removal” – For more information about laser vs. IPL and why IPL is suitable for hair removal and permanent hair reduction click here. But remember the reason you would opt for either service is for hair removal – not for an exfoliation!

Cost of the Machine V Cost of the service at a clinic

£399 is the cost for the Phillips Lumea Machine.

£49 flat rate per area is the cost for IPL depilation at any DepiCool centre; this is a saving of up to 60% compared to local competitor salons!

DepiCool – £49 x 8 = £392 for one area of depilation

Lumea – £399 one off fee

How many sessions will I need?

The Phillips team recommends using the Lumea every 2 weeks for the armpits and bikini area and every four weeks for legs.

As an average IPL administered in a beauty centre such as DepiCool would need 6-8 sessions for all body areas. (More information is offered on an individual basis to clients at the initial consultation and Patch Test)

For the Lumea using the recommendations you will over the course of a year is an average of 26 times for the armpits/bikini and 13 times for the legs, compared to 6-8 sessions on average for a DepiCool client. The device is not suitable for other body zones (such as the face) Whereas IPL depilation in a DepiCool or registered salon can treat any manner of area; from inside buttocks, upper lip, chin, chest, back etc.

Safety in both instances

Developed in conjunction with Dermatologists
Fulfils safety regulations for home-use appliances

NB: Home use appliances should conform to The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 and The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994

In order to offer safe and effective IPL treatment DepiCool offer the following:

All of our centres are approved by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) the same governing body as many of the famous Harley Street clinics
We offer all new clients a “Patch Test” which is free and is a mandatory Health & Safety requirement in the UK
Our practitioners are all experts in the beauty industry with an NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in Beauty Therapy as well as Core of Knowledge training in administering IPL treatment
All clients are issued with pre and post treatment guidance prior to undergoing IPL in the form of a brochure
All clients have access to the DepiCool helpline for any questions during or after treatment
DepiCool work in conjunction with a qualified team of Doctors to provide individual feedback for specific client needs. (IE Medication feedback and relation to effectiveness of the IPL and safety)
Goggles are provided to protect the user from the UV rays emitted by the machine

The DepiCool IPL machine is certified to commercial standards, ISO 9001 and compared to safety regulations for a “home use appliance” such as you toaster the standards are much more strict and regulated.

Home devices are also not monitored by a Governing body, and can indeed be applied by a non qualified individual: this can obviously increase the risks of burning and adverse reactions being created.

Both options provide clients with take home leaflets advice.

Potential Risks

Skin Phototype – Assessed by yourself or by a computer at the Lumea website
Pulse Application – The instructions on the Lumea request you to “Make sure that you overlap treated areas slightly”
Recently tanned skin – You can compare you skin to the above skin chart and read the instructions
Medications – You would need to consult your Doctor

Skin Phototype – In a registered centre this is assessed by a qualified practitioner with experience of IPL and beauty to make an accurate judgement possible in order to administer the correct IPL fluence/level
Pulse Application – Our therapists change direction at alternate treatments and do not overlap pulses as this can cause skin reactions
Recently tanned skin – we advise that 4 weeks prior to and 4 weeks following an IPL session you avoid UVA exposure to prevent skin hyper or hypo pigmentation. A thorough analysis is performed for each client
Medications – We have access to a specialist Doctor who can provide us with advice on IPL treatment in relation to any medication and continued safety of the treatment and any side effects or possible extra sessions that this may indicate

In all instances of administering a light source to the skin, the same way as when we expose our skin to sunlight or UVA/UVB rays – there is a burning or adverse event risk. In order to safely administer IPL treatment you should consider the following:

Accurate definition of your individual Skin Phototype
The Pulse Application on the area
Whether your skin has been recently tanned or if you have applied tinted moisturiser/fake tan lotions
If you are taking and Medications which could affect treatment process or longevity of results

The makers of the Lumea machine claim the following: so let’s take the time to break this down into more detail:

Phillip´s Claim	Analysis
“enables you to be free from unwanted hair and enjoy smooth skin every day” “You can enjoy smooth skin even between treatments” “Silky Smooth Skin everyday”	The process of hair removal with IPL involves the light source being applied to the desired area. The client should note that unlike Laser the hair is not “melted” instead it prevents hair growth from the root. In order for the hair to be removed the hair will need to “fall” and this means it will technically need “grow out” and leave the body. So between treatments you may experience some hair re-growth until you have completed your course of treatment. This is quite normal, and clients will experience thinner hair and hair becoming more prone to breaking away. To guarantee “free from unwanted hair” it is more accurate to say hair removal would be an 80-90% permanent hair reduction. The Lumea is not an exfoliation device – so it should have no effect on the smoothness of you skin on a day to day basis or even between treatments.
“Repeating this treatment every two weeks* for the armpits and bikini area and every four weeks for legs will keep your skin smooth everyday.”*	At a DepiCool centre, as mentioned previously we recommend an initial gap of 6 weeks between treatments of a body area which gradually increases the more you progress through the course of your treatment. Treatment would not need to be repeated as regularly as 2 weeks in the example of the Lumea. The DepiCool machines have a high energy output (maximum energy 48J/cm2), which ranks them among the strongest and fastest available in the market, especially compared to a home portable device.
“specifically for safe, gentle and effective home use on underarms, bikini area and legs.”	The Phillips website states you cannot use this area for Facial Hair removal. Whereas treatment in a salon would allow most body areas to be depilated, including facial zones.
“No replacement bulbs or contact gel required.”	DepiCool machines are serviced regularly and machine heads are changed to maintain optimum results. Treatment is also applied with a cooling gel to ensure that the client experiences minimum pain, and so that the practitioner can clearly see which areas have been depilated to prevent over lapping of pulses.
“Philips Lumea works effectively on (naturally) dark-blond, brown and black hair.”	IPL works best on lighter skin and darker hair. This is because there is more melanin (the dark pigment) in a darker hair; this is why treatment on dark skin phototypes is not appropriate as there is too much melanin in the skin itself, which can lead to adverse reactions.
“It allows women to safely and effectively prevent hair re-growth in the comfort of their own home”	What about men? The Phillips website quotes “Phillips Lumea is not designed for men. It is specifically developed for women and doesn’t take into account the specific biological differences such as hair density, which might require different technical specifications.” Unlike salon treatments which can effectively treat both men and women.

So my overall conclusions: I think basically you get what you pay for! Phillips may be offering female clients access to previously high market end hair removal device, but also the device is not as powerful as that as the salon alternative, and what about the men out there who want to benefit form the luxury of hair removal?!?!

I think its great that with the Lumea you only have the one off payment of £399 but now with salons such as DepiCool offering flat rate IPL hair removal at often 60% cheaper than other salons; and with a qualified practitioner and registered centre – this makes for a strong competitor!

My advice: Now the research and knowledge has been examined make sure you take the time to read it and opt for the most suitable option for your circumstances, and remember: if in doubt – DepiCool offer a free patch test at any of our centres!

For more information please feel free to contact a member of the team! 020 3397 0084 or email us info@depicool.co.uk

Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

Comments • Posted in Case Studies & Customer Feedback, Permanent Hair Reduction & IPL, Questions & Answers

DepiCool UK – Blog

IPL Hair Removal

Why is IPL Permanent Hair REDUCTION and not “removal”?

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E-News Update

DepiCool Franchise E-News July 2010

The DepiCool Team!

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Covent Garden Hair Removal under £50

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Hair Removal London for Gay Men/Women

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Safe and Effective Permanent Hair Removal for Summer

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Welcome to our new Kings Cross Therapist!

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Phillips Lumea Hair Removal System With IPL Technology – A Comparison to Clinic offered IPL

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