DepiCool UK – Blog

Both hair removal with laser and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) require a series of sessions in order for the treatment to be effective and indeed permanent.

A common question we are often asked is how many sessions exactly is this and does it change dependent on the body area being treated?

The Answer:

• On average, for a body zone (this is from the neck downwards) 6-8 sessions of laser or IPL hair removal treatment are needed for a permanent reduction of 80-90% of the hair in the zone concerned.
• If you intend on treating a facial zone: this session amount is increased to 10-12 sessions of laser or IPL hair removal treatment are needed for a permanent reduction of 80-90% of the hair in the zone concerned. The reason for this increase is that facial hair grows far quicker than body hair.

Clients should be aware that these figures are an average estimation but this can be individual dependent on many influencing factors, including genetics, medications and many more. Also conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) can also considerably increase the session amount needed for treatment, as clients with a condition such as this have increased hair producing hormones present in their body. For more information on PCOS and IPL please visit our blog.

How far apart are the sessions?

Usually sessions are separated with a gap of a few weeks, but again dependant on the zone concerned depends how many weeks this gap is:

• For a Body zone – sessions start with an initial gap of approximately 6 weeks
• For a Facial zone – sessions start with an initial gap of approximately of 4 weeks

As the session numbers increase, so does the time frame between appointments. So what would at sessions 1 and 2 be a gap of 6 weeks between the treatment (for a body zone) between session 3-4 and 5-6 this gap would extend to 8 weeks.

In between these sessions some of the hair will re-grow as part of the natural hair cycle. Hairs that may have previously been dormant during your previous laser or IPL hair removal session may now be in the growth phase. This is where the need for multiple treatment sessions arises.

Clients should also be aware that in order to maintain a permanent hair reduction of 80-90% of the hair in the treated zone, some maintenance sessions may be required on an annual basis. These sessions are simply top-up sessions from the original course of treatment to ensure that area remains hair free, and again on average this is 1 or 2 sessions annually. Any hair that is also remaining will be more brittle, thinner and in fact more prone to breaking away on its own.

In essence IPL hair removal and laser hair removal use exactly the same treatment protocols: session amount required and gaps required between those sessions. The end result of both treatments is the same: 80-90% permanent hair reduction. The only differences being is if you are a darker skin phototype IPL is probably more suited for you as it treats phototypes 1-5 whereas laser only treats phototypes 1-4 and with DepiCool IPL is also considerably cheaper than a laser alternative, this is the reason why a lot of our clients use our services: no compromise on client safety, machine quality or end results.


Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

We are often asked if IPL or in fact laser is suitable for blonde or grey(ing) hair. Unfortunately neither IPL nor Laser are suitable for this type of permanent hair reduction.

Why? IPL and Laser hair removal both work by the same process: this is namely by acting on the dark pigment in the hair known as “melanin”. The melanin absorbs the light and turns it into heat energy, and it is this process which eliminates the hair and prevents the hair from re-growing.
If the hair doesn’t have any dark pigment (melanin) for example it is grey, greying or indeed blonde or even auburn: then there is no melanin in place for the process to be effective and therefore the process will not work.

Synthetically dying the hair will also have no effect on the effectiveness of the treatment, in fact it is actually contraindicated and not something you should do before having an IPL session. Just because the hair appears darker, the melanin is still not contained within the hair follicle itself, and so therefore it will still remain ineffective.

If you are un-sure as to whether or not IPL could work for your particular hair colour, then do not worry! DepiCool offer a free initial consultation and patch test, whereby we run through a thorough health questionnaire and ascertain if the treatment is suitable for you. If this is deemed the case, then 4-5 beams of the Intense Pulsed Light will be administered on the skin in a non-obvious zone (for example the top of the leg). Dependent on your skin phototype you will be asked before commencing treatment to wait a desired amount of time, to ensure no adverse reactions occur and indeed that the treatment is safe: in instances of skin phototype 1-3 this is 48 hours and in skin phototypes 4-5 this is 2 weeks.
If you arrive for this consultation and the therapist thinks you are unsuitable for treatment, for example: you have blonde hair, then she would explain this to you at the time, however in most cases we do tend to address this on the telephone with our clients to save you both the time and inconvenience.
Yet in some instances clients have what they describe as “mousey” coloured hair, if you feel you fall into this category we would certainly recommend you to attend the free initial consultation and allow the therapist to see the zone concerned.

Clients should always remember that hair changes colour too dependant on the area, in most examples hair in the pubic and underarm regions is often darker and coarser than for example hair on the arms or legs. So for some people IPL is suitable in certain zones but not all zones, again this is something that can be assessed by our therapists during the free initial consultation.

Unfortunately IPL and Laser are both unsuitable for skin phototype 6: this is the darkest of the skin phototypes. The reason for this is that where the treatment works on the dark pigment in the hair, in a darker skin phototype there is too much melanin present in the actual skin: so this could indeed damage the skin itself, rather than delivering an effective permanent hair reduction treatment. For more information about hair removal and darker skin phototypes click here.

In essence: IPL and Laser hair removal work best on lighter skin and darker hair, but if you have any further queries relating to your treatment needs; please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team or call us directly on 020 3397 0084 where we will be only too pleased to assist you!


Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK

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

Hair removal and permanent hair reduction with Lasers has been around since the early 1960´s when the first cosmetic laser technology was born.  But it wasn’t until 1995 that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the first lasers for hair removal; this was the Nd:YAG laser.

Laser technology, despite common belief, offers exactly the same results as Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) just with a slightly different process, and IPL is said to be less painful technique and in fact can treat more skin types.

Another common misconception is that Laser Hair Removal is a permanent hair “removal” method for eliminating unwanted body hair. In actual fact the Nd:YAG product was inaccurately marketed as a permanent hair “removal” device.

The FDA has only approved one method of permanent hair “removal” which is Electrolysis.  Both Laser and IPL are methods of permanent hair reduction, offering a permanent reduction of between 80-90% of hair in the treated body zone.  The remaining hair that is left will be more brittle, thinner and prone to breaking away, but both methods are classed as permanent “reduction” methods.

Today there are more options other than laser hair removal and reduction available to the general consumer all of which have built and improved upon the initial development of the first laser technology.

Because lasers are one of the products that were invented for hair removal, most people have heard of this method over other methods, and the initial misconception of laser hair “removal” is another reason why the public have become confused at the difference and definition of the laser technique.

Simply because the laser method has been around though for a longer period of time, does not make laser hair reduction the most suitable, popular or indeed efficient method of treatment for you hair removal needs.

Since laser hair removal has been established there have been other numerous technologies evolve, all developing to offer a better result and widen the skin suitability and ultimately open the treatment to access for more clients.

IPL as we have previously discussed, not only can treat more skin types (1-5 of the 6 phototypes, compared to the four you can treat with laser), is more cost-effective compared to laser and electrolysis and is covers a larger surface area during treatment compared to lasers, so therefore taking a shorter time to perform the treatment, this is because generally IPL treatment “heads” are up to 8 times larger than the small spot produced by lasers.

IPL also uses a much broader spectrum of light than laser. Thus IPL is suitable for a wider range of hair colours and skin types than laser. The broad spectrum of IPL light also results in the light penetrating skin across a wider range of depths resulting in a greater number of hair follicles being treated: thus demonstrating the advance over the original laser method.

So despite “laser hair removal” being one of the more well known techniques, it is in fact a more antiquated method and there are options out there which may be more suitable for your individual hair removal needs.

In other words, the best way to ensure you come out looking your hair-free best: is to simply research your chosen hair removal method well in advance, and look into individual factors that could influence your results, such as skin tone.  As we have already explored, IPL treats more skin phototypes than lasers for example.

All qualified therapists and salons would be able to talk to you about your individual needs, and at DepiCool we offer all clients a FREE patch test prior to commencing treatment.  Demonstrating we are a provider committed to customer service and highly experienced to perform your treatment.  One way to differentiate these providers is to ensure that they are approved and registered by the correct governing body and use high specification technology, like ourselves.  Ensuring all of these things will mean that you have a successful and well defined outcome to your treatment!


Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK