FotoFacial and Aurora--the same?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Are FotoFacial and Aurora the same? I see both listed on the Syneron website.

The reason I ask is that I am considering Aurora for hair removal, but I had a less-than-satisfactory experience with FotoFacial for rosacea several years ago (six MD-administered treatments in a university-based dermatologist’s office). In my experience, FotoFacial did nothing for my rosacea and caused increased skin sagging, increased pore size and increased ‘peach fuzz’ growth on my face.

Maybe it’s silly to think that just because I had a bad experience with IPL for rosacea, I would have a bad experience with Aurora for hair removal, but I can’t help it.

#2

FotoFacial is a laser, but it’s not specifically made for hair removal. It’s more for skin rejuvenation, remove pigmentation, and etc. I actually asked my nurse today during my treatment about FotoFacial becuase I was almost about to be treated with FotoFacial RF at another clinic. She told me it doesn’t work very well for hair removal on most people — even though it can be used.

I believe there are different Aurora systems out there. For instance, Aurora HR system combines IPL (intense pulsed light) with RF (radiofrequency energy) for hair removal. The RF is good for treating light hairs.

If you read through the forums, it seems like the diode and alexandrite laser families are the best for hair removal.

Hope this helps =)

#3

It does help–thanks! The facts and figures quoted in the informational pages covering the different lasers on the Hairfacts home page just made my head swim. A local dermatologist offers GentleLASE alexandrite and CoolGlide YAG laser hair removal–maybe I’ll look into the GentleLASE.

#4

If you have light skin, alexandrite like GentleLASE is better. If you’re darker than a type IV on a Fitzpatrick scale, you should go with Coolglide to avoid burning of the skin. Alexandrite is more effective than Yag lasers like Coolglide since they use higher settings, but since laser targets the dark pigment, they are not safe on darker skin tones. Yags liek Coolglide are made for darker skins. Hope that helps. Keep us posted.

#5

i have had 5 treatments for face hair removal with alexandrite gentlelase and i had side-effects like the ones you describe from IPL, skin sagging and a lot more hair growth.
my belief is that all lasers and IPL hair removal systems can very often damage lower skin layers permanently.
i think that aurora rf is used for both fotofacials and hair removal.

#6

If you’re looking into getting your face done and you have fine hair, I would go with electrolysis. Laser is more effective on dark coarse hair and some women on these forums report more hair growth on the face after treatments. It seems that on a woman’s face (not such reports for other areas), if the hair is fine and the tech undertreats the area (not high enough setting to kill the fine hair), it can stimulate that hair to grow in thicker or darker. So just my advice.