I am a black female, and I have hair on my upper lip. I am tired of using a depilatory on it. It really doesn’t make all the hair go away. I always have shadow, and it makes me not want to go places or do things.
I know that since I have dark skin, I don’t have as many options for hair removal. I had the hair lasered once. It was really painful, and I think it is what left some pitted scars on my upper lip. What is the best, safest hair removal method for black skin?
I am no expert, but your best option would be electrolysis.
Laser relies on being absorbed by the melanin, and if your hair and skin both have high levels, then the laser is indiscriminate and the energy is directed to the skin as well, resulting in less effective hair removal and more possible skin damage.
Good luck,
David
Would I be breaking my arm patting myself on the back if I said that I am an expert here? Oh, yeah, it does say Certified Professional Electrologist after my name.
IHH is correct. Even average electrolysis is better for you than any laser job, because the average result is better, and safer. Also, since electrolysis is the only method proven permanent for total hair removal, why pin your hopes on any of the other unproven methods out there. No matter how much a laser tech tells you, “Our laser is selectively focused” it can only be focused on two things, melanin, or blood. In the case of melanin, it will heat up the melanin in your skin (darker folks have a thicker layer of melanin) regardless of the cooling devices on the skin’s surface. In the case of blood, it can not distinguish between the blood supply of the papilla and the vein running through to some vital organ. Even the best laser wielders in the business have slips where their calulations are incorrect and one doesn’t know that the skin is having a bad reaction until the laser treatment is over. By that time, the entire treatment area has experienced a negative result.
Furthermore, if you find a better than average electrologist, you will get fast results while no one even notices that you are having work done. Should a good electrologist mistake what your work levels are, it is unlikely that the misstep will not be corrected within a hair or two.
Thanks for your replies. I will look into electrolysis.