I just booked laser hair removal at the place in my town for brazilian bikini hair removal. I was pleased with the price. I then was doing some research on a forum (non hair related) I participate on and came across people saying not to do IPL as it is not as effective as laser. I looked up the website and lo and behold they use a Palomar Starlux IPL machine not “laser”.
I googled IPL vs laser but came across a lot of sites saying it is just as effective but am wondering if these are just promoted by IPL companies and not accurate.
Will this be an effective form of hair removal for me? I’m concerned about having to have endless treatments. I’m between a type I and II. Should I seek out actual laser treatment in another town for more $?
Yes, the posts saying that IPL is same as laser are usually promotions by manufacturers. Palomar is not the worst IPL, but there are much better machines out there.
When looking for hair removal, price shouldn’t be your top concern. Or at least, you should be picking a place based on price between a bunch of clinics with the best machines.
Besides the machine type, settings are very important. If you’re undertreated, you won’t get results or they will be just temporary if you do.
I wouldn’t advise starting treatments anywhere before doing more research. Please read our FAQs below. That “cheap” price may come out to be very expensive once you have to redo the treatments elsewhere. And there is no way to get back the time.
Actual laser is not always guaranteed to cost more. I got my treatments for around $60 each on special (in Australia), yet some places have brazilian treatments for over $100. So it pays to shop around.
For a skin type I/II, the best laser would be an Alexandrite laser. If you tell us your location, someone might be able to give you a clinic recommendation. I don’t think that IPL is as effective and most studies agree with that. But in the end, it is up to you.
So basically so far I’ve found the following machines at clinics that are accessible:
IPL Palamar Starlux - $110-145 session 5 mins from work 30 mins from home. Convenient
Apex 800 Diode - don’t have pricing yet - 30 mins from work 1hour from home. Not convenient
Cutera CoolGuide Nd YAG - $225-$250 session - 30 mins from work 1hour from home. Not convenient
I don’t think the price on the IPL is “cheap” it was just more affordable than the place an hour away. Given my options what looks like my best bet? I’m waiting to get a call back with pricing for the Diode.
Thanks!
Diode, though I’m not familiar with the Diode machine they are using. Someone else should be able to give you better advice. Just make sure you’re not missing any options - have you looked it up using Google maps?
Where are you located? Have you tried the search links we provide at the last link below? I doubt you don’t have any other places around.
30 mins is not a huge deal. The entire treatment takes 15 mins and you only need to go once every 2-3 months.
Yeah 30 mins from home isn’t a big deal it was the 1 hour from home that was a problem with a 1 and 2 year old but Hey I deserve some me time anyways! No I really don’t have anything else around. I live in the middle of nowhere and these are the closest reasonable big towns. I’d have to travel about an hour 1/2 - 2 hours to get to a bigger metropolis with more options.
I just heard back from the place with the Diode and they just gave me an idea of price that I was happy with. They won’t set up anything without doing a free consultation first to see skin tone and darkness of hair to see eligibility. I think I will go if Diode looks like the best option. I’ve had a consult there for BBL for my face that I was happy with and planned on returning for that in the future.
Is the ALexandrite that much better than the Diode so that I should be continuing to look for it? I think these are all the place that are within reasonable distance of me but if it is that much better maybe I can seek it out?
Thanks!
Hair removal is unique and difficult to do properly. Just because someone is good at something else doesn’t mean they know enough about hair removal.
LightSheer diode is difficult to use as well, so it’s extra important that the clinic knows what they’re doing. Many glide with it and don’t use compression, which produces no results.
All things being equal, alex is better than a diode for light skin. BUT skill is very important. Diode is better in good hands than an alex in bad hands.
WOW I just found this info on the Diode machine they use. That’s a really small spot size isn’t it??!!
The Apex 800 features:
- Spot size 7mm 8.5mm 10mm
- Pulse duration 5-30 ms
- Energy to spots size max 40 32 34 J/cm2
- Cleared for hair removal 9 Dec 1999 (K992298)
Sounds like 10mm is max. It’s small compared to newer better machines like GentleLASE and Apogee. Lightsheer diode comes in either 9mm or 12mm.