A Hairy Tale

Supposedly, in late 30,000 B.C, prehistoric man used flint razors to shave and women created some of the first depilatory creams made from harsh substances like quicklime and arsenic. These practices sure burned off unwanted hair, but also most frequently harmed the skin. Hair removal, surprisingly, is as old as man himself. But, it was only in 1915, that women in America were influenced by a marketing campaign in Harper's Bazaar magazine that held underarm hair as unfeminine, unhygienic and completely uncool for the then latest trends. Following this campaign, the adoption of razor blades by more women helped fuel a major push in female body hair removal. Then came 1960, that saw the birth of cosmetic laser technology. However, this technology that used laser epilators was largely proven to be ineffective and painful according to FDA testing. Later, the Nd:YAG laser – the first laser for hair removal – was approved by the FDA and was quickly distributed for use in top-notch spas and cosmetic units. Soon, laser hair removal technologies came to be labelled as permanent hair reduction devices. Early 2000 gave way to several different hair removal lasers - Ruby lasers, Nd:YAG lasers, Alexandrite lasers, Diode lasers, IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) – that could treat varying skin types and hair colors. As we can see, hair removal has really come a long way. Given how far we’ve come today and how varied our choices for hair removal are, it is recommended that we make an informed choice. How does Laser Hair Removal work? We all know that hair forms in a pouch-like structure below the skin called a hair follicle. What we see as hair is actually the hair shaft, which is the keratinized, hardened tissue that grows from this follicle. Deep in the skin is the hair root and here is where the laser works! The hair root is destroyed or disabled by sending a beam of light to a group of hair follicles for a millisecond. The laser beam finds the hair follicles by targeting the melanin, the substance that gives hair its color. The light energy is absorbed by the pigment in the hair follicle and the hair shaft. The surrounding skin may be protected by a gel, spray or cooled tip pressed against the skin. Because all the hair in a treated area may not be in the active growth stage, more than one session may be necessary to remove the hair that subsequently enters the growth phase. Usually after each session, most of the treated hairs by the laser fall out. After about six weeks the hair follicles that have survived gradually start growing back. But on the average with each session, approximately one third of the hairs treated never return back and, therefore, are permanently removed.