What's the difference between Laser and IPL? And why do you need a course of IPL treatments?

Hair removal using laser technology has developed greatly throughout the last three decades. Today, along with IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatments, it is the most popular and most effective form of epilation on the market. However, despite the popularity of laser and IPL treatments in the beauty industry, many consumers are still confused between the two different types of treatments, and at times consider IPL to be the inferior of the two. However, read further to understand that IPL is faster and more versatile that its laser counterpart.

IPL epilators are not technically lasers, however, they use a xenon flash lamp to emit a full spectrum of light to deliver the same result as a traditional laser. Both technologies generate heat that targets the melanin in the skin and hair, the oxyhemoglobin found in the blood, and the water found in the skin. Furthermore, both technologies work by delivering heat energy to a depth which is determined by the wavelength used and can increase the amount of heat delivered at the selected depth by increasing the power of the light. The common misconception that ‘more power equals greater depth’ is simply false. Effective treatments are a function of delivering the proper amount of power (heat) to the proper depth in a safe manner, which can be done effectively by either a laser or an IPL.

That said, however, there are several advantages of IPL over laser. First, is the area that can be covered by an IPL in each session is much larger, and results in quicker treatment speed. Generally IPL treatment heads are up to 8 times larger than the small spot produced by lasers and therefore treatments are much quicker. The second major difference is the wavelength of light produced. Lasers produce light with one specific wavelength whilst IPL uses an entire waveband. Different wavelengths penetrate the skin to different depths so using IPL is like using a group of lasers in a single treatment.

WHY DO I NEED A COURSE OF TREATMENTS?

Hair grows in cycles and many factors influence it's growth including age, ethnicity, weight, hormones, diet, medication and metabolism along with your hair's location, thickness and resilience. Only hair that is in its’ growing cycle (called anagen phase) will be destroyed at each treatment session. The number of hairs growing at any one time and the length of time between treatments varies, but generally we allow 4 to 8 weeks.

For information on Ecolite IPL and where you can get a treatment email info@ecoliteipl.com and visit www.ecoliteipl.com