bare beauty laser hair removal By Syedi

What are the Current trends? Nowadays less is definitely more.

Here we will be talking about the major forms of hair removal including shaving, waxing, depilatory creams, Laser and IPL hair removal.

Five or ten years ago hair removal was often limited to the extended bikini-line or g-string. Now it all has to go. The Brazilian. For both gals and dudes.

No hair front or back. Heck, not even a landing strip. No secrets there.

Now, these bits are designed to be sensitive. Who do you trust with your hair removal? How do you chose the best method and practitioner?

Ever tried depilatory cream? Something you can try at home. A strong alkali (calcium hydroxide)-based product which can cause irritation to sensitive skin. Suggest you do a patch test if you want to give it a go. Not one I would recommend.

You could give shaving a go. Buy the best quality razor you can afford. And always use a sharp blade. It can be a bit tricky on the bits you cannot see. Try asking your partner for help.

What about waxing? This is how most experiment with, and learn to love, the smooth look and feel. Many clinics offer Brazilian waxes for the ladies. Expect to pay around $50-$60 for you first wax. Men, you will be hard pushed to find a therapist willing to do a full wax. As you know it is a tricky area and the skin is very fragile.

Your Brazilian waxing experience will be anything from surprising to downright painful. The skin will smart and be flushed for a few hours after waxing. Ask your friends for a good therapist. And then ask them about the ingrown hairs. An unfortunate side effect of waxing is the tendency to develop these painful infected lumps. Not pretty.

Much the same applies to epilators, small battery operated devices that pull out individual hairs. The effect and the result is similar to waxing.

What about LASER and IPL? Certainly a more permanent answer to all that pesky hair. Again, do your research. The equipment and the therapist have a huge bearing on both your experience and the result. You can expect to pay anything from $100-$200+ per treatment.

Laser hair removal was first off the block. You may have heard of 'Ruby', 'Alexandrite', 'Diode' and 'Nd:YAG'. These are all laser machines with different specific wavelengths. The treatment is quite slow and painful. Skin numbing is usually required, either a topical anaesthetic cream or an icy air blaster.

Intense Pulsed Light or IPL hair removal appeared a few years ago. Prices came down and equipment started turning up on every street corner. Anyone could buy cheap Chinese imports and operate out of a spare room at home or from a hairdresser. Results varied and some of the negative outcomes such as burns and scarring were reported on prime-time TV.

Some equipment leak so much radiation that they are dangerous to operate according to radiation and electronic expert John Patterson when interview on TV recently.

"It's actually a danger to hold, just having it on standby. It's spraying the radiation across the whole room. This is a massive danger for the person holding and using this instrument and it is extremely dangerous for the person who they're operating on with it. That's enormous."

If that was not bad enough, much equipment used is underpowered, requiring numerous treatments to get any result.

What a minefield. How do you chose?

If you have decided to go the permanent route chose a clinic that has invested in quality US or European equipment. The equipment should be powerful, yet safe.

Things to look out for:

• A powerful machine will be able to deliver each pulse in a single flash. If the machine has to 'stack' light pulse, it probably has underpowered electronics.
• The equipment should have an electronically programmable menu for different skin types and hair colours. If the therapist has to change filters or hand pieces for different skin tones it is a cheaper, less sophisticated machine.
• Ask to see evidence of the effectiveness of the equipment. Good systems have clinical trials showing hair reduction rates.
• Ask about treatment frequency. Most areas require treatments starting at a six-eight week interval. Be suspicious of any practitioner suggesting more frequent treatments for any area other than the face.

We like the Cutera Prowave because it is neither laser nor traditional intense pulsed light but rather the best of both systems: It delivers energies in the longer wavelengths at higher energy levels (like laser). But it has a larger treatment area. What this means is that it is faster, safer, more comfortable and more effective on all skin types.

Better still, Cutera publishes clinical trials demonstrating an average of 83% reduction in hair after three treatments (six months post treatment).