How it works
Why the hairs fall out
after two weeks.
The claim on our home page sounds too good: visibly fewer hairs after the first session. Here is why it is true anyway.
What the laser hits
Every hair sits in a follicle, a narrow indentation of the skin. Right at the bottom lies the papilla — it supplies the hair and makes it grow. As long as it works, the hair comes back, no matter how often it is removed.
The hair itself contains melanin, the same pigment that tans skin. Melanin absorbs light of certain wavelengths and turns it into heat. That is exactly where the laser comes in: its light is absorbed by the hair, not by the skin beside it, and the heat travels down the hair to the papilla.
Why it takes two weeks
The hair does not fall out immediately. It is still held in the follicle and is pushed out over the following days, the way a splinter works its way out of the skin. After roughly seven to fourteen days it lies loose and comes away while showering or drying off.
What many people take for regrowth during this time is in fact the treated hair on its way out.
Why one session is not enough
Hair does not grow all at once but in phases. Only during the active growth phase does the hair sit deep enough in the follicle and contain enough melanin for the heat to reach the papilla at all.
- In any given area only a portion of the hairs is active at a time
- Depending on the body region between a fifth and a third
- Hence six to eight appointments, four to eight weeks apart
Two wavelengths instead of one
755 nanometres alexandrite for fair skin and fine hair, 1064 nanometres Nd:YAG for darker skin tones. Devices with only one wavelength have to choose — the Candela GentleMax Pro Plus does not.