The History of Laser Hair Removal

The History of Laser Hair Removal

Here at Ivy Laser Salon we stay on the cutting edge of laser and beauty technology. We have been servicing Henderson and Las Vegas with top-of-the-line laser sculpting, laser hair removal, laser skin tightening, and more for years now. We’ve seen first hand how quickly technology in the field of beauty can evolve, and we know how much it benefits our customers when we’re able to offer progressive new beauty services. In this post we are going to talk a little bit about the rich history of the laser hair removal industry.

Humble Beginnings

Laser hair removal is known far and wide in the field of beautification these days. The genesis of this technology reaches back to March of 1960 where laser hair removal was developed in an effort to assist researchers. In fact, for nearly 40 years laser hair removal had no place in the field of beauty and was only used in various realms of research.

The FDA approved hair removal lasers for the first time in 1997, over 37 years after the original hair removal laser was invented. This first slew of lasers were quite unrefined. They were not only slow and inefficient, but they also couldn’t be used on people with darker skin tones. This was due to the ruby-based laser (used at the time) having a shorter wavelength which, for darker skin tones, would heat up not only the hair follicle but the skin surrounding it. This resulted in some very serious burns.

In addition, these early lasers were incapable of targeting larger groups of hair follicles simultaneously. This made these lasers no more time-efficient than the more traditional methods of hair removal. Ruby lasers would also occasionally have an affect upon the skin color of a treated area (making it darker or lighter).

All-in-all these earlier lasers were an important step in the direction of modern laser hair removal technology, but they were still a ways away from reaching the efficacy and safety demanded by the consumers.

Mid-1970’s

The development of the Alexandrite laser, which was much safer than its predecessors, made light-based hair removal a much more feasible commercial plausibility. This safety, however, came at a price. These lasers tended to under-heat hair follicles which made it necessary to stretch out treatment plans for many years to fully and permanently remove the hair from an area.

Another marked development in the field came with the advent of pulsed diode array lasers. These allowed for longer wavelength and pulse duration. At last, these new lasers made laser hair removal a viable option for people with slightly darker skin tones. While this was another large step forward, it still left something to be desired especially for people with moderately dark skin, who still couldn’t benefit from this growing technology.

Modern Lasers

Today’s laser hair removal equipment is very well rounded in terms of safety, efficacy, and universal accessibility. We are now able to treat someone with dark skin tones with as much success as we would his lighter-skinned counterpart thanks to the advent of the YAG laser.

Currently, there isn’t just one top-of-the-line laser which makes all other lasers obsolete. We actually have access to a range of lasers which are perfect for the different types of cases we may encounter (varying skin tones, hair density, etc.). With a proper array of modern lasers, high-end laser hair removal salons are now able to offer nearly anyone the ease and convenience that comes with state of the art laser hair removal.

Learn More About Ivy Laser Salon

Contact us today to find out more about the affordable prices we offer for our top of the line laser hair removal services.