I was recently invited by Crystal Clear Skincare Clinic to try out their Intense Pulsed Light hair removal. Or IPL if you prefer. They thought I’d enjoy the tech behind it while also see the benefits. I thought the machine looked like something out of Star Trek so I was in.
My experience:
I wax. Regularly. It sucks. It hurts. I’m blessed with dark hair which means the moment it begins to grow in places I’ve removed it it is pretty obvious it is there. Drives me mad. A usual underarm wax appointment is roughly 30 minutes out of my day. I arrived at Crystal Clear where I was given cookies and then taken into the treatment room. I left my bra on, lay down on the treatment bed and was given some funky looking glasses to wear to my protect my eyes. The therapist only did Intense Pulsed Light hair removal on one underarm so I could do a comparison a few weeks later.
The “pain” was minimal. A bit like a few small pinpricks, and if I’m honest, the first was the worst as I built my self up for serious pain. It wasn’t that uncomfortable and was over in less than 5 minutes. Yup, less than 5 minutes to do one underarm. I felt nothing afterwards and skipped out the salon (after grabbing more cookies).
2 weeks later the hair growth on the treated underarm was minimal and looked like I had shaved two days prior or waxed the week before. In comparison the arm I had shaved the day I received IPL looked pretty terrifying (blessed with that dark hair remember). According to my lovely therapist (also named Sam)I’d need about 3 to 6 treatments and there would be no hair growth as all. A treatment costs in the region of R500 to R525. Expensive, BUT an underarm wax costs R85 a treatment. Over a space of five years that means I’ve spent R5100. 4 IPL Treatments over 4 months would have cost me R2000 and I won’t have to ever pay for underarm hair removal again!
I wanted to take pictures to SHOW you the difference but I was a bit self conscious of my underarms featuring on the internet.
It’s not laser.
Intense Pulsed Light hair removal is not laser. Laser operates on a single wave length and has to be exclusively adapted to a specific type of skin and hair colour. IPL is far more diverse. It can work on all skin colours and types because it utilises a photo lifting treatment called Square Pulse Light. This light is filtered to remove Ultraviolet and Infrared wave lengths and the light targets the melanin (pigment) causing all the actively growing hair in the area to fall out around 2 weeks after treatment.
IPL isn’t only able to remove hair. It can also remove and/or reduce freckles, pigmentation, lines and wrinkles!
Anyone can book a consultation or chat to the Crystal Clear therapists by using the online booking form on their website. Make sure you tell them Tech Girl sent you! For a full list of IPL pricing you can view the price list here.
And now for the fun bit! The fab ladies at Crystal Clear have gifted me with an IPL treatment to give away. If you’d like to try it out (and live in Johannesburg) all you need to do is comment on the post below and like their Facebook page via the Rafflecopter entry.
Disclaimer: my ONE underarm was treated for free by Crystal Clear Skincare Clinic.
