Hair Removal for Dark Skin: Why It Works

Hair Removal for Dark Skin: Why It Works

Up until now, the advances of at-home hair removal technology have failed to deliver on safe hair removal for dark skin. There are hair removal devices that are safe and effective for pale to tan skin tones, like Tria's 4X Hair Removal Laser. But, those with darker skin tones have not had access to at-home hair removal until the development of IPL, also known as Intense Pulsed Light. Let's take a deeper look into IPL combined with RF technology and how it works on darker skin tones, and for those who are curious about laser, we will talk more about how that works and what skin tones and hair colors it will work for. 

How Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radio Frequency (RF) Technology Works

How does IPL + RF technology work for effective hair removal on dark skinned beauties?! This technology is safe for usage on dark skin because it brings together Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radio Frequency (RF) energies. These groundbreaking technologies use the intense pulsed light (IPL) to target and warm the melanin in hair follicles. Once follicles are warmed up, it applies radio frequency pulses (RF). RF seeks out these warmed follicles and delivers a second round of growth reducing energy. The combination of IPL and RF can deliver hair removal for the widest variety of hair colors and skin tones, up to Fitzpatrick VI – with impressive results.  Which IPL device should you choose? Do your research, read reviews, and ask on your social channels. There is an extensive guide to IPL for dark and black skin on WeAreBodyBeautiful.com which covers at-home devices for skin tones IV to VI on the Fitzpatrick chart.

Laser Hair Removal --Who does it work for?

There are differences in the technology between IPL and Laser Hair Removal, and there are reasons why laser will not work on darker skin tones. Tria's at-home device 4X Hair Removal Laser effectively targets the pigment in the hair, without touching the surrounding skin. Your hair pigment, called melanin, is what gives your hair its unique color. Every hair follicle a tube-shaped sac—contains melanin. This hair follicle is also responsible for hair growth. The laser must be able to find the melanin in the hair in order to disable the hair follicle. If the hair is too light, or if the skin is darker than light brown, the laser is unable to target each individual hair.

Once the device identifies the hair melanin (differentiating it from the melanin in the skin by color), it sends highly-concentrated light through it. The light is converted into heat, which disables the hair follicle.

See the skin tone and hair color chart below to see if you are a candidate for laser hair removal:

Hair Color Skin Tone Chart Laser Hair Removal
Now that you know the differences between IPL and Laser hair removal technologies and the way they each work with different skin tones, hopefully you will be able to decide which will work best for you! Post edited by Krista McAulay
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