Laser hair removal at Portland, OR’s Waldorf Center can be performed all year long, but the best time for the treatment may very well be the coldest, wettest, darkest-feeling time of all: winter.
Advancements in technology have allowed for the creation of devices that deliver results to a wide variety of skin types and tones, but the greatest effect tends to come from darker hair set against lighter skin. In the summer, when you spend hours outdoors and maybe don’t apply sunscreen as often or thoroughly as you should, skin tends to darken as it tans, leading to less contrast when compared to the hair in the same area.
In winter, however, when you don’t really need much of an excuse to stay inside, your skin naturally settles into a look of higher contrast, with the darker hair standing out.
This is important because laser hair removal devices work by sending light into the follicles where hairs grow. This light heats up darker-pigmented cells at the root of the hair. The cells heat up so rapidly, in fact, that the sudden intense temperature damages the follicle.
In time, the follicle pushes out the hair it contains, then takes its time getting around to growing a new hair—if it ever does at all. While laser hair removal is not often referred to specifically as “permanent,” it can provide long-lasting results. Even if new hairs grow in, they can be expected to appear finer and thinner—and thereby less noticeable. You can also return for maintenance treatments, which are much fewer and farther between than any shaving or waxing appointments you may otherwise need to schedule.
Another benefit of laser hair removal in the winter comes after the session, when the light-treated skin is especially sensitive and prone to damage from ultraviolet radiation. Again, staying indoors is a much easier and socially accepted prospect when it’s raining or freezing or otherwise unpleasant. Post-treatment healing time is not that long, but it’s still ideal to be able to avoid the sun without having to make excuses.
For more answers to questions about laser hair removal—no matter the time of year—call The Waldorf Center for Plastic Surgery office in Portland and Vancouver at 503-882-0124 or reach out online.