Laser hair removal: how does it work?

Let’s start from the beginning to describe the principle of laser hair removal, called selective photothermolysis. A very complicated word to express the idea that the heat generated by the infrared laser beam on the bulb will damage the reproductive cells of the hair and induce permanent hair removal. The hair is thus astutely cauterized…by itself, as laser light is instantly turned into heat when absorbed by melanin pigments (the skin heats up following the same principle when it is exposed to sunlight). So, the laser will selectively heat up structures containing melanin only, that is the hair but also possibly the skin if it is tanned, which can induce burns. A phototype is a skin type. A dark skin has a high phototype. Dark skins are defined as phototype III, and black skins as phototype IV.