Many websites praise the benefits of home laser hair removal systems, but few of them ever mention the dangers of using one. There is always a potential risk of injury when people are using a laser.
The permanent side effect of a laser is certainly nothing to joke about. The laser can burn the skin if the color of the skin is dark enough. Normally, the laser would only hit the hair. However, dark skin has the greater tendency to absorb the light from the laser and convert it into heat energy. Thus, darker-skinned people may want to stay away from most lasers, to keep their skin safe.
Laser energy can also damage a person’s sight. This isn’t the type of harmless laser that is often used in business presentations. Lasers such as the DM 5000 have the power to emit 5,000 milliwatts of energy in every pulse and although this doesn’t seem like much, it could cause serious damage to the eye if someone is not careful. As one can see, a home laser could cause permanent damage or blindness if used improperly.
Almost all of the home lasers are equipped with a skin contact sensor, to keep them from inadvertently shooting someone in the eye. That doesn’t make them any less dangerous to use on the face. In fact, every home laser manual recommends to not [click to continue…]
Although many women try not to mention anything about pubic hair trimming, there are some women who really want to trim the edges of the pubic area for important reasons.
A woman’s pubic area is commonly known as the bikini area. Women often ask for a bikini line trim, which removes the hair along the edges of the bikini area. Some women feel that the hair along the edges look unsightly and somewhat embarrassing with a bikini on. Thus, they usually look for a method to remove those unwanted hairs.
It’s not always easy to trim the “bush” without complications. Although the frequency of health problems caused by bikini line trimming varies from person to person, many experts and websites recommend women to hold back on pubic hair trimming. This is because the bikini area is one of the most sensitive parts of the body.
For instance, there is always the possibility that the pubic area could get infected. Shaving could also cause bumps or razor burns. It could also cause ingrown hairs to grow inside the skin, causing irritation.
In worst-case scenarios, shaving could damage the hair follicles and cause folliculitis, which is an [click to continue…]
Although many people understand what it means to get their body hair waxed, not everyone is familiar with sugaring. Many websites have stated that sugaring is one of the oldest hair removal methods, first used in Egypt in 1900 B.C.
In many ways, sugaring is very similar to waxing. Sugaring still involves removing hair from the roots by using a topical paste or gel. However, the procedure uses all-natural ingredients.
Sugaring typically uses a mixture of sugar, honey, lemon juice and water. Unlike waxing, the ingredients for sugaring are water-soluble, so people can easily clean it off with a shower.
There are two types of sugaring mixtures. The traditional form of sugaring uses a warm, thick paste. The practitioner first molds the sugar paste onto the skin in the opposite direction at which the hair is growing. The sugar seeps inside the hair follicles and wraps around the hair shaft. The person can then flick the sugar paste off to gently remove the hair from the body in the direction of growth.
The other form of sugaring uses a sugar gel. Unlike the paste, the gel is applied in the direction of hair growth. The gel is then removed in the opposite direction.
Both forms are literally much easier to pull off. Because sugaring uses natural ingredients, it isn’t as painful as waxing. The gel or the paste will not remain stuck on the skin. Thus, people are less likely to experience skin irritation, bumps or bleeding.
The entire process also progresses more quickly than if the skin was waxed. Waxing proceeds at one segment at a time, because the wax can quickly [click to continue…]
Some people perceive waxing as an extremely painful method of removing body hair.
Perhaps the worst example is in the film “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” where Steve Carrell literally gets his chest hair ripped off during a waxing procedure.
Although the process of waxing might seem painful, the pain tends to subside as the body gets more used to each waxing procedure. The skin also releases endorphins to help a person’s body adjust to the pain.
It’s best for people to choose their facility wisely. Many women have expressed their own horror stories about their own waxing experiences. In 2009, the state of New Jersey even came close to banning certain bikini waxes after two women ended up in the hospital because of them.
Of course, these cases involved Brazilian bikini waxing, which involves removing all the hair in the pelvic region. This is hardly the conventional form of American waxing, which usually only removes hair along the bikini line.
A Brazilian bikini wax can pull off pieces of the skin’s outermost layer, leaving the body vulnerable to bacteria. It also causes [click to continue…]
There are many different types of lasers available for hair removal, but people sometimes have trouble deciding which laser is best for the texture of their skin. Thankfully, patients can figure out their skin type through the Fitzpatrick skin chart. This classification system was developed by Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, MD, PhD of Harvard Medical School in 1975.
In order to determine the skin type, patients usually fill out a questionnaire so that the doctor can classify the skin into a category. This chart uses a numeric score to judge the type of skin, based on the physical features of the body.
These questions are used to determine how the skin will react to contact from the laser. Three main determining factors include the person’s genetic disposition, the skin’s reaction to sun exposure and the degree at which the skin tans when exposed to sunlight [click to continue…]
Epilators are very effective electronic tools for women that can remove hair for a much longer period than shavers. However, many people are more acquainted with their electric shaver than they are with an epilator.
Unlike a shaver, which cuts the hairs off with razor blades, the epilator is a device that uses an electronic current to destroy the hair root at the bottom of the follicle. After it destroys the root, tweezers pull the loose hairs out of the skin.
Although it seems similar to the hair removal procedure with electric tweezers, the epilator is much quicker. Rather than using an electric current to destroy each individual root, this device uses a head with many tweezers to mechanically pull multiple hairs off of the skin [click to continue…]
With summer around the corner, and many women planning to wear shorts, skirts and dresses all season long, hair removal on the legs is extremely important. Hairy legs are to most women unacceptable, and they go to great lengths to remove this growth. But legs are long, and one of the biggest and most time consuming areas for hair removal. Luckily, there are several different hair removal methods to choose from, both temporary and permanent.
Temporary hair removal methods for the legs, such as shaving, waxing and the use of depilatories and epilators can be fairly cheap and straightforward but the absolute biggest disadvantage to these hair removal methods is that hair will grow back within days or a few weeks. While most women know how to shave their legs, waxing can be a little trickier. [click to continue…]
Although men don’t typically talk about removing their own body hair, it’s becoming a growing trend among today’s professional athletes and celebrities.
Movie actors like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio leave their chests spotless in front of the camera for that extra sex appeal. The R&B singer D’Angelo especially turned up the heat when he showed off his smooth, hairless body in a music video. The smooth-skin look is enough to make any woman hunger for more.
Athletes also shave the hair from their bodies, but for entirely different reasons. Professional swimmers often shave their bodies in order to reduce the amount of hydrodynamic drag resistance caused by the hair. This allows swimmers to move more fluidly through water. A hairless body might have helped Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps win eight gold medals.
Of course, this probably wasn’t the only reason why Phelps won so many gold medals. Still, any woman would have to admit that his muscular body looks really sleek and sexy in the water without all the hair.
Cyclists keep their legs hairless for slightly different reasons. If cyclists crash, the hair on their legs grabs more asphalt, causing the skin to tear more severely. Also, road injuries are also much easier to clean and bandage with no hair around the wound.
Some cyclists believe that bare legs can move more quickly without all the hair to slow them down. Although most cyclists agree that [click to continue…]
To many women, removing unwanted hair is just another part of their grooming regimen, but the pain associated with hair removal can be dulled. Those who know of laser hair removal are also probably aware of the discomfort, or the pain involved. A few years ago, laser hair removal treatments could sometimes result in agony, but things have changed. In fact, laser hair removal in terms of comfort has improved tremendously, as developers and practitioners are constantly taking new steps to make the treatment as comfortable as possible. That being said, laser hair removal can still cause slight discomfort and many people are wonder if they should request numbing cream prior to treatment.
Numbing cream is not a necessity in order to undergo treatments, and it is fully possible to receive treatments without it with minimal discomfort as long. Many clinics also have alternative tools that will help to ease the discomfort. A device on some lasers blow ice-cold air on the skin either before or during the laser hair removal treatment, making the skin a little numb and much less sensitive to the laser.
The reason why laser hair removal treatments can cause discomfort to begin with is because the laser device produces a high degree of heat energy while in operation. This heat is what destroys the hair follicles, but as the laser device is placed against the skin, even if only for a second, it will most likely cause a quick but intense, slightly burning sensation.
It is important to ask the laser hair removal practitioner to provide the numbing cream if possible. Buying some random numbing cream and applying it prior to the session without checking with the clinic is not recommended. Many laser hair removal practitioners carry their own preferred brand of numbing cream that they approve of and even recommend, for those who are concerned about the discomfort. There are medication contraindications that must be discontinued prior to laser hair removal, so always check with the practitioner first. This is because anything that will make the skin more sensitive must be avoided before laser treatments, in order to spare the skin from additional irritation.
Today’s post is a slight departure from our usual topics, but is nevertheless an extremely important topic that all women (and yes, men too) should be giving attention to. Your skin’s appearance is a representation of your over all health, and as such, protecting it should be part of your daily regimen. From occasional moisturizers to daily anti-aging creams, finding the right skin care product for your skin type will ensure your skin retains its beautiful, youthful glow! So check out these awesome sites (in no particular order) that I frequent to stay up to date for my skin care needs! [click to continue…]
