Life is risky enough as it is. Who needs to make anything more dangerous? Especially something as simple as at-home hair removal?
Removing unwanted facial and body hair should be a simple and risk-free procedure. To that end, we’ve put together this comprehensive safety guide to help you get the results you’ve always wanted—with minimal risk.
How we protect you
If you want to safely and permanently remove unwanted hair at home, consider using a Silk’n hair removal device. We go above and beyond to make your safety a priority.
Better results at lower energy levels
Our patented Home Pulsed Light™ (HPL™) technology delivers superior long-term results using only a fraction of the energy used by other light-based hair removal devices, thereby reducing the risk of harmful side effects or after-treatment complications.
Better eye protection
To protect your eyes from potentially damaging light pulses, our devices have built-in safety features that prevent the unit from firing into open air. The Pulse Trigger is automatically disabled if the treatment surface isn’t in full contact with your skin.
Better skin protection
The Silk’n Skin Color Sensor prevents our devices from pulsing if the power level you’ve set is too high for the color of the area you intend to treat. Treating darker skin with too much power can lead to side effects like burns, blisters, or temporary skin color changes—hyper- or hypo-pigmentation. This sensor greatly reduces those risks.
And for even better safety, the optical lenses of our devices are recessed so they’ll never come into direct contact with your skin.
Tanning concerns
If you love the sun, that could create problems if you want to practice hair removal. Tanned skin of all skin types and complexions has higher concentrations of the pigment melanin. And more melanin means more risk when using light-based hair removal devices.
Don’t do any laser hair removal treatments if you’re tanned or have had recent sun exposure. Doing so increases the risk of burns and other skin injuries. To be on the safe side, avoid hair removal treatments entirely for four weeks after sun exposure.
Fair hair
Laser hair removal works because hair pigment draws light energy down the hair shaft to damage the follicle. Because of this, it’s typically less effective on white, grey, blond and red hair. If you intend to target lighter colored hair, there must be some pigment in the hair follicle. Try using a device like the Infinity, which opens the pores with galvanic energy so that the light energy can get deep enough to target that pigment—something not every device can do.
When not to do hair removal treatments
Although we do everything we can to make our at-home permanent hair removal devices as safe as we can for everybody, there are still conditions where we advise you not to use our products. The following is a list of people who should not use laser hair removal devices.
- Pregnant women and nursing mothers
- People who’ve had exposure to sunlight or tanning machines within the last four weeks
- People with tattoos or permanent makeup in the intended treatment area
- People with dark brown or black spots (e.g., birth marks, moles, warts) in the intended treatment area
- People with eczema, psoriasis, lesions, open wounds or active infections (e.g., cold sores) in the intended treatment area—wait for the area to completely heal first
- People with a history of kelodial scar formation
- People taking medication making the skin more sensitive to light, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (N-SAIDs, e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen), tetracyclines, phenothiazines, thiazide, diuretics, sulfonyluraes, sulfonamides, DTIC, fluorouracil, vinblastine, griseofulvin, Alpha-Hydroxi Acids (AHAs), Beta-Hydroxi Acids (BHAs), Retin-A, Accutane (isotretinoin) and/or topical retinoids
- People with abnormal skin conditions caused by diabetes or other systemic or metabolic diseases
- People who are currently using or have recently used Alpha-Hydroxi Acids (AHAs), Beta-Hydroxi Acids (BHAs), Retin-A, topical retinoids or azelaic acid
- People who have used Accutane (isotretinoin) in the past 6 months
- People who have used steroids in the last three months
- People with a history of herpes outbreaks in the intended treatment area (unless a physician has administered a preventative treatment)
- People with epilepsy
- People with active implants, e.g., a pacemaker, incontinence device, insulin pump, etc.
- People with a photosensitivity-related disease, e.g., porphyria, polymorphic light eruption, solar urticaria, lupus, etc.
- People with a history of skin cancer or areas of potential skin malignancies
- People who have received radiation therapy or chemotherapy within the last 3 months
Avoid using at home hair removal devices if you have any other condition which your physician thinks could make it unsafe for you to be treated. When in doubt, consult with your doctor or dermatologist.
Safety tips for at home hair removal
After a thorough review of the hair removal exclusions list above, follow these safety guidelines to get the most effective results with the least risk.
Choose wisely
Many at-home hair removal devices have selective energy levels so you can control the intensity of the light pulse that will remove your hair. Increasing the power level releases more energy, removing hair more effectively. Unfortunately, it also increases the likelihood of adverse side effects.
It’s always a good idea to use the lowest energy level setting for your first treatment, raising the power level slowly over successive treatments until you find your ideal comfort zone.
Avoiding side effects
To avoid any of the potential adverse side effects of using an at-home hair removal device, don’t pulse the same area twice in one session. And avoid overlapping pulses as you glide along the treatment area. Always remember to stop the treatment immediately if skin burns or blisters.
Avoiding post-treatment complications
To avoid any potential post-treatment complications, don’t expose treated skin to the sun. If you have to go out in strong daylight up to two-to-four weeks after a hair removal session, apply a sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher. Or better yet, cover up. For these purposes, let’s define exposure as 15 minutes of constant unprotected exposure to direct sunlight or an hour of similar exposure to diffuse sunlight. As we saw above, mixing hair removal with tanning increases the risk of temporary pigmentation changes.
Follow these points to avoid further complications:
- Shave the intended treatment area beforehand and make sure the skin is clean and dry before proceeding to treat
- Cover birthmarks and tattoos before treatment
- Don’t look directly at the light flashing on the treatment area
- Don’t perform laser hair removal treatments on your nipples and genitals—whether you’re male or female
- Don’t perform laser hair removal treatments on any part of the body where you might later want hair
- Don’t try to fire hair removal devices into open space
- Always make sure the device is in full contact with the skin when the device is pulsing
- Remove the device from your skin if either your skin or the device becomes too hot
- Never use flammable liquids to clean your skin before a treatment session—this includes alcohol (including perfumes, sanitizers, or other anything else containing alcohol) or acetone
Always keep at-home hair removal devices out of the reach of children. Don’t use these devices on children or allow children to use them or play with them.
Make safety a top priority
The quest to remove unwanted hair should involve as little risk as possible. We’ve done everything we can to make our entire line of at-home hair removal devices as safe as we can. Take the time to learn to use them as safely as you can.
Whatever device you chose to help you on your permanent hair removal journey, make sure that it’s designed to effectively and safely treat your unique coloring, and read the product manual before getting started to make sure you only use the product as directed.
Be sure to check out the hair removal section of our Resource Center for more information on how our products work.
Silk’n at-home hair removal devices—taking safety seriously
At Silk’n, nothing matters more to us than your safety. That’s why we design all of our at-home hair removal devices to be as effective and risk-free as possible. Our hair removal line offers improved results at lower energy levels while better protecting your eyes and skin from side effects and complications. Order today for free shipping, our double warranty, and a 60-day money back guarantee.
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