TRIA Laser Hair Removal

image credit : www.amazon.com

 

Laser treatment is becoming more and more common for men and women for permanent hair removal. I think we all know people who have had it done and I myself have considered it many-a-times when those IPL laser Groupon deals keep popping up on my e-mail. So is laser safe and how does it even work?

How laser hair removal works

Beams of diode laser light are emitted down through the skin to the hair follicles via a special laser machine, and this starts to disrupt future growth. The laser targets the pigment (colour) within the hair which absorbs the heat from the laser, this disables the hair follicle and prevents future re-growth. The amount of sessions you have really varies from person to person but usually it will be around 8 treatments at a salon. Usually from a few sessions you will start to see a reduction in hair growth.

It has always been quite a pricey procedure costing well over £1000 to treat an area, but with new technology, it is now possible to do laser hair removal at-home. There are quite a few different brands on the market but only TRIA can claim that it is PERMANENT hair-removal. A lot of the other, cheaper machines are not actually permanent FYI.

I went along to the W hotel to see a presentation on the new TRIA at-home hair removal laser which is coming out next month.  I am familiar with the TRIA device , but not actually about how it works, how you use it at home and is it the same process as in the clinics?!

About TRIA

TRIA use the same diode laser technology that is used in professional salons for hair removal and until this first launched, it had not been available for at-home use. It is a hairdryer-sized mechanism with a small round tip where the laser is emitted from.

How is this different from professional laser hair removal?

The results are no different. This is just an ‘at-home’ method and from what I can gather, a more controlled method (so you can do no harm…anyone can do it!. Obviously it is a hell of a lot cheaper than having it done professionally , and I think this is because a) you do it in yourself b) slightly more time consuming c) the laser area is smaller than on a system you will find in a clinic.

How long will it take / Useage

The TRIA 4X (newest device launching in May 2013) should be used on the area you are treating every other week and the clincial trials have shown up to a 70% reduction in just 2 treatments. It takes 3 months to achieve permanent hair removal.

You simply shave the area you are about to treat, make sure it is dry, and then you run the laser over the area, each time you touch it will beep and you move over the skin, overlapping the previous area slightly. This makes sure every hair follicle will be treated with the laser. The full instruction leaflet explain how to use it more in-depth!

Things to note about laser hair removal: It works on only certain hair colours and skin colours, not just TRIA but all laser hair removal. It will not work on grey, blonde or red hair as the pigment is too pale. It is not suitable for very dark skin tones unfortunately. As I previously said the laser works by heating the dark pigment in the hair, if it is dark hair and dark skin it will not tell the difference and it will be very painful on the skin. It will get too hot.

TRIA has a safety function so whenever you turn on your machine, it will be ‘locked’, you need to put the sensor (located at the bottom of the handle) onto the area you are about to treat and it will automatically turn on for use. If it does not unlock, it is not safe for use on that particular area. This is a great feature, and I guess you can go into the retail outlets if you are unsure if it is right for you, and check if the TRIA will activate on your skin.

If you have any large moles on an area you treating then simply go over them with a white kohl pencil before treatment to prevent any very hot pulses. You can then go over the area as normal.

I am definitely going to be trying out the TRIA 4X and will report back to you how it works. I am really excited as I am off on holiday to Bermuda this summer so no more endless shaving and waxing.  Fear not, no before photos of my bikini line will be on this blog.

How the TRIA 4X is different from the older Tria hair removal?

People already may have TRIA so don’t be peeved, as it is not too dissimilar. It looks exactly the same, it just has a few extra functions to make hair removal at home a bit more easier.

– It delivers results in half the time of the original tria. (so from 6 months to just 3 months yay!)

– It has a pulse counter (so you can see how many pulses you have done with the laser on an area, for example each underarm should be around 150 pulses….and you can keep checking where you are at)

– It has a treatment guide that lets you know if the laser pulse was not effective, it makes a funny noise so you can re-do that pulse again = more effective treatment)

So if you are wanting to be in control of your hair removal, and do it in the privacy of your own home, then don’t bother with any other devices you can buy from boots etc, the only permanent one is TRIA. This is available from Harrods, Space Nk, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges as well as online at www.triabeauty.co.uk and www.amazon.co.uk Price of the TRIA 4X is £375. Ouch but compare it to having it done in a salon.

Tria also do a rejuvenating laser (pictured) and blue light therapy, which I am really interested in trying..it’s for acne-prone skin.

Have you had laser hair removal or is it something you are considering? I will be started my TRIA treatment in May, so will do some posts during treatment to keep you updated.