As some of you know, my background is in physics and astronomy. (Don’t tell me your ‘star sign’ as a smack in the mouth often hurts…!!!) I apply my physics training to lasers and IPLs and stuff, but I don’t really use my astronomy education much, these days. I like to ‘keep up’ by reading… Continue reading Time travel… Is it possible?
Why can’t we treat blonde and grey hair using light?
Well, in fact, we can. Here’s how… Hairs contain melanin. But the concentration of melanin varies enormously. Dark hairs have a high concentration while white/grey hairs have a low concentration. Blonde hair has slightly more melanin than white or grey, but nowhere near as much as dark hair. In treatments, this melanin absorbs red light… Continue reading Why can’t we treat blonde and grey hair using light?
A brief description of laser/IPL hair removal – in 13 comments.
This post describes the 13 main features behind laser/IPL hair removal: 1. Light, usually red, is fired at dark hair (red light can penetrate far into the dermis); 2. The aim is to heat up the melanin in the hair shaft so that the germ cells can be ‘cooked’; 3. This only happens in the… Continue reading A brief description of laser/IPL hair removal – in 13 comments.
Laser tattoo removal of ink colours – Part 3
There’s more… One of my readers, Dan Jackson, asked me about pulsewidth (in a roundabout way) after my recent posts about ink colours (Part 1, Part 2). I had forgotten that the pulsewidth does have an effect on the threshold (minimum) fluences required to instigate the desired response in tattoo ink colours. A few years… Continue reading Laser tattoo removal of ink colours – Part 3
Laser tattoo treatments – how to treat ink colours – Part 2
I recently wrote a post about tattoo ink absorptions and how they vary across the wavelengths we use today (click here for that post). After that, I thought more about the relative fluences required to induce the desired reaction in ink colours. I used the graph which I nicked off the internet (see below) –… Continue reading Laser tattoo treatments – how to treat ink colours – Part 2
Laser tattoo treatments – how do we approach different ink colours??? Part 1.
What is happening with laser tattoo removal treatments? As we all know, the laser energy is absorbed by the tattoo inks, and they ‘break up’. Well, something like that… But what does ‘absorbed’ actually mean? And how much of the light energy is absorbed by each ink colour? To answer these questions, we need to… Continue reading Laser tattoo treatments – how do we approach different ink colours??? Part 1.
Why are some tattoo ink colours so difficult to remove?
Anyone performing laser tattoo removal will know that certain colours are a nightmare! But why is this? What is the science behind this problem? Well, it all comes down to ‘absorption coefficients’. These are the probabilities that an ink colour will absorb any particular wavelength. And, of course, they vary enormously!! Here’s a wee video… Continue reading Why are some tattoo ink colours so difficult to remove?
Manufacturers’ settings – what is wrong with these?
I reckon around 85% of my training clients have been previously trained elsewhere, often by their equipment suppliers/manufacturers. I always ask them why they have come to me when they have already been trained. Their answer is always the same – “I don’t understand what I’m doing!” One client had received her training from a… Continue reading Manufacturers’ settings – what is wrong with these?
Waxing after laser/IPL Hair Removal treatment – an update
Following yesterday’s post about waxing after laser/IPL treatment of hair, one of my colleagues, Claire Louise, came up with an excellent idea. She doesn’t offer waxing and didn’t like the idea of having to learn a new treatment which didn’t fit with her laser clinic. So she said that, instead of a full waxing, we… Continue reading Waxing after laser/IPL Hair Removal treatment – an update
Laser/IPL Hair Removal – A new idea…
I was training a young lady on IPL hair removal, earlier today. Her name is Helen Hugill. During our sessions she asked me a question about waxing after treatments. I had pointed out that waxing should not be done by clients/patients before any laser/IPL hair treatments since it would remove the target melanin. She asked… Continue reading Laser/IPL Hair Removal – A new idea…
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