Evolutions Medical Spa is pleased to offer clients in the Santa Barbara area the most effective and comprehensive hair removal treatments anywhere.
Many locations that offer hair removal have only one or two types of lasers. However, no single laser works well on all skin and hair types. Evolutions has five hair removal technologies available to best serve your individual needs (we’ve added another one since the video above was made!) We also offer, for no extra charge, a powerful topical numbing cream to maximize your comfort level. Finally, our highly skilled clinical staff has been extensively trained on the intricacies of laser hair removal. We have performed tens of thousands of hair removal treatments since we opened in 2005. At Evolutions you can be assured that you are receiving the best hair removal results available with the highest level of comfort.
So why wait? Get started down the road to razor-free days today! Make an appointment for a complimentary consultation by calling Evolutions at 805-695-2210 or fill out an online consultation request form.
Frequently Asked Questions About Laser Hair Removal
Comprehending the basics of hair growth is helpful in understanding how to stop it from growing. Hair follicles lie approximately 1 – 5 millimeters under the skin surface, depending on the location of the hair on the body. At the bottom of the hair follicle lies the bulge. Just above the bulge is the bulb. These are the areas of the follicle that control hair growth (and they are the areas that need to be effectively and selectively damaged to stop future growth).
Vellus Hair – the short, fine hair that grows in most places on the body (in both sexes). It is usually light in color and is sometimes called “peach fuzz.”
Terminal Hair – the fully developed hair, which is generally longer, coarser, thicker, and darker than vellus hair. Terminal hair can be black, brown, blond, red, gray, or white.
The color of hair is determined by its melanin content (type and amount). Brown and black hairs contain a type of melanin called eumelanin. The darker a hair is, the more eumelanin it contains. Blonde and red hair contains pheomelanin. Pheomelanin doesn’t absorb laser energy as well as eumelanin, so blonde and red hairs are more difficult to treat than brown or black hairs.
Your hair grows in cycles. The hair that you see on your body is in the active growth (or anagen) phase. However, at any given time, some of your hair is also in a regressing (catagen) or resting (telogen) phase. Hairs in the catagen or telogen phases do not respond to any type of permanent hair removal/reduction treatments. Consequently, treatments need to be performed every 4 – 8 weeks (depending on the area) in order to catch all of the hairs when they are in the anagen stage. Each individual is different, but depending on the technology used and a few other factors, most people require a series of 4-8 procedures to achieve desired results from laser hair removal.
All of us have hair (either vellus or terminal) growing on the vast majority of our bodies. Individuals who are considered “hairy” simply have more terminal hairs than the average person and/or a higher degree of large, dark hairs. Neither vellus nor terminal hair serves any medical purpose (with the exception of nose and inner ear hair). Furthermore, outside of hair on the head, hair on the body is frequently unwanted due to cosmetic and/or personal hygiene reasons. Thus, there is a large demand for hair removal, both temporary and permanent.
Non-Permanent Hair Removal
Shaving, Tweezing, Waxing, Sugaring, Threading, Depilatory Creams
Non-permanent hair removal either cuts the hair off after it begins to extrude from the skin (shaving), forcibly pulls the hair out by the follicle (tweezing, waxing, sugaring, and threading), or chemically dissolves the hair (depilatories). Though these methods are cheap, they may be uncomfortable. They also do not result in any permanent hair removal or reduction, so they need to be repeated often.
Permanent Hair Removal/Reduction
Electrolysis, Laser Hair Removal, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) Hair Removal
In electrolysis, a clinician inserts a small metal probe into the hair shaft and down to the follicle. An electrical current is then discharged to “zap” the follicle. Electrolysis is very effective, but it is time consuming (the process needs to be repeated on every hair follicle to be treated) and can be painful and expensive. Also, due to the growth cycle of hair, it is still necessary to perform multiple procedures in each treatment area to achieve complete clearance.
Laser and IPL hair removal have become the most popular methods of permanent hair reduction due to their speed, ease, efficacy, and relative cost effectiveness.
The intention of all permanent hair reduction is to damage hair follicles enough so that they will not continue to grow hair. Laser and IPL technology both target the melanin in the hair follicle. Melanin is the substance that gives skin and hair its color. In laser and IPL hair removal treatments, the melanin in the hair follicle absorbs the light energy, heats and is damaged – hopefully permanently.
Yes. You have many hair follicles, and all are not damaged sufficiently in one treatment. Also, as discussed in the growth cycle of the hair section, hair must be in a growth phase in order to be effectively targeted by treatment. Typically it takes at 5 – 6 treatments to achieve desired results.
Because hair grows in cycles, it is necessary to do treatments at specific intervals in order to maximize the efficacy. Hair in different areas of the body grows in varying cycles, but the following table is a good approximation of how far apart treatments should be conducted.
Area | Treatment Intervals |
Facial Hair | 4 – 6 weeks |
Body Hair | 6 – 8 weeks |
After the first three treatments, it is okay to lengthen the intervals between procedures until you experience hair re-growth. This will usually be 2 months for facial hair and 3 months for body hair.
The treatment time is highly variable depending on the area(s) treated. Small areas such as the upper lip or the chin only take a few minutes. Larger areas such as the legs or back may take an hour or more.
Overall visit time is also increased by the numbing period. In order to apply topical numbing gel, it is necessary to come 45 minutes prior to your procedure time. This helps to maximize the comfort of your treatment.
No. On the contrary, hair should be shaved prior to coming in for your treatment. Laser hair removal targets the hair follicle, which lies underneath the skin’s surface. You should not pluck or wax in the area for at least two weeks prior to your treatment, as these temporary hair removal methods pull the hair out by the follicle, effectively removing the target of the laser.
When you come in for your initial consultation, it is necessary to have 1-2 days of growth so the clinician can see the density, color, and thickness of the hair in the area(s) you are interested in treating.
Fair-skinned individuals have very little melanin in the skin. The darker a person’s skin is, the more melanin it contains. Hair also contains melanin. Most people have more melanin content in their hair than in the surrounding skin. This is why hair is usually darker than the skin. Lasers work by targeting the melanin in the hair follicle. Consequently, dark and coarse hairs absorb the most energy and are the easiest hairs to treat. Blond, gray, red, and white hairs have little to no melanin content. These hairs are not able to be treated by light energy (lasers or intense pulsed light), only electrical energy (either electrolysis or radio frequency).
Melanin in the skin can also be affected by light energy (by absorbing the heat), which is not the intention of the treatment. Thus, the ideal candidate for laser hair removal is light-skinned with dark hair. Depending on how much melanin is in the skin, darker-skinned individuals may still be treated, but for safety reasons it is necessary to use lower energy levels during treatments. This means that it may take more treatments than usual to achieve the intended results.