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Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have any questions or concerns about a Beautilase laser hair removal, skin needling or anti-ageing treatment? Smita has a unique and personable approach that helps her clients feel and look fantastic, with over 20 years of experience as a beauty therapist. She uses all of the products and treatments she recommends on herself, and has the knowledge, training and skill to make sure you have a truly enjoyable and safe experience. Give her a call to discuss any concerns or queries you may have or read through these frequently asked questions.
Hair Removal
We cannot treat anyone that has an active tan. The GentleYAG (used on tanned or dark skin) requires that you be out of the sun for 2 weeks. We cannot treat anyone that is currently taking antibiotics or other light sensitive medications. You must have completed a course of any antibiotic 14 days prior to your treatment. If you are not sure whether the medication you are taking is light sensitive, please ask your prescribing physician prior to your visit. If you are pregnant, please bring us a doctor’s note
Side effects may include redness at the treatment site, as well as swollen follicles. In some cases, crusting and blistering may occur, though this is not common
For most clients, it is a quick discomfort. Many people say it is less painful than waxing. Candela uses a patented cooling system with Cryogen spray to cool the skin immediately before the laser hits its target. If you are very uncomfortable, however, we apply ice or numbing cream an hour before your treatment.
Generally 5 to 8 treatments will be needed. With the laser destroying actively growing hair follicles, the dormant follicles will need to be destroyed as they start to grow. I have received extensive training in the use of the laser hair removal system I use, and can guarantee you will be delighted with the way you look at the end of the programme.
Laser Hair Removal is a permanent reduction. Barring in mind any hormonal changes, or medications that cause hair growth, you should not experience regrowth following the recommended number and course of treatments.
Yes, laser hair removal is safe. If you have questions or concerns, take any medications or are pregnant, please call us to discuss this prior to scheduling your treatment. In certain cases, we may require a doctor’s note.
At Beautilase we do not use IPL for laser hair removal. All laser hair removal technology is not the same, so it is important to be treated with machines that are used in modalities for which they are best suited. IPL is a broad band width of light, it is not a laser, and it does not effectively target and destroy hair follicles the same way as an YAG laser. Many other establishments use IPL, but this is because the machines are less expensive to purchase and operate. With IPL, you need many more treatments, and sometimes see no reduction at all. IPL will retard the hair growth, but ultimately it does not destroy the follicle
There are many advantages to laser hair removal over other forms of hair removal such as waxing, epilating, shaving, or electrolysis. First, laser hair removal is permanent. For those who suffer from ingrown hairs or razor burn, laser hair removal is a great solution. You are left clean and smooth with no irritation. Waxing and epilating are painful, sometimes causing clients to bleed or get ingrown hairs – and you have to do it month after month – for life. Shaving may cause bumps and rashes, and electrolysis is time consuming and painful. Laser hair removal only uses light that bypasses the skin to destroy the root of the hair.
We can laser ANY area that has excess hair on men and women, except for the area of your eye directly beneath the eyebrow
Laser hair removal works by selectively targeting an area using a specific wavelength of light that is absorbed by the melanin, or pigment,(black colour in the hair) in the root of the hair. When the light is absorbed by the pigment, it heats up the root (dermal papilla), and destroys it. The hair has three different phases of growth; the active phase (anagen), the resting phase (catagen), and the shedding phase (telogen). It is only during the active growth phase that the hair shaft is attached to the root and the root will be destroyed. Each hair moves through the three phases of growth over a 6 to 8 week period. This is why laser hair removal necessitates multiple treatments. Because the laser light targets pigment, it is not effective on blonde, grey, white, and red hair.
Many of my clients believe that IPL and laser hair removal are the same, but they are not. Years of study and research has brought an understanding that laser hair removal offers a safer, more effective, and less painful way of permanently removing hair.
During laser hair removal a concentrated beam of focused light is used to achieve accurate results, whereas with IPL a lamp that produces a variety of light ways is used, generally with less effective results. At Beautilase I use a hair removal system that is recommended by plastic surgeons and beauty therapists around the world, and that has been developed using cutting-edge technology for outstanding results.
For the first 24 hours following a treatment, you should treat the area as if you have a sunburn. Please refrain from heavy exercise that will make you sweat, steam rooms, saunas, or very hot showers. If you are having your underarm treated, please do not use deodorant for 24 hours. Within the first 2 to 3 weeks following your treatment, the hair will fall out of the follicle. Following this shedding phase, the hair will re-grow. However, it will be sparser and finer
Please come to your treatments clean shaven, and free of lotions, makeup, deodorant, or sunless tanner. We suggest that you shave the night before your treatment, as any excess surface hair wastes the energy of the laser and creates excess plume. If you use sunless tanner, please exfoliate your skin 5-7 days before a treatment. If you decide to use a numbing cream, please apply it one hour before your appointment.
Please come to your treatments clean shaven, and free of lotions, makeup, deodorant, or sunless tanner. We suggest that you shave the night before your treatment, as any excess surface hair wastes the energy of the laser and creates excess plume. If you use sunless tanner, please exfoliate your skin 5-7 days before a treatment. If you decide to use a numbing cream, please apply it one hour before your appointment.
At Beautilase, we use the Candela GentleYAG 1064nm lasers. The longer wavelength laser combined with a 3-millisecond pulse allows it to treat even the smallest of hair diameters, and is less likely to cause hypopigmentation or hyperpigmentation. This laser can safely treat all skin tones and ethnicities.
As lasers use light that targets pigment, people with blonde, grey, or white hair are not good candidates for Laser Hair Removal. However, if you are not sure whether your hair has enough pigment, please come in and see us for a free consultation and test patch
At Beautilase, only Licensed Estheticians and Certified Laser Technicians will be performing your services
Skin Tightening
There are very few risks associated with laser skin tightening. Laser skin tightening is safe for men and women with all skin types who want firmer, more youthful-looking skin. The usual side effects of a laser skin tightening treatment can include mild redness and swelling that should disappear in a few days. In rare cases, individuals experience bruising and blistering, and some people notice changes in pigmentation on the treated areas. These side effects are very rare, with most clients I would expect only moderate redness and possible swelling and they will be able to resume their normal lifestyle immediately.
The Candela GentleYag laser treatment is a minimally invasive, non-surgical process that tightens the skin by transferring heat to the deepest layers of the skin. This stimulates collage production which in turn causes the skin to contract or tighten. By activating enough of your own supply of collagen, wrinkles and sagging skin can diminish within weeks. There is an increased turnover of skin cells which helps to regenerate and replace damaged cells.
Clinical studies suggest that three to four anti-ageing treatments spaced four to six weeks apart will, in most cases, produce a significant increase in dermal collagen, re-modelling of dermal matrix components, and a resulting improvement in overall skin tone and vitality.
After the course of four to six treatments, some patients opt for periodic skin tightening sessions to target those areas most prone to wrinkles and lines.
Both men and women between thirty and sixty years of age can benefit from laser skin tightening treatments. As long as you’re in good health, anti-ageing treatments can repair loose facial skin and reduce wrinkles and fine lines all over the body.
Skin Needling
Skin needling (also known as collagen induction therapy) is based on your skin’s natural ability to repair itself whenever there is physical damage, such as cuts, burns and other abrasions. Immediately after your skin is damaged your body re-uses the damaged collagen and elastin fibres to create new skin. Skin needling allows for the controlled stimulation of the skin’s self-repair mechanism by creating ‘micro-injuries’ in the skin. This triggers new collagen growth, yet does not pose the risk of permanent scarring. The result is smoother, firmer and younger looking skin.
Skin needling is done in a very safe and controlled way using a Medik8 Titanium Dermroller, and usually takes around ninety minutes. A topical anaesthetic is applied to your skin before I start to make the experience as comfortable and painless as possible. Once the skin has lost feeling the Dermaroller is gently moved over your skin to puncture the outer layers and create miniscule sub-cutaneous punctures. These microscopic wounds stimulate new collage growth that will continue for up to a year, yet will close in less than an hour.
Visible signs of skin rejuvenation are seen after just 6-8 weeks following the therapy and your skin will continue to improve for up to a year. A course of three skin needling sessions at six to eight week intervals is usually recommended for optimum results, you will however notice a big improvement in your skin after just one treatment.
- It is very important that you follow the recommendations of your beauty therapist carefully to help make the procedure as successful as possible and to reduce the risk of complications.
- To promote better healing DO NOT use AHA’s, glycolic acid, ethinol, acidic or active ingredients for 2-3 days.
- To avoid infection make sure your hands are always clean when touching the areas that have been treated.
- Use tepid water to cleanse the face for at least the first forty eight hours. Pat dry your face – do not rub.
- Apply a calming and soothing cleanser, hyaluronic acid to hydrate, colostrum gel to calm and soothe, vitamin A to promote collagen and elastin, and zinc to help heal and protect your skin from the sun.
- Do not apply conventional make-up products for the first twelve hours following skin needling. If you need make-up use a mineral based product.
Your normal skincare regime can be resumed once the skin had completely healed. - You can enhance your skin needling results with the Personal Dermaroller model, which can be used on a daily basis both in between and after your needling sessions. Additionally, topical application of vitamin C and vitamin A will lead to a dramatic acceleration of the regeneration processes.
Priming your skin should ideally begin four weeks before your first appointment, however one week is still acceptable and fairly common. Preparing your skin aids in the healing process and ensures the best results. Using vitamins C and A is a great way to accelerate the process.
Your skin will be red and flushed, similar to moderate sunburn. You will also experience skin tightness and mild sensitivity to touch. This will diminish greatly after a few hours following the skin needling treatment, and within forty eight hours your skin will be completely healed. After five days there will be barely any evidence that skin needling has taken place. The length of the downtime and recovery time depends on the micro-needle size used for your treatment, and you will be informed about your predicted post-treatment appearance during the consultation.
Yes, skin needling has been practiced by doctors and nurses worldwide for more than twenty-five years. It is important you chose a reputable beauty therapist with the relevant training and experience to carry out your skin needling treatment.
Skin needling is not suitable for some clients:
- Who have taken Roaccutane within the last 3 months.
- Have had radiation treatment within the last year.
- Have active bacterial, viral or fungal infections.
- Have scars that are less than 6 months old.
- Undergone facial surgery in the past 6 months old.
- Have blood clotting problems or poor wound healing.
- Take blood thinners.
- Have areas of the skin that are numb or lack sensation.
- Have a history of keloid or hypertrophic scars or poor wound healing.
- Titanium gives the needles a finer and more durable edge, resulting in less pain and irritation compared to ordinary stainless steel rollers.
- Titanium does not pit or become damaged like stainless steel , there is no tearing of the skin which can cause scarring.
- Each individual Medik8 Titanium Derma roller micro needle is gold plated to maintain sterility.
- The Medik8 Titanium Roller has 192 needles for maximum efficiency.
- The needles are tapered up to 75% of the needle shaft which allows for a more comfortable experience.
Vein Removal
Most people can be effectively treated for spider veins by the Candela if they are light skinned and are not tanned prior to the treatment. I can arrange an initial consultation and evaluation to see if you are a potential candidate for laser vein treatment.
The Candela’s YAG focused laser heats up the small spider vein and destroys it without damaging the surrounding tissue. Over a period of four to six weeks the vein is reabsorbed by the body and disappears.
I generally recommend that the treatments be spaced four to six weeks apart, and most people will need between two and six sessions unless they are pre-disposed to vascular problems.
You should stay out of the sun before the treatment and void alcohol and/or aspirin 48 hours before your laser vein removal.
The treated area may be raised and red for a few hours, and occasionally some slight bruising can occur. I strongly recommend staying out of the sun to prevent the treated area from becoming heavily pigmented.
While there is no cure for spider veins, once a vein is completely dead and reabsorbed by the body, it should stay gone. Due to many factors you may however form new spider veins that might require touch up laser treatments.
All skin types are at risk from developing visible and unsightly facial and leg veins. My Candela GentleLase is very effective for all skin types to a depth of 1.5mm and has been designed to target the haemoglobin component of blood. While the targeted blood vessels are destroyed the surrounding tissue remains unharmed, with a slight and very temporary purple pigmentation of the skin the only side effect.
Eye Lash Perming
Yes, immediately if you wish.
No you don’t need to. Eyelash curler breaks off the lashes, and it is not recommended.
No. Remove all eye make-up with non-oily cleanser or eye makeup remover, ensuring lids and lashes are thoroughly cleansed and dry; otherwise the perming rods will not adhere to the lids.
Yes. But it is not recommended to wear water-proof mascara or using mascara remover, as they can to weaken the perm.
Approximately 30-45 minutes but depends on how long and coarse your eyelashes are.
About 2-4 months depending on eyelash growth pattern.
The eyelash curls will begin to drop gradually (one by one) after about two months. The entire lashes will take about another 2 months to return to their natural look. You can repeat the procedure after 2-3 months and you don’t have to wait until the entire lashes return to their natural look.
Use mild cleansers only. The daily use of (some not all) AHA’s products can weaken the perm.
Lashes appear longer and fuller.
A few people may have some skin reactions, puffiness, or burning on their eyelids the next day. Cold compresses for few minutes will do the trick. Patch tests are always required.
No. However, your eye lash cycle is 60 days so you it is perfectly normal to lose one or two eyelashes daily. It happens to all of us. New eyelashes will grow in place of old ones. Actually, using the eyelash curler daily will cause the eyelashes to fall.
Green Peel
Yes, they can dry shave but no wet shaving is allowed for 5 days with GREEN PEEL Classic.
No, make-up may not be used until after the follow-up treatment with active ingredients.
To be on the safe side, NO. Although the herbs are absolutely harmless to the unborn child, complications during pregnancy affecting mother or child, caused by something completely different, could be misconstrued as being related to the peeling treatment. After the pregnancy, however, the herbal peeling treatment is ideal for diminishing striae/stretch marks. The results of this treatment are especially good if the stretch marks and pigmentation marks that may appear due to pregnancy.
Strenuous exercise stimulating perspiration should be avoided during the first 2 days.
Extreme perspiration can wash the herbs out of the skin and cause the skin to swell.
No, as the herbal peeling treatment activates the skin’s own regeneration processes, such negative effects cannot occur. GREEN PEEL actually thickens the skin.
Many factors play a role in the formation of acne: heredity, hormones, increased sebum production, disturbed skin cornification in the follicle, bacteria. Although the most significant cause, disturbed skin cornification, is alleviated by the peeling treatment, this effect is only temporary. Several peeling treatments will be necessary, and just how many and at what intervals will depend on the individual skin texture and severity of the acne.
The herbal peeling treatment should not be carried out on children. From puberty, depending on the individual state of mind and maturity, peeling treatments can be performed on teenagers.
• Generally speaking, somebody with Rosacea and extremely thin, sensitive skin should not have a GREEN PEEL CLASSIC. You can work with our more sensitive options probably the GREE PEEL FRESH UP.
• The décolleté should not be peeled with the GREEN PEEL CLASSIC method, as this skin area has a low level of subcutaneous fat and the massage would therefore rub directly against bone. But can be treated with GREEN PEEL FRESH UP.
• The throat area should only be peeled very lightly/ with only a short massage, with GREEN PEEL FRESH UP as the skin here is also very thin.
You can take a quick splash bath with lukewarm water and then pat your skin dry. (Do not rub!) You can’t wash the area that has been treated with GREEN PEEL Classic, you can only use the products that you are given after your GEEEN PEEL Classic treatment.
Removal of the upper layers of the skin stimulates the growth zone of the skin to produce new cells. This results in an increased regeneration of the epidermis and the upper layers of the cutis. As the special massage with the herbal complex stimulates increased circulation in the skin, the cells receive more oxygen and nutrients. The activation of the skin’s metabolism shows a noticeable effect on the deeper layers of the dermis, containing mostly fat and connective tissue
Cellulite is primarily caused by a metabolic disturbance in the dermis and subcutis. Thanks to the process-activating massage with the herbal complex, the body’s own metabolic processes are strongly enhanced, resulting in a cleansing of the tissue. Additionally, the skin is firmed and the surface is smoothed.
The synthesis of collagen and intercellular substance (glycosaminoglycan) is activated during the treatment, which increases the moisture-binding properties of the skin. The quality of the collagen and elastin fibers is improved. At the same time loss of elasticity is diminished.
The following could inhibit or prevent the peeling process:
• You took a long shower or bath, went swimming, to the sauna or exercised, thus preventing the herbs from taking effect.
• You had used cosmetics containing fruit acid before the peeling treatment. (Fruit acids are often used in low concentrations in skin care products without being listed with the other ingredients on the package. If necessary you should contact the manufacturer.)
After 8 weeks sunbathing is allowed again.
Regardless of which skin type the customer has, for the first 6-8 weeks she should additionally use OPTIMUM PROTECTION CREAM with a sun protection factor of 20 during the day, in order to protect the “new“ skin from the harmful effects of the sun. Afterwards you can return to your normal daily skin care products.
Generally speaking the original GREEN PEEL CLASSIC can be carried out all year round. Unfortunately there is a persistent rumor that peeling treatments shouldn’t be done in the summer. This is simply not true. There are absolutely no restrictions to when you can do the herbal peeling treatment, except that you must avoid excessive direct sunlight for 6-8 weeks after the treatment, and therefore may not sunbathe. As you go on vacation at all times of the year, that means that you wouldn’t be able to have a peeling treatment in the winter because your vacationing in the Caribbean, while some body else wouldn’t be able to have a peeling treatment in the summer because of a trip to Spain. So there is no rule of thumb. The decision must be made individually for each customer and not according to the season of the year.
When you are taking certain medication (see list below) the skin cannot be peeled until a certain time has elapsed after coming off this medication.
• Chlorpromazin (rarely prescribed tranquilliser) – 2 weeks after coming off the medication the customer can have a peeling treatment
• Antibiotics 4 – 6 weeks
• Antidepressives containing St John’s wort – 4 weeks after coming off the medication the customer can have a peeling treatment
• In the case of collagen or hyaluronic acid treatments a GREEN PEEL treatment can be performed 4-6 weeks after the injections.
• Cytostatics (cancer medication)
• Cortisone 8 weeks
• In the case of a fruit acid treatment you should wait 8 weeks before carrying out a peeling treatment 4 – 6 months
• If you have taken Isotretionin (e.g. Aknenormin, Isoderm), for the treatment of acne, you should wait at least 6 months before carrying out a peeling treatment, as such medications inhibit sebum production.
• If you have used Blue Peel you should wait at least 4 months before carrying out a
GREEN PEEL herbal peeling.
• After a laser treatment or after a dermabrasion you should wait at least 6 months before carrying out a peeling treatment.
The extremely fine, delicate skin in the eye zone has a very low content of subcutaneous fat and has a tendency towards puffiness (swollen eyes after crying).
The massage considerably increases circulation, which could lead to blood pressure problems if an area is peeled too large. The basic rule of thumb: the “peeling area “should be no larger than the area of the face.
Here again, the skin has a very low content of subcutaneous fat.
The palms of the skin have a different skin texture (stratum lucidum) and the outer layer of the epidermis (stratum corneum) is very tough. Additionally, the sweat gland activity in the hands is stimulated by the massage
The original GREEN PEEL herbal peeling activates the skin’s own regeneration processes. Increased circulation is stimulated, which results in an improved supply of oxygen and nutrients to the skin and activation of the skin’s metabolism.
Too much water on the skin would cause the herbs to be “washed” out of the skin, lead to swelling and therefore inhibit the peeling process and not give desired results.
Due to the somewhat thicker structure of men’s skin, the level of pressure is decided based on an individual skin analysis and the massage duration is also determined on an individual basis.