Facial hair removal depends a little on what color your hair is and what color your skin is. You probably already know this but skin color is just how much melanin you have genetically in your skin. Red heads have almost no melanin and someone very dark has a lot. The rest of us are in between.

What works best for removing (facial) hair?

Dark hair on lighter skin:

Hair removal lasers work best on darker hair with skin color that’s a little lighter. This is because the laser is targeting the melanin at the base of the hair follicle and the laser gets confused if your skin color is too close to the color at the base of the hair follicle. That’s why burns occasionally occur with laser hair removal. The energy of the laser was absorbed too superficially.

If your hair is darker and your skin is lighter, generally the Alex or Diode lasers like the LightSheer by Lumenis or the Advantage by Lutronic are also good choices. There are others also. Read more about laser hair removal here.

For blonde or grey hair:

If your hair is too blonde or grey, the lasers can’t see it well. In that case you may be better off with electrolysis, waxing or a non laser treatment. Lasers that work for grey or blonde hair are in development, so we’ll see if they get FDA approved in the next few years.

Dark hair and dark skin:

If your hair is darker and your skin is darker, generally the systems that use an Nd:YAG system are safer. You can ask an office specifically which lasers they have and they should tell you, or you can often find it on their website.

Hope this helps,  Dr. I