Featured in Beauty Biz Year 15, Issue 3.
Absolutely NOT! How many times have you heard the following?
“The Shaver Shop sell hair removal lasers”, “I have a home microdermabrasion machine at home”, “I just bought a needling device off the internet”, “I bought an RF device off Alibaba”,
Thousands I bet! Clients can get confused, excited or lost with what’s hot and what’s not, and lose sight of the risks and benefits of these home-grade devices. While these trendy new devices may deliver some benefits, they’re not as impactful or safe as their clinic-grade counterparts. So, the best way to defend your business and its existence is by being factually armed with knowing the difference between the two grades.
We spend not only years, but thousands of dollars on our education and knowledge, as well as tens or hundreds of thousands on these devices. Here is a quick overview of what your clients don’t have or understand:
A professional and educated assessment of the skin’s condition
A professional and educated opinion of the best treatment for their skin
An understanding of the Fitzpatrick Skin Typing and a lack of understanding of how darker Fitzpatrick’s respond to treatments and controlled trauma
An understanding of how to optimise outcomes and prepare skin appropriately – internally and topically
What the clinical end point is and when enough is enough
What the various dangers and risks are – long and short term
What UV exposure can do to freshly treated/ traumatised skin
What to do when things go wrong – and they do!
Home-Grade vs. Clinic-Grade Devices: Apart from experience, knowledge and education – how do the actual devices stack up against each other?
Hair Removal
Both laser and IPL devices target the melanin in the hair, when the hair absorbs enough light in order for it to convert to heat, it causes destruction of the hair follicle, without overheating the surrounding skin or tissue. The darker the hair, the better the result. The darker the skin, the more risk is involved. It’s a fine balance between the two competing targets and in order to make the home device safer, power is reduced. With the reduction of power, comes a reduction of heat, thus a reduction of results. Instead of permanent hair reduction, what the client experiences is what I like to call “photo-epilation” – temporary hair reduction, since we are just gently heating the hair follicles. Not only will they need weekly treatments, as per several manufacturer guidelines, but they will also require more “maintenance” treatments, which also take longer to perform, due to the slower repetition rate and smaller spot size on these home-grade devices.
Microdermabrasion
Micro-Needling
Radio Frequency
EpiBlading
LED
You simply cant compare home and clinic grade devices, but for those convinced they can do it at home – let them, they’ll be back anyway and hopefully its not because they have burns, grazes, granulomas, scars, long term inflammation or the like!
Always remember your “why” and why you do what you do!
Comments