We are asked this almost every week, often with a little embarrassment: “I bought a device, was I wrong?” Not necessarily. But you need to know what you bought, because it is not what the advertising suggests.
They are IPL, not lasers
First point, and it changes everything: almost all consumer devices are not lasers. They are intense pulsed light (IPL) lamps, even when the word “laser” appears on the box or in the product name.
The difference is not commercial, it is physical. A laser emits a single wavelength, chosen to be absorbed by the melanin in the hair, and all the energy goes to the same place. An IPL lamp emits a broad spectrum, filtered more or less well: some reaches the hair, the rest scatters. We set out the comparison in this article.
The power is deliberately limited
This is the point nobody advertises. A device sold to the public has to be safe in the hands of someone with no training, with no settings, no phototype assessment, no prior test.
The only way to achieve that is to limit the energy delivered, sharply. A home device therefore works at a fraction of the fluence of a medical laser. That is not a manufacturing flaw: it is a safety constraint, and a perfectly justified one.
The consequence is mechanical: less energy at the bulb, so fewer follicles destroyed per pass. Hence far more sessions, a more partial result, and regrowth that returns if you stop.
What you can honestly expect
- Genuine thinning on dark hair and light skin, provided you are very regular — often one session a week for several months.
- Maintenance to be continued indefinitely. It is not a treatment with an end date, it is one more routine.
- Little or nothing on dark skin: most devices are in fact advised against beyond a certain phototype, precisely because the burn risk becomes real. That is exactly where the medical Nd:YAG makes the difference, as we explain for dark skin.
- Nothing at all on white, grey or red hair — exactly the same limit as the professional laser.
The real risks
They are limited but real, and they almost always come from the same thing: the absence of any assessment.
Nobody determines your phototype, nobody checks that you are not tanned, nobody spots the moles and tattoos. The superficial burns and marks we see after home use are almost always due to a device used on tanned skin, or passed over a mole.
If you use a device at home: respect the phototypes indicated, never go over a tattoo or a mole, and do not raise the intensity “to speed things up”.
When it makes sense
We do not sell these devices and we have no interest in defending them — all the more reason to be balanced. A home device is justified in three cases:
- You have light skin and dark hair, the most favourable configuration.
- You want thinning, not permanent removal.
- Your budget does not allow a professional protocol right now.
It makes much less sense if you want a lasting result, if you have dark skin, or if your area is large — a back treated with a home lamp, session after session, is sheer persistence.
What if I have already started at home?
No problem at all, it compromises nothing. Just mention it at the assessment: it helps us understand the state of your hair growth. One rule applies either way — do not wax or tweeze, since the root is the target.
The assessment is free and without commitment: come and compare on your own skin rather than on a brochure. Book an appointment in Uccle, Etterbeek or Watermael-Boitsfort.
