Hello! My beauty therapist suggested to me Cosmedix Refine to deal with break outs and reduce minor discolourations. However, I am having IPL treatments for hair removal on the upper lip, and this cream contains Vitamin A. Is it safe to use? I am a bit confused, because I thought that Vitamin A should not be used in conjunction with laser/IPL treaments. Thank you!

You can use it if it's not photosensitive. You should really be asking your clinic about this.

Curious, why IPL and not true laser?

Thanks lagirl! I asked my clinic, and my beauty therapist told me that it is safe to use, but avoid it one week pre- and post-treatment, and use it at night and a good sunscreen during the day. I just wanted a second opinion, to make sure that it is safe.

In regards to your question, by searching this site I have concluded that if it is going to work it is going to work no matter what (IPL or true laser). I also feel a bit safer with IPL. It seems to me that true lasers can cause worse reaction than IPLs (I had two treatments, and I had only experienced mild redness for an hour or so). Convenience is another reason, since the IPL clinic is much closer to me.

I don't know where you found that information on this site, because that's not what we normally advise. IPLs actually have a bigger chance of burning skin than true lasers. And they usually take longer to produce results and don't necessary produce as good of results. With proper treatments, the hair is affected and the skin isn't, not matter what you use. And improper treatments can cause bad reactions no matter what machine is used. But all things beings equal, lasers are hands down more effective.

Having very little reaction with either machine can also mean the settings are too low to kill the hair permanently. Make sure you experience full shedding after each treatment.

Is the hair you're treating coarse and dense on your face?

Hair is coarse, dark and relatively dense. I think that the first time the settings were low, because I didn't experience full shedding (I don't know the exact settings), so I let the clinic know. A few days ago, I had the second treatment, and I am waiting to see how it will go.

I thought to follow your advice lagirl and give a go to a true laser (Gentlelase - my skin is light and hair is dark). So, I went for a consultation and patch test two days ago. It hurt more than IPL (this is the least), and the part the laser technician did the patch test has still darker colour than the rest of my lip. With IPL I experienced only mild redness for a couple of hours or so. Does this sound normal?

Also, I experienced shedding only 5 days after my last (second) IPL treatment. All the very coarse hair fall sooner than I expected. Some of the finer hair are still there, but this is day 16 after my treatment, so I hope that they will fall soon. Any idea why this happened?

I am a bit worried at the moment. And annoyed. The clinic that uses Gentlelase charges per 5min, so it is much cheaper. With the same money I could do my upper lip and underarms! I would really appreciate your opinion. Thank you!

Can you please clarify the timing? You first posted only 13 days ago and it seems that you may have had the treatment at most 10 days ago given your last post on July 1, so I'm not understanding how it can be 16 days since your treatment with GentleLASE since today is only July 12. Also, when was your last IPL treatment? Did you have coarse hair to treat already? How long did you wait between the two treatments?

Also, what settings were used? Can you call and find out? We need to know the spot size and joules used.

It sounds like you may have temporary pigmentation which is usually caused by either settings being set too high or your skin having some tan, or both.

It takes at least for full shedding to occur. Coarse hair may shed faster.

Thanks for your reply and sorry for the confusion! I didn't have a treatment with Gentlelase. Just a patch test!

28 May: first IPL treatment
27 June: second (and last) IPL treatment
2 July: shedding started
11 July: Gentlelase patch test
13 July: the area that the technician did the patch test is still darker

- I already had coarse hair and I don't have a tan
- Spot size and joules 18/14

How long does it take for full shedding to occur? Your sentence above is incomplete.

Shedding question answer: 1.5-3 weeks

Did you get a test patch done on the same area as your IPL treatment or not? Not clear on that since you shouldn't have had any hair there yet after shedding...

Yes, it takes 2-3 weeks for full shedding to occur.

It sounds like you're too dark for GentleLASE right now if you got pigmentation from those settings. Most likely it's due to at least a bit of a tan (unless you're not a light type skin III or so as you indicated). It is summer and it's your upper lip. Unless you're using a powerful SPF sunscreen every time you leave the house, you're getting some pigment on it from the sun even if you're not noticing it. So, you'd need a Yag laser like GentleYAG if you want to treat that area with a true laser right now.