It is very imporant that the area you wish to have treated has not been exposed to sunlight for at least 6 weeks, preferably 8 weeks, prior to treatment. It may even be longer if your skin tans easily. Your skin needs to be as light as possible and as close to your natural skin tone during treatment. Observe your own skin and only book an appointment if you’re sure that your skin is the lightest colour it can be. This might mean that you have to wait several months. When you are tanned, the risk for scorches and pigmant stains is too large. Please, realize that the pigment in your skin will even be activated on a cloudy day. Even sun shining through a (car)window will activate the pigment. Applying suncreen is not sufficient to prevent this! Most sunscreens only offer protection for UV-B radiation, not for UV-A radiation, check the label to be sure. Cover the skin you wish to have treated with sufficient layers of clothing. During the summer, we usually conduct tests on the armpit, an area that has usually not been exposed to the sun. In this way we can still conduct a test, even if the rest of your body is tanned.

Extracting hair prior to laser treatment is not recommend, not in any form: epilady, waxing, using tweezers, etc. The treatment will be more effective if you have not epilated the hairs for a while, since the hairs are necessary to guide the heath to the hair root. If there is no sufficient amount of hairs that have grown back, then the results of the treatment will be minimal and it will be a waste of your money.

You can not have epilated for a minimum of 6 weeks prior to treatment. However, on some areas of the body it can take up to 24 weeks until the hairs have returned to their most vulnerable state!

Shaving is allowed, as often as you wish. If you are not comfortable with shaving (for example on the female face, the areola, etc), you can also cut the hairs with bent scissors. Thin hairs can remain and can be bleached every so often using bleaching creams. It is also possible to use hairremoval cream.

Be sure not to apply annything on your skin prior to treatment. No aftershave, perfumes, residues of shower gel, bodylotion, dust, talcum powder, make-up, pen stains, etc. A small amount of day cream on your face is allowed. When treating the armpits, please do not use deodorant prior to treatment. This rule also applies to the intake appointment, since we will often choose the armpit for a test area. If you have applied deodorant, don’t be concerned, please let us know and we can remove it before starting treatment.

You are not allowed to shave or epilate the test areas within 10 days prior to the intake appointment. This allows us to examine the structure and colour of the hairs. We would like to take an unrecognizable close-up picture, but only if you are comfortable with this. You are allowed to shave the test area if you prefer not to have this done during your appointment (the area that is being treated will always be shaven for the best results, but NOT epilated).

Prior to the real appointments it is necessary to smoothly shave the areas that will be treated. Please shave on the day of your appointment, with a razor or shaver (the smooth side).

No stubbles can remain. A smoothly shaven area will be less sensitive to the treatment, since the heath won’t hover on the skin. It is not necessary to show us where the hairs are located, often we can tell by the shadow alone. If you wish, we can give you a white eye pencil to mark the areas before shaving.

Tip for a smooth shave: Use a high quality shaving oil, for example, Amanprana razoli 3 in1 schaving oil, organic, herbal, free of chemicals and preservatives. Available at health food stores.

A concern that we often hear is that people are afraid that shaving will stimulate hair growth, thus they are hesitant to shave the area in case the condition worsens if the treatment is not succesful. However, it is not scientifically proven that shaving stimulates hair growth and/or thicker hair to grow back. There is no evidence of the hair follicle receiving information from the upper part or the hair. Most people experience that shaving hardens stubbles, since the tip of the hair is now a hard edge instead of a smooth point. In a similar way your hair will feel fuller after a haircut.

It is recommended to have a test conducted on an inconspicuous area on your body before the desired area is being treated. In this way, we can be quite certain that the treatment will have the desired effect prior to you having to shave the area concerned. For example, if you wish to have vellus hair on your face removed (which we do not recommend), we will shave this right before the actual treatment. If the vellus hair on your face is mostly blond with a few dark hairs in between, then the blond hair does not need to be shaven, the blond vellus hair will not respond to treatment. You can cut the dark hairs with small scissors, as short as possible.

Supposing that shaving does cause thicker hair to grow back, then this can be undone by one-time waxing or threading. The latter, in particular, is a very effective method and is a specialty of many Turkish salons in the Netherlands. The method is safe for the skin and prevents ingrown hairs.

Scrubbing is allowed, however, if you srcubbed within 3 days prior to your appointment, it’s best to let us know. We will adjust our equipment to a milder setting. Scrubbing or peeling once a week can be beneficial if your skin is still slightly tanned (even if you have stayed out of the sun for a while) and your appointment is coming up.

Tip: A useful product for removing some of your tan is the ‘hair removal mitten’. It can be bought at most drugstores. Be careful not to irritate your skin.

Do not bleach hair within 2 days prior to treatment. The hair shaft has to be dark again on the day of treatment in order to guide the heath to the hair root.

If your skin tolerates hair removal cream well, then you are allowed to use it prior to treatment. However, be careful and read the label of the product thoroughly. An irritated skin is not suitable for laser treatment.

Nowadays, creams can be purchased that prohibit hair growth. Please do not use these creams prior to or during your treatment trajectory. Your hair folicles need to be in an active state in order for the treatment to be effective.

Some people consider using hair growth inhibitor creams instead of undergoing treatment. However, we are not aware of any spectacular results being achieved by using these creams.

If you would like to mark the areas that you wish to have treated, then it’s recommended to use a white eye pencil to do this. Please do not use any dark or coloured products to mark the areas.