How laser actually finds the follicle
Laser hair removal is a targeting problem before it is anything else. The device emits light energy, that energy is absorbed by melanin — the pigment — in the hair, and the absorbed energy damages the follicle enough to slow or stop growth.
Every part of that chain depends on there being pigment in the hair. Take the pigment away and the light passes through with nothing to absorb it. The follicle is untouched.
Which hair laser struggles with
The hair that responds best is dark, coarse hair on lighter skin — maximum contrast between the target and the surrounding tissue.
The hair that responds poorly or not at all:
- Grey and white hair — effectively no melanin left to absorb the energy
- Very fine blonde hair — too little pigment, and often too fine to hold enough energy
- Red hair — the pigment type absorbs laser energy far less efficiently
- Vellus hair, the fine downy hair on the face — usually not a sensible laser target
This is worth knowing before you pay for a package
Laser is sold in packages, because it genuinely does take a series of sessions — hair grows in cycles, and each session only affects the follicles that happen to be in their active growth phase that day.
The problem is that a course of sessions is also a very effective way to hide the fact that a treatment was never going to work. Six sessions in, on hair with no pigment, the honest explanation and the sales explanation look identical: "it takes time, hair grows in cycles, keep going."
If a meaningful proportion of the hair you want gone is grey, white or very fine and pale, ask directly what the plan is for that hair before you buy anything.
What electrolysis does differently
Electrolysis does not target pigment. A very fine probe follows the hair down into the follicle and the follicle itself is treated directly, one at a time. Colour is irrelevant, because colour was never the targeting mechanism.
It is the only method recognised as permanent hair removal rather than long-term reduction, and it is the answer for exactly the hair that laser cannot help with.
The trade-off is real and I will not pretend otherwise: it is slower, because it is done follicle by follicle, and it is billed by time rather than by area. For a small patch of stubborn grey hair on the chin, that is a good trade. For two full legs of dark hair, laser is the sensible starting point.
PCOS and hormonal hair
Hair driven by PCOS or hormonal change is its own situation. It is often coarse, often on the face and jaw, and — this is the important part — it is being actively driven by something ongoing.
That means treatment is not a one-off project with an end date the way clearing a bikini line is. New follicles can be recruited over time, so maintenance is usually part of the picture. Anyone who tells you a fixed number of sessions will finish it permanently is guessing.
I would rather set that expectation at the start than have you feel misled at session eight.
Which one do you need?
Dark coarse hair over a large area: laser, as a planned series.
Grey, white, red or very fine pale hair: electrolysis, because laser cannot target it.
A mix, which is most people over forty: often both — laser to clear the volume of pigmented hair efficiently, then electrolysis for what is left behind.
I offer laser hair removal here, and I do electrolysis through my separate practice, Dermatech Electrolysis, which has been running for thirty years. Being able to offer both is the reason I can tell you honestly which one you need rather than selling you the one I happen to have.
Written by Hunny — Cosmetics by Hunny, Port Moody, BC. Every treatment starts with a consultation, and results vary from person to person.