Shaving can be a lot sometimes. I don’t want to shave my legs every week in order to have silky smooth legs. What’s even worse is that after 24 hours, I already have stubble! I spend time every other shower shaving my legs, just for them to be smooth for only a few hours. In the winter, I can get away with not shaving my legs as frequently, but once the weather starts to get warmer and I get my sundresses and shorts out of storage, it’s time for the razor to be put to work again.

However, I don’t want to go to a salon or aesthetician every couple of weeks and spend money every time for them to wax or sugar my legs. Since this requires the leg hair to be around the length of a grain of rice in order to be most effective, I’m spending one week with smooth legs, and then the other three with hair. It just doesn’t seem like the best option!

I have been shaving, waxing, and sugaring my legs for the better part of ten years, and I still am not satisfied with my results. Although I love having smooth, silky legs, I know there has to be a better way.

Temporary Options

Most hair removal methods are temporary, these include:

• Shaving
• Store-bought wax
• Soft wax
• Wax strips
• Hard wax
• Epilating
• Hair removal creams

These types of hair removal methods can be inexpensive and easy to do, but maintenance is something you have to consider before investing in any of these. Like I mentioned, I have been shaving for over ten years and I still have to shave my legs one to two times a week, depending on the week. It can be tempting to just pick up a $15 razor from your nearest store and go to town. However, with shaving alone, those results are only temporary.

If you don’t want to spend your life going through a cycle of shaving, being smooth for a few hours, and then growing unwanted stubble within the same 24-hour timespan, it might be time to consider something more permanent.

Permanent Options

I’m sure you have heard of laser hair removal. When I first was introduced to the concept of “laser hair removal,” I was skeptical. It seemed too advanced, too expensive, and too complicated. I couldn’t afford the hundreds of dollars it cost to get it done monthly. However, there are at-home hair removal devices that use similar technology as laser hair removal to help you get the smoothest, silkiest skin possible.

At-Home Permanent Hair Removal

IPL – Intense Pulsed Light – is a newly popular hair removal technology that produces the longest-lasting results on the market. Like laser hair removal, it targets the hair follicle so that the hair grows in slower and thinner, until it doesn’t grow back at all. Home IPL hair removal devices use gentle pulses of light to target the root of the hair. It uses gentle light pulses to affect the follicle, preventing hair growth.

The Infinity IPL Hair Removal Device

The Silk’n Infinity at-home IPL hair removal device offers the same type of permanent hair removal results that laser hair removal does, but allows you to perform the treatments yourself, in the comfort of your own home.

The Infinity’s proprietary technology, along with user-friendly design, means it is the fastest and simplest way to perform leg hair removal treatments. Multiple power settings and the ability to switch between Glide or Pulse, allows you to treat smaller, more focused areas as well as larger, broader areas (like your legs) and makes treatment sessions effective and easy.

Treat yourself to well-deserved self-care as you make your skin smooth, healthy, and permanently hairless with the Silk’n Infinity.

What You Need to Know

Before starting your IPL treatments, there are a few things you need to know about it first.

1. If you want results, you need to be consistent. Hair grows back naturally in cycles, so you need to keep doing IPL treatments in order to expose every follicle to the light. This will ultimately lead to less hair growth over time.
2. Results will appear in around month three. After the first few treatments you may feel disappointed. Don’t worry, though. The more consistent you are and the better you follow the recommended practices, the better the results will be.
3. It isn’t the fastest solution out there. Since you have to go in small sections and make sure you leave the light on for as long as it needs to be on for, the process takes longer than the three minutes it would take to shave. I would recommend putting on some Netflix, laying down a towel on the bed, and get to zapping.
4. Darker skin or lighter hair could be more difficult to use IPL on. Since IPL works thanks to melanin, if the hair is too close in colour to the skin tone, you may not be able to use IPL. There are special laser hair removal options for darker skin tones that may be a viable option.
5. You do have to keep shaving in between treatments. Keeping the hair shorter lets the light reach the root of the hair easier. Shaving is the temporary fix, and IPL is the permanent solution!
6. It doesn’t cause any harm to the skin if used properly. While lights and lasers may sound scary, IPL uses a very gentle form of light in order to prevent any damage to the skin. If you follow the instructions properly and do your research, you’ll be good to go!

How to Prep for IPL

In order to prep the skin for IPL, here are a few tips and tricks to consider:

• Don’t wax, tweeze, or sugar the area you will be conducting the IPL treatment on. IPL uses the melanin in the hair follicle in order to break bonds to get rid of the hair permanently. If the hair has been freshly waxed, tweezed, or sugared, there is nothing for the light to target.
• Don’t use hair removal cream on the area you will be focusing on. The chemicals in hair removal creams can irritate the skin, and make is sensitive to the light treatment. This will make IPL treatments more painful.
• Don’t tan before you use an IPL machine. This can also make the skin more sensitive to the light treatment. The more sensitive the skin is, the more painful it will be.
• Don’t tan after you use an IPL machine. The same way that tanning makes your skin more sensitive to IPL, IPL makes your skin more sensitive to tanning. You could end up with a patchy, unnatural tan, or even irritated or burned skin.
• Don’t use any skincare products on the area. This includes any kind of moisturizers, oils, makeup, perfume, or powder.

Once you’re ready to start, make sure your legs are shaved. Legs should be shaved no sooner than 24 hours before your treatment. This may seem counterproductive, but trust me. Shaving your legs makes sure that the light technology reaches the root of your hair, not the ends. This will produce the best results. Make sure your skin is clean of any products, plug in your device, and get going!

What to Do After IPL/How to Maintain Results

It is completely normal for your skin to be slightly swollen or red after your treatments. The area might feel like a bit of a sunburn or razor burn. You can use aloe vera or a moisturizer with SPF in it to soothe the area after treatments.

IPL isn’t meant to have immediate results. Because of your individual hair growth cycle, it could take a few treatments. You could experience hair growth like you don’t usually get, such as patchy or uneven hair growth. This just means the treatment worked! The more times you use your at-home IPL machine, the less hair will grow back in between treatments.

Taking care of your skin after treatments is imperative. Your skin may be sensitive, so try and avoid excessive sunlight or heat. Any kind of intense sun exposure, such as tanning, could result in irritation and pain. This also includes anywhere that is too hot, such as hot baths, saunas, hot tubs, or heavy workouts. Using a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher can help reduce this skin sensitivity.

In terms of products, keep the area moisturized and cool. Avoid using any products that could irritate the skin. This includes any product with acid, strong scents, or exfoliants.

In order to see results, it is recommended that you use IPL on your legs every 8-10 weeks. You can shave in between that time, but you should not do the treatments more often than that.

Results

IPL treatments may seem complicated or time-consuming, but let’s put it in perspective. The cost of an at-home IPL machine is anywhere from $170 to $400. That might seem expensive at first, but consider how much shaving is. A razor can cost between $3 and $20, but you also need to purchase replacement blades for when you need to replace your razor. You should replace your razor every five to seven shaves. You can purchase new razors or just replacement heads, which cost on average another $10 per replacement. With this math, it would take 14 shaves to reach the cost of an IPL machine. 14 shaves don’t leave you with life-long results, but IPL does. 

If you compare IPL to any other hair removal system, it is going to provide better, simpler, cheaper results in the long run. Read our article comparing hair removal costs for more information.

Check out all the Silk’n hair removal devices today, with summer coming soon, there’s no time like now to get smooth, hair-free legs!

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