Our Cynosure Icon Max R can permanently remove/reduce most unwanted dark hair on the face or body.  It can be used on all skin colours, though more treatments may be required with darker skin or lighter hair. No IPL or LASER device is effective on grey, white, pale blonde and some red hair.

• Recent sunburn
• Unprotected sun exposure or solarium use 4 weeks prior to treatment
• Pregnancy
• History of seizures
• Severe dermatitis or eczema (within the treatment area)
• Active infections
• Roaccutane use in the last 6 months
• Herpes 1 or 2 (within the treatment area)
• Very dark skin
• White, grey and red hair
• Removing hair by the root in the treatment area e.g. waxing or tweezing 4 weeks prior to treatment
• Photo sensitising medications are best avoided.

You don’t need 10-14 treatments every 3-6 weeks as recommended by most clinics!

On average we recommend 3-6 treatments spaced at the correct interval times, which is often 3 months apart.

Hair grows in 3 phases. IPL can only treat the hair within one of these phases called anagen. This is when the hair is growing and there are actively dividing cells in the hair follicle.

At any given time, there is only a certain percentage of hair in anagen. This is why IPL must be performed over a number of sessions with a specific time span between treatments to achieve the best result.

The number of sessions required depends on your hair and skin colour, and how your body responds to the treatments.

The length of time the hair is in anagen phase will differ on each region and determines the ideal time between each treatment session.

• Facial Hair is usually between 4-6 weeks
• Body Hair is usually between 10-12 weeks

*Most clinics treat body hair at 4-6 week intervals which is completely ineffective.  Your treated hair should have purged itself and you should be enjoying a hair free period, so what are they treating?

• Please shave the treatment site before your IPL hair removal session. Depilatory creams are also fine. *Please ensure there is no hair protruding out of the surface as this will just cook and burn onto the skin.
• Discontinue sun exposure 4 weeks prior to your treatment.
• Do not use fake tan 1-2 weeks prior to your treatment.
• Use an SPF 30 daily.
• Do not wax, tweeze or pluck the hair for 4 weeks prior to your treatment.
• If you have a history of herpes close to the area being treated, it is recommended that you take antiviral medication before the treatment. (This will be available from the chemist).
• You will need an initial consultation and test spots performed within 3 days of your treatment. In some cases for small areas, treatment may possibly be done on the day.

Your IPL hair removal treatments will be performed by one of our Dermal Therapists, who are all qualified and experienced IPL and LASER safety officers.

Each pulse of light usually feels like a hot elastic band snapping on your skin. This is due to the light converting to heat in the targeted cells. Due to the advanced technology of the ICON, patient comfort is substantially better than any other medical grade system.

• Most people will experience a sunburn like sensation that lasts 2 to 5 hours and is often associated with mild to moderate redness. The treated area is generally sensitive to heat for 2 days following treatment.
• The skin may appear spotty, which is inflammation caused from the heat absorbed in the hair follicle and can last 2 to 24 hours.
• The hair will appear to grow (though very slowly) for 2 to 4 weeks and should then fall out; this is the treated hair being pushed out of the follicle, not new growth. Any hair that does not fall out was either too fine, too light, too deeply rooted or possibly wasn’t treated.
• Once the treated hair has fallen out, you should experience a hair free period for approximately 2 to 4 weeks. (Facial hair can be shorter time frames)
• After this, new growth will start to appear, though there will be a certain percentage of hairs that don’t grow back. This percentage will increase with each session. Once the hair has grown back the treatment can be performed again.
• Between treatments, growth can be shaved but not waxed or tweezed. We prefer it if you don’t remove it if possible, so you can observe the process and ensure the hair is falling out.

• A sunburn-like sensation is expected for about 2-5 hours after the treatment. If this is uncomfortable apply cold compresses or ice to the treated area.
• Your skin maybe temperature sensitive for the following 2 days, so do not use very hot water for your shower or bath.
• Please protect you skin from the sun!
• Do not exfoliate the skin for 1 week after the treatment.
• Your skin may be more sensitive to certain skin care products so please use the products provided to you.
• If you unfortunately experience a blister or crusting do not pick them as this may lead to a scar.
• If you have any questions or concerns, please call the clinic.

Unfortunately, there are some potential complications with IPL treatments. At CosMedical Skin Solutions we perform test spots within 3 days of your actual treatment, to provide an accurate evaluation of the skin’s response. This optimises the outcome and significantly reduces potential complications, which include:

• Prolonged redness and swelling lasting up to 4 days may occur.
• Darker patches of pigment on the skin may occur a couple of weeks after treatment. This can last from 2 weeks up to 1 year. However, there is a special cream we can use to reduce the pigment. You are more at risk of this occurring if you have a darker skin type. (this is not the immediate darkening of pigment we expect when treating pigmentation).
• Whiter patches on the skin can occur. This can last 2 weeks up to 1 year though also has the potential to be permanent. You are more at risk of this occurring if you have a darker skin type. Our ICON Max R is designed to protect the epidermis & effictely treat all skin colours thus reducing this risk.
• Blistering rarely occurs and will usually settle within 2 hours with application of ice. If you do get a blister, it is important that you don’t pick it as it may leave a scar.

In most cases, additional treatments are not required. Though if new growth has occurred due to hormonal changes, medication or illness that wasn’t there during the initial treatments, further treatment can be provided when needed.

• Our Medical grade IPL treatments will provide permanent results and not just retard the growth.
• You don’t need 10-14 treatments every 3-6 weeks as recommended by most clinics!
• We recommend 3-6 treatments spaced at the correct interval times, which is often 3 months apart. Though lighter hair and darker skin colours may require additional treatments
• We are fully qualified and highly experienced Dermal Therapists and IPL & LASER Safety Officers.
• Our Director has more than 30 years industry experience and has performed well over 20,000 IPL treatments for photo-rejuvenation and permanent hair removal in a medical setting, and is also an experienced IPL trainer and assessor.
• We provide you with a comprehensive consultation so you can make an informed decision.
• We provide test spots to optimise the results and reduce the risk of complications.
• We are one of the few exclusive clinics in Perth to use the Cynosure ICON IPL & Laser platform. It incorporates the most advanced technologies proven to achieve better results than most gold standard LASERS with fewer, safer and more comfortable treatments.

Intense Pulsed Light is currently unregulated in Australia. No qualifications or experience are required to provide IPL treatments, and anyone can buy cheap substandard machines.

This has unfortunately led to the majority of IPL providers in Perth having no qualifications and using equipment without knowledge of the skin, or basic light physics. This is regularly resulting in permanent scarring, long term complications with no permanent results even after having a large number of treatments.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Increase your chances of a successful and safe treatment by ensuring the following:

• Your provider should be experienced and hold formal qualificationssuch as a Dermal Therapist or an IPL & LASER Safety Officer so you can be confident they understand this process thoroughly, and can perform treatments safely and effectively.
• Medical grade equipmentregistered with the TGA that will produce enough power to achieve permanent results, and incorporates advanced technology to provide safer, more comfortable treatments.
• Optimal treatment settingsshould be determined with test spots within 3 days of your first treatment, and the settings used will produce enough heat to destroy the stem cells that form the hair, but wont damage the surrounding skin.
• Treatments must be performed at the correct interval timesto ensure your hair is in the active growing stage, otherwise it is completely ineffective!

Ensure you do your research before choosing your provider and remember there’s a reason why many places are so cheap. Don’t spend hundreds and often thousands of dollars on ineffective treatments or risk permanent scarring.