I can never find much in the way of information on this but do have means to work on light hair / light complexion? Being a natural blond is kind of double sided in this; I have no beard shadow but...

Anyway, thoughts welcome, thank you.

Quote from: Amy T. on July 26, 2007, 09:56:04 AM
YAG lasers, such as Coolglide, Lightsheer, and GentleYAG work on dark skin, but NONE work on very light or grey hairs. 

Are there any lasers which DO work on greys?

I've heard something about an "Aurora" laser which might?

~Kate~

Quote from: Kate on July 26, 2007, 10:07:01 AM

Quote from: Amy T. on July 26, 2007, 09:56:04 AM
YAG lasers, such as Coolglide, Lightsheer, and GentleYAG work on dark skin, but NONE work on very light or grey hairs. 

Are there any lasers which DO work on greys?

I've heard something about an "Aurora" laser which might?

~Kate~

Aurora is another YAG laser. All the YAG lasers are as effective as each other contrary to those who are sold on one or another, so no.  They are all high quality medical grade machines. 

Darker greys maybe.  But grey hair is just like blond hair. 
No laser works on light hair with light skin.  If you have blond hair...its electro and thats it. 

Lighter skin is better for Alexandrites, Darker Skin is better for YAGs. Alexandrites you don't need such a high setting for with light skin and dark hair, its a differant type of laser though and works a little bit differantly than YAGs.  Alexandrites does not work with people who have dark skin, it burns their skin severely.    I wish I knew how the two worked differantly, but YAG is a miracle for anybody with really dark skin.   

YAGs on the other hand work great for dark skin and dark hair, in fact they may be more effective than people with light skin and dark hair who use YAGs, in fact from my tech tells me, that is what seems to be the case.

My Tech basically said YAG was bad for me (type I skin type), the pulses would have to be longer, and the Alexandrite was made for my exact skin profile (extremely fair) and hair type (very dark).   

Quote from: Rommie on July 27, 2007, 10:44:02 PM
Hi,

I totally agree about Alexandrite.  Waaay old technology and not that great for the skin either.  On top of that it was the reason why people swore laser hair removal didn't work.  It's not a great laser.  Lots of debates about it, but overall the review on those lasers is negative for permanent hair removal.  Regardless, you're right it is totally the lighter skin laser.

I've had very fair skinned friends have awesome results with YAG lasers though.  So I still disagree with you about anything regarding skintone being better than the other.   I'm an ebony and ivory kind of person.   Lets live in harmony.

Ok.. I'm out of this.  It's getting to close to skin color wars and I'm repeating myself.

Thanks again for the info and take care of yourself!

Rommie, actually what I was saying about the Alexandrite is that it IS effective.  It IS actually a great laser.  BUT YOU MUST FIT THE PROFILE.  It works just as well as a YAG if you have fair skin and dark hair, in fact if you fit that profile, the ALEXANDRITE WORKS BETTER THAN A YAG (my tech who has years of 20 years of experience and has worked extensively with YAGs and Alexandrites since both came out was very clear with me on this because I did bring up the YAG issue.  For my skin type/hair combination, the YAG really does not work too well.) 

Actually the Alexandrites have positive reviews as far as permanent hair removal.  What you are thinking about is the RUBY lasers which were totally different and predate alexandrites by about 5-10 years.  The Alexandrites were the first lasers to be effective with regards to permanent hair removal.

Please read my posts CAREFULLY before you write something.  Alexandrites are just as effective as YAGs, if you fit the profile for the Alexandrite.  In fact if you fit the profile for an Alexandrite the newer Alexandrites are MORE effective than the YAGs.  Thats why any COMPETENT TECH HAS BOTH or a COMBO LASER (Alexandrite/YAG).

Hopefully this clears up this issue for you, because you were clearly confused about what I was stating.

Whether you go with Alexandrite or YAG is very dependant on your skin type.  But for hair removal, both are equal, as long as it is for the right skin type and color.

To Reiterate:
Alexandrite = Great for Fair Skin and dark hair, better than YAG in this regard.  Cannot be used for darker skin because it will severly damage darker skin.
YAG = Great for darker skin.  However not as effective as a newer alexandrite for fair skin/dark hair.

This is why a good tech or dermatologist has both on hand or one of the newer lasers which is combination type.
Hopefully that clarifies things for you because to me it is clear you were not reading my post. My tech is using an alexandrite on me, I fit the profile of that laser perfectly, because she knows from experience a YAG would not work as well on somebody with very fair skin and very dark hair.  Its not that the Alexandrite is a bad laser, its a great laser, just not everybody can use it.  So please get your information straight the next time you post. 

The good Alexandrites and Pulsed Diodes came out in the mid/late nineties and were the first viable laser hair removal system.  The YAGs came out around the late nineties/early 2000s.  The Rubies, which have the poor history came out in the 1980s. 

Here is a nice little Laser Hair removal breakdown if you do a search is easy enough to find:
    * Argon: 488 or 514.5 nm (not used for hair removal anymore)
    * Ruby: 694 nm (not used for hair removal anymore; not safe on most skin types)
    * Alexandrite: 755 nm (most effective, but only safe on light skin)
    * Pulsed diode array: 810 nm (for light to medium type skin)
    * Nd:YAG: 1064 nm (for darker skin)

The Argons and Rubies, were very ineffective.   The YAGs and Alexandrites are both VERY effective.  Neither is outdated.  Neither is ineffective.  Both are still widely used for both hair removal and dermatology purposes. 

Just to note.  Lightsheer is a pulsed diode array. Sorry about that, but I needed to correct myself. Lightsheer is not an alexandrite or a YAG, this is after doing some research.  Its a little bit differant.  All lightsheer, alexandrites and YAGs from the three major companies have had been upgraded over the years to improve the lasers (the machine themselves often gets new motherboards and other components to work better and have more features, these are $80,000+ machines, and there is usually a hefty service contract, so they have gone through numerous improvements over the years).  Thats why the Alexandrites around today do not have the issues they did originally (hair removal was not an issue, but some other things were) and the first YAGs and Lightsheers are vastly improved. 

I have skin type I.  Basically...Alexandrites work great for skin types I-III.  Its when you get beyond skin type III you have to use a YAG or Pulsed Diode laser.  YAGs are most effective on skin types IV-VI.  Pulsed Diode works on all pretty equally, but it works best on V and VI. 

They all have different aspects to them and how well something works and what should be used is based on your skin profile. 

Edit: There are really Only three companies making good lasers:
Lightsheer: Pulsed Diode Laser
Coolglide: Very good YAG laser
Candela: GentleLase is really the only good Alexandrite (ones other than the Candela have issues), GentleYAG is as good as the Coolglide, and GentleMax is the only viable combo YAG/ALEXANDRITE on the market.

EDIT: Sorry to get snappy. 



 

Sorry to get snappy.