IPL vs Shaving: Which Is Better?
Why IPL Is More Effective Than Shaving
IPL vs shaving: which hair removal method is better for you? This guide compares both options in terms of results, convenience, skin feel, treatment frequency and long-term maintenance, helping you decide whether traditional shaving or at-home IPL better fits your routine.
That’s an excellent question. And thankfully, all excellent questions come with equally excellent answers — the reason IPL is more effective is actually very simple. It’s all about the light, wavelengths, and power.
Light therapy is incredibly beneficial to your skin, but we will expand on that later. For now, we want to focus on the hair removal side of things. How does it work? With fast, powerful bursts of light.
"But wouldn’t that be painful?"
Not at all — in fact, depending on the type of glass that is built in the lamp of your device, it can be virtually pain-free. You will feel some heat from a lamp that uses standard glass, but crystal glass makes all the difference;
"So how can we tell if it’s functioning properly?"
With patience. The only downside is that it will potentially take a while to see those highly anticipated results, but it’s very worth it. Allow us to explain below why it takes a while, and why using IPL every day would not speed up the process in any way (which, additionally, we highly advise against doing).
Your hair grows back all the time, and has a life cycle of its very own. You see, it’s made of a protein called keratin — you may already be aware of the fact that your nail is made from the same protein. Well, much like the way your nails grow back after you’ve trimmed them, your hair is exactly the same. More specifically, it regenerates, and essentially never stops growing until you get older and your hair starts to thin out a little more, as is normal. Exceptions for this rule can be observed in men, some as young as 20, who suffer from Male Pattern Baldness – this is caused by an over-production of the DHT hormone, present in men, and this is mostly due to genetics.
How does all of that relate to the efficacy of IPL?
The technology inside an IPL uses light, which targets the melanin inside the root of your hair follicles. From there, the hair itself acts like a conductor for the light. Take a look at the illustration:
Anagen is the active growth phase, during which IPL is the most effective. Now, without diving too much into logistics, this is exactly the reason why IPL is likely to take some time. It will vary from person to person, based on so many factors (as everyone’s hair grows at different speeds and rates). But mostly, it depends on which stages the majority of your hair is at currently. At any given moment, around 90% of your hair is in its active growth stage. This means the Anagen stage.
Your hair will then fall out as it regenerates itself. This refers to the Catagen and Telogen stages. The old hair follicle will detach itself from its blood supply, until it sheds, weakens, and falls out. So yes, some of the hair attached to your head and body are not actually actively growing but instead holding on to your scalp, where they’ll eventually fall out. This is all a very normal and natural process.
Now, as aforementioned, IPL is most effective during the Anagen phase. Why? Because your hair is exactly like a conductor, like metal is to electricity. As you can see, when IPL targets a hair that is in its Catagen or Telogen stage, it is not directly targeting the root as there is no physical connection to it – yet. This is why you need to wait for your hair to reach different phases of growth before you start to see fully permanent hair removal results, while actively using IPL in between.
IPL is more effective than waxing, shaving, and epilating altogether because it’s faster, easier, and it doesn’t hurt. But scientifically speaking, it’s the best method of permanent hair removal out there. Once the light has targeted the root of your hair follicles enough times, it will eventually kill them, thus completely eradicating them and stopping regrowth on a permanent basis (as it will never be able to grow back). Shaving and waxing only scratch the surface, as you can see in the illustration above.
As you can see, the life cycle of your individual hair follicles is split into 3 different phases: Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen.
Anagen is the active growth phase, during which IPL is the most effective. Now, without diving too much into logistics, this is exactly the reason why IPL is likely to take some time. It will vary from person to person, based on so many factors (as everyone’s hair grows at different speeds and rates). But mostly, it depends on which stages the majority of your hair is at currently. At any given moment, around 90% of your hair is in its active growth stage. This means the Anagen stage.
Your hair will then fall out as it regenerates itself. This refers to the Catagen and Telogen stages. The old hair follicle will detach itself from its blood supply, until it sheds, weakens, and falls out. So yes, some of the hair attached to your head and body are not actually actively growing but instead holding on to your scalp, where they’ll eventually fall out. This is all a very normal and natural process.
Now, as aforementioned, IPL is most effective during the Anagen phase. Why? Because your hair is exactly like a conductor, like metal is to electricity. As you can see, when IPL targets a hair that is in its Catagen or Telogen stage, it is not directly targeting the root as there is no physical connection to it – yet. This is why you need to wait for your hair to reach different phases of growth before you start to see fully permanent hair removal results, while actively using IPL in between.
What About Waxing?
Waxing removes hair temporarily but does not prevent future growth.
IPL is more effective than waxing, shaving, and epilating all together because it’s faster, easier, and it doesn’t hurt. But scientifically speaking, it’s the best method of permanent hair removal out there. Once the light has targeted the root of your hair follicles enough times, it will eventually kill them, thus completely eradicating them and stopping re-growth on a permanent basis (as it will never be able to grow back). Shaving and waxing only scratches the surface, as you can see in the illustration above.
Waxing pulls hair out from the follicle, giving smoother skin for longer than shaving. However, it does not permanently disable the follicle, so the hair gradually grows back as the natural growth cycle continues.
The same applies to epilation, which removes hair from the root without targeting the follicle’s ability to produce new hair. Shaving only cuts hair at the skin’s surface, so regrowth usually becomes visible sooner.
IPL works differently by delivering controlled light energy to suitable hair follicles. With consistent use, it can help reduce the speed, thickness and visibility of future hair growth.
Now, earlier, we mentioned that IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) is very beneficial for your skin beyond just hair removal. We don’t just refer to skin rejuvenation or acne reduction lamps, however – even hair removal lamp is good for your skin. IPL helps to cut the hair follicle off from its blood supply while also targeting the oil glands surrounding it. These oil glands are often responsible for many dermatologic issues, like acne and pimples.
The good news is that IPL helps eliminate these issues, making your skin silky smooth to the touch. However, underneath the epidermis of your skin lie sweat glands — essential for your body’s cooling mechanism. IPL will not affect these glands, so you can sweat normally and stay cool even in hot weather.
So what are you waiting for? Explore our IPL devices and find the perfect product for your skin needs!
Hair Removal That Lasts
Unlike shaving or waxing, FAUSTINA IPL targets hair at the root, offering long-term hair reduction with just a few sessions. With up to 500,000 flashes, it’s built to last for years of full-body treatments.
