- On moles, freckles, large veins, darker pigmented areas, scars, skin
anomalies without consulting your doctor. This can result in a burn
and change of colour, which makes it potentially harder to identify
skinrelated diseases (e.g. skin cancer).
- On nipples, areolas and mucous areas (inner vagina and anus).
- On warts, tattoos or permanent make-up. This can result in a burn and
change of colour.
- After intensive sunbathing and/or on sunburnt skin or if you use suntan
accelerators. See chapter ‘Preparing for use’, section ‘Tanning advice’ for
more information.
- If you use long-lasting deodorants. This can result in skin reactions. See
chapter ‘Using the appliance’, section ‘Possible side effects and skin
reactions’.
- If you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
How Philips’ Intense Pulsed Light technology works
Hair growth
Depending on age, metabolism and other factors, everyone’s hair grows
differently, but hair normally grows in three phases:
1 Anagen phase (growing phase)
The hair grows actively from the root. In this phase the concentration
of melanin is highest. Melanin is responsible for the pigmentation of the
hair. The more melanin there is in the root, the darker the hair is. Melanin
concentration is also the determining factor for the efcacy of this method.
Only hairs in the anagen phase are susceptible to treatment with light.
2 Catagen phase (degradation phase)
The hair growth stops and the root shrinks before the hair sheds.
3 Telogen phase (resting phase)
The old hair separates from the root and sheds. The root remains at rest
until the biological clock tells it to become active again and grow a new
hair. Hairs on an area of skin are usually in different stages of the cycle of
hair growth.
Working principle
The appliance works by heating up the hair and root beneath the skin.
The melanin in the hair and hair root absorbs the released light pulses. The
darker the colour of the hair, the more heat can be absorbed. This process
stimulates the hair to go into the resting phase.
The hair now sheds naturally and the hair growth is inhibited. Hairs can
take one or two weeks to shed. Optimal hair removal cannot be obtained
with a single session, since only hairs in the anagen phase are susceptible
to treatment with light. During a treatment, hairs on the treated area are
usually in different stages of the cycle of hair growth.
To treat all hairs successfully and prevent the hair root from becoming
active again, the treatments have to be repeated once every two weeks
for the rst two months. Your skin should be smooth and hair free by then.
To ensure that you keep these results, it is advised that you keep repeating
treatments every two weeks on the underarms and bikini line. On the legs,
however, regrowth of hair is usually slower. Therefore, a treatment once
every four weeks should also be sufcient to keep your legs smooth and
hair free. If too many hairs grow back in these four weeks, then simply
shorten the interval between treatments again, but do not treat more
often than once every two weeks.
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