Your common beauty questions, answered – Body

Q. I would love to know more about laser hair removal for the face. Any info please?

“At You by Sia we have had over 10 years experience in assisting clients with facial hair removal. We use the Candela lasers that are highly effective and extremely reputable. We are able to treat all skin types too. With regards to treating facial hair, it is a hormonal form of hair growth and unfortunately tends to be ongoing. Having said that, it’s still the best method of hair removal, as one is hair-free for up to five weeks and the hair will get thinner and finer, leaving no ‘shadow’ effect. Facial hair for women is very common and very embarrassing for most, so laser hair removal can be a fantastic ‘fix’.” – Sia, You by Sia.

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Q. I’ve been interested in IPL for a little while, but have heard that hair grows back during pregnancy. I’m in my early twenties and my ideal childbearing age is within the next lot of years or so – should I wait until after I’ve had kids or is it just a myth? (IPL is too expensive to go through twice!)

“I would recommend using laser [rather than IPL] for treating hair removal. Pregnancy can cause hair to increase if previously removed, but with laser you can be hair-free for up to five to six weeks and it’s a great way to reduce hair growth. With pregnancy, not all the hair will return but some may come back in certain hormonal areas of hair growth.” – Sia, You by Sia.

Q. I would love to know more about IPL and other treatments for reducing pigmentation and freckles. I’m interested in what works, what doesn’t, side effects etc.

“Again, I would use laser to remove pigmentation [rather than IPL] as it’s precise. There are certain skin types that are not candidates for laser pigmentation removal and there are also certain types of pigmentation that cannot be removed using any laser or IPL machine.

[At You by Sia, we are] very successful in removing and reducing pigmentation, as that’s been our speciality for the last 10 years. As pigmentation is very complex, it’s not as simple as just having a laser treatment or using one skin care product. It also depends on the type of pigmentation being addressed, [whether it’s] hormonal, UV pigmentation or post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation. They all have to be addressed differently.

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Once pigmentation has been faded or removed, it is vital to maintain the results through specific skin care products to prevent it resurfacing, as it will always be there underneath the skin. If one doesn’t follow an ongoing skin care routine, then the pigment will resurface anywhere from 10 to 12 months [later].

There are [also] certain skin treatments, such as chemical peels, microdermabrasion or excessive exfoliation treatments that can cause photosensitivity, leading to more pigmentation from sun/UV exposure.” – Sia, You by Sia.

Did you learn something new from Sia’s answers? Are there any other questions you’d love to ask?