Hi there! And welcome to another posting on the Esthetician’s Corner Blog, the place where Spa Owners learn the things that school probably didn’t teach them! In this post we’re going to be going over the main benefits associated with an IPL Machine vs a Laser Hair removal unit & as well just generally looking at what these machines are capable of and how quickly they can do it. I mean it’s seriously impressive. So awaaay we go:
- IPL is faster than laser, waxing or electrolysis…
When comparing effective time spent that you’ll be delivering the treatment IPL hair removal is WAY faster than anything else out there. Regular laser hair removal means eliminating every single hair on an individual level and even then it only permanent reduction in the hair regrowth, not an actual permanent removal. Furthermore these sessions can take hours to get through and be noticeably painful throughout.
On the flipside, you have waxing which although offers relatively little permanent benefit can be done very quickly, over large areas, and if done correctly with little pain (although if you follow the 3 step Cirepil Wax process, your waxing can be painless!). These sessions should be over in about 15-30 minutes depending on what’s being done.
Third, we have electrolysis. This is the slowest method for removing hair, and it needs to be done on each individual hair, however it is the ONLY permanent form of hair removal. Even IPL can’t guarantee a permanent elimination of the hair. With electrolysis you’re likely to pay by the minute for your sessions so they can typically last quite a varying amount of time. Depending on your practitioner/your personal preferences, electrolysis can be somewhat painful or totally painless (depending on if they/you use a numbing cream). Another factor that will determine comfort levels is the type of filament that they’re using, personally we always recommend Ballet Electrolysis needles . Gold and Insulated are going to be the most comfortable treatments, however stainless steel will offer the most value.
And then finally we have IPL. These guys cover a small area of hair with every flash, on our machines, those flashes come in at 1 flash per 1 second on our top end model, or 2.4 seconds on our lower end model. In other words we can remove all your hair in under 10 minutes (during a speed contest anyways). It’s not totally permanent, but it’s way faster than anything else. Expect your sessions to be in an out in under 10 minutes.
- IPL Machines can do more than one type of treatment:
Lasers are just lasers, waxing is just waxing, and electrolysis is just electrolysis. They can only fulfill their one intended purpose. IPL machines on the other hand can do up to 6 different types of treatments! Anti-acne, photo-rejuvenation, varicose veins, dark spot removal, dark hair removal AND (in our case) light (blond, white & grey) hair removal! Check out these results:
For Acne Treatment:
For Dark Spot/Pigmentation Treatment:
For a varicose vein treatment:
- IPL Treatments are very low cost making them super profitable:
Another super important factor for any business is the bottom line, the profits. Although the high price tag of an IPL machine can seem prohibitive… you have to remember your only paying about 0.05-0.12$ per flash. If you do a full back hair removal, it should take you about 400 flashes to get the job done. This means your total cost will be from $20-$48 depending on how you purchase your flash packs (discussed below). For a job like this you should charge your client roughly around the $300-$400 mark because you can’t forget about your other costs.
Other costs to remain aware of, your hourly wage (super important), your monthly space rent, the cost of any additional products used in the treatment, the marketing costs you put into the treatments, and of course the cost of the machine itself!
Now then going back to point #1 of how quick an IPL machine can work, most of your appointments should be about 10 minutes long by the time consultation and setup for the treatments is done. If you work a full 8 hour day, and you take a 1 hour lunch, that still leaves you with 42 ten minute slots to fill with clients. It definitely make even more sense if you have an assistant or receptionist to help people check in and sell the complimenting retail items. But even if you did half that amount, you could still be turning out up wards of $1000 per day if you’re only doing $50 services!
Another great way that we see a lot of IPL owners making the big bucks, is by selling packages of services and getting clients to pre-book their next 5-10 sessions. Get in touch with our office to find out more about our IPL profitability study.
- IPLs are pay as you go:
What’s also great about these machines is they are designed for the casual users as well as the full-time professional. In order for the IPL to function, flashpacks need to be purchased (60,000 flashes are always included with your first purchase of the machine) in order to re-stock. The number of flashes available can always be seen in the settings menu of your IPL machine. This allows you to optimize your business costs based on your actual usage of the machine. Regardless of treatment type flash charges are the same price and type.
- IPL Machines are generally safer:
Using an IPL on your clients, means you’re not concentrating light for a lengthy period of time, a quick one second flash, and it’s over, preventing any burns from happening. In our EuroFeedBack Anthelia & Adena models, we have a special Energy Compensation system that allows for a perfect flash every single time. IPLs who don’t have this feature fade over time and take longer to complete the flash. Because of their adjustability, & patented double filter system (that only allows the correct light to shine through), they’re able to be used on any skin type. These things seriously have a lot of patents on them, 24 in total to be exact.
In terms of design, any good IPL (not just ours) should be using squared pulses of light. Of course ours do, but the reason this is important is because it allows us to better regulate the flashes coming out of each handpiece. When it comes to machines not using squared pulses, here's what can and will happen over time:
- IPL Machines are reliable… well at least ours are:
Our EFB Anthelia & Adena IPL’s are top of the line when it comes to reliability! EFB (the manufacturer) guarantees a 95% efficiency rate over the ENTIRE lifetime of the hand-pieces (the parts that administer the flash) thanks to their patented Energy Regulating System, Xenon lamps (that never degrade in efficiency), integrated water cooling system and 8 more patented secret technologies that they won’t tell us about, these things are basically infallible. Furthermore they’re backed by a full end to end 2 & 3 year warranty!
- IPL Machines come with Health Canada Certified Training:
Unlike many “certifications” out there our fully included 2 day training with an IPL Expert is included with the purchase of any machine AND Is Health Canada Certified! The course is half theory, half practice so by the end of it you or your staff should be super comfortable to work right after the training. Additional training can be had at an additional cost if future employees also need to be trained.
- EuroFeedBack IPL Machines can also handle blonde & white hairs:
Hahaha and THIS is our trump card over every other form of IPL or Laser hair removal device! EFB Anthelia and Adena machines are THE ONLY IPL machines in the world that are capable of removing blond, white & grey hairs. How do they do this? Well it looks a whole lot like normal hair removal, however through a special patented process, it does everything differently. I’d love to give you the juicy details, but because it’s a patented secret sauce there’s not a lot more to say other than these two machines can do it and others can’t because most laser/light based hair removal because of the lack of melanin (pigmentation) in the hair follicles. True story.
- EuroFeedBack IPL Machines can also get “Global Over-Air” updates for Software:
BONUS fact! Certain of our IPL machines are specially equipped from the manufacturer with the ability to receive updates over the air via a wifi connection. This means no matter where you are in the world, your Adena model can receive the latest software version without any manual work! This feature will also soon be available on the Anthelia models as well! This helps to further improve and optimize the machines based on the feedback received from every other model equipped with the same technology. It’s a lot like those fancy Tesla cars!
So there you have it folks, 9 reasons why every spa, salon or clinic should be using an IPL machine. Expensive, but a worthwhile investment when you consider how much time and money your saving to give your clients the best treatments. Of course the effects provided by the IPLs are also perfectly complimented when using good skin care. Keep up that retail ladies and gents!
For a bit more information on our EFB Anthelia and Adena models , check out this page or watch the video below:
