Many people want to show off their newly hairless body with a beautiful tan, but please want until you are done with all the treatments. Lasers and tanned skin don’t go well together.
People with tanned skin have been generally discouraged from traditional laser hair removal treatments because tanning changes their natural skin pigmentation. During a laser hair removal procedure, light energy is directed to the skin where the unwanted hair is located. The skin absorbs some of the laser energy before it reaches the hair follicles. How much energy is absorbed will be determined by the skin color. Tanned skin will usually absorb excess amounts of light energy and can cause burning or discoloration after treatment. Therefore, to treat a tanned patient, the laser energy must be turned down to prevent burning. This, in turn, decreases the effectiveness of the light energy to kill unwanted hair follicles.
Even using sunless tanning lotions will have the same effect.
You should also avoid sun expose for a week or two after a laser hair removal treatment as this can cause easier burning since the laser treatment gives a slight sunburn effect (but without the UVA or UVB dangers.). If you do go out in the sun put on at least SPF 30 sunscreen.
So for your best laser hair removal experience and results we recommend avoiding tanning the area being treated and limit sun exposure and always use a SPF 30+ sunscreen.
What we recommend to our clients is a mineral based sunscreen which is free of paraben or formaldehyde releasing preservatives. ColoreScience produces such a sunscreen which works very well. Please contact us, Bella Pelle Laser for more information on this product line or the Sense preservative free skin care line as well.