Will dying blond body hair darker help with laser hair removal?

Question

I know that laser hair removal works by the light and heat of the laser seeking out dark pigment of the hairs. I hear both that laser hair removal on blond hair is completely ineffective and adversely that there are newer lasers that actually work well on blond hairs. My question is that if I were to dye my little fine blond hairs on my body dark before getting laser removal, would this increase the effectiveness of the laser hair removal at all?

Jeff Angobaldo, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. Dying blond hair does not make laser hair removal effective. There are no Lasers on the market that can remove blond or red colored hair.  Consult with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeons office for the best treatment options.

Melinda Lirag Lacerna-Kimbrell, MD, FACS · Answer

Unfortunately, no. When you dye hair it doesn't go beyond the scalp surface and when laser hair removal is performed, the laser targets the follicle which is not effected by dye.Thank you for your question.Melinda Lacerna, MD FACS

Steven F. Weiner, MD · Answer

This has been tried and it doesn't work. No laser works for blonde hair. The laser needs a pigmented target to heat up. The dye doesn't go down to the germinal cells that create the hair so heat doesn't go down deep either. Electrolysis will work. The microwaves associated with the Miradry have been approved for removal of all hair colors just recently. You might want to research that. I only think they have an attachment for underarm area currently.

Kent V. Hasen, MD · Answer

Unfortunately, laser hair removal only works on dark hair because the laser targets the pigment in the hair follicle.  Dying hair blonde will not change the actual hair follicle pigment, so this will not allow the laser to be effective.  You may consider electrolysis to remove blonde hair.

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Will dying blond body hair darker help with laser hair removal?

Answers (4)

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