Hair removal techniques have come a long way since the early aughts. First, there were more manual methods — think shaving, epilating and waxing — and then came IPL, which was heralded as the saviour of the hirsute.
But if you’ve tried IPL, you know that it isn’t the revelation that it’s made out to be. For one, IPL isn’t painless — it’s merely less painful than having your short hairs physically ripped from your skin. Because of the intense blasts of heat used to damage the hair follicles, some people can experience a pain that’s akin to having a rubber band snapped onto the skin with each shot — and that’s not to mention the potential side effects, such as skin peeling, swelling, and even infection. For people with just the slightest of tans, IPL is entirely out of the question.
Enter Super Hair Removal. The hyperbolically named treatment is touted as the next best thing in the hair removal game for various reasons: You’ll feel next to nothing during your treatment and you’ll get faster results. And thanks to the gentler pulses of energy used, SHR is suitable even for darker skin tones.
We recently visited Peachy Skin Bar to find out just how it works and how it differs from IPL. At the spa, you’ll be greeted by an Instagram-inspired fever dream — there’s a tub filled with complimentary champagne and spirits — but don’t be mistaken. The spa’s seasoned therapists are consummate professionals, and will take the time to explain how the treatment works.
Unlike IPL, which releases light directly into the dermis to destroy hair follicles, SHR uses half its energy to target the melanin, which results in less damage and pain, with the other half channeled towards the cells responsible for hair growth, which gives faster — and longer lasting — results.
Once you’re on the bed, the therapist will help shave your harder-to-reach bits before applying a cooling gel to the area. The SHR device is then applied to the skin in sweeping strokes. There’s no uncomfortable heat, and each pulse feels like — at most — a gentle tap on the skin.
After the treatment, Peachy Skin Bar provides clients with a soothing oxygen spray to the treated area, delivering a cocktail of hydrating ingredients into the skin to help speed up recovery, before applying a final hydrating mask that helps lighten scars and pigmentation.
Our therapist was upfront and said that it’d take a minimum of four sessions to see results, though that’s still two fewer than the average IPL treatment cycle. It’s where Peachy Skin Bar’s unique membership structure shines: The spa operates on a credit-based system, allowing customers to mix-and-match whatever treatments they want — no hard-selling or hidden costs included.
Satisfied with your results from four sessions of SHR? You can use the rest of your credits to try Peachy’s rave-reviewed omakase facial, which grants you access to any of the spa’s medical-grade equipment to address your skin’s needs. Other signature treatments include the V-Face facial — which utilises topical Botox and radio frequency to give you sculpted cheekbones and a defined jawline — and the Time Freeze treatment, which uses live cryo-cells from plants to help your skin cells repair and regenerate.
In the days following the treatment, hair regrowth was noticeably softer and finer — we imagine future treatments would go as smoothly. Now, who said that beauty is pain?
For more information, visit Peachy Skin Bar’s website.