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Light based hair removal treatments work because some types of melanin will absorb the energy from certain frequencies or colours of light, and when this happens the absorbed energy will heat up the melanin. If the melanin heats up beyond a certain temperature, typically 70o Centigrade, some living cells are likely to be killed or denatured, a process called necrosis. When a successful hair removal treatment is performed the melanin in the root of the hair is heated to 70o C which kills the root, stopping it from producing more hairs.

We get our skin and hair colour from two types of melanin in our body; eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Phaeomelanin has a pink colour and is found predominantly in the skin of lighter skinned people, whereas eumelanin has a darker colour and is found in the skin of darker skinned people. Red hair gets its colour from phaeomelanin. All people have both types of melanin but the balance or predominance of one type of melanin over the other will determine our skin and hair colour. Some parts of the body however, such as the lips, normally get their colour from phaeomelanin, which explains why most people regardless of ethnicity or skin colour will have pink lips.

The two types of melanin have significantly different properties and this has an absolute effect on the effectiveness on any light-based hair removal treatment. Phaeomelanin will not change colour when exposed to Ultra Violet radiation which is why redheads burn rather than tan when exposed to sunlight. Phaeomelanin, the dominant pigment in red hair, also does not absorb light and convert it into heat, unlike eumelanin, the dominant pigment in black or brown hair, which is why IPL/Laser therapy is ineffective as a method of hair removal for people with red hair but works well for people with brown or black hair.

Women are more likely than men to get their skin colour from phaeomelanin, which to certain extent explains why they are sometimes referred to as the fairer sex and on the other hand men tend to have darker skin and hair