Skin conditions
The right laser for hair removal depends on your skin tone, not just your hair. Choosing it correctly is the difference between clearing hair and burning skin. BioPlus has treated hair and pigment across every skin tone since 1996.
Physician led. Burnaby and Richmond. Every skin tone since 1996.
Book a complimentary consultationA physician checks your skin tone, hair type and health history, then matches you to the wavelength that suits you before you decide anything.
Understanding the condition
Unwanted hair is terminal hair, the thick pigmented kind, growing in a place or an amount that bothers you.
Laser hair removal at BioPlus delivers permanent hair reduction. That means a lasting decrease in the number of hairs that grow back after a course of treatments, with occasional maintenance. It does not mean every hair is gone forever, and any clinic that promises that is promising something lasers do not do.
Your hair gets its colour from melanin, the same pigment that colours your skin. A hair removal laser sends out light that melanin absorbs, so the pigment inside the hair shaft and follicle soaks it up, turns it to heat, and damages the structures that grow the hair. This is why the treatment works best on dark hair, and why it does nothing to white, grey, red or fine blond hair, which hold too little melanin to absorb the light.
Why the hair is there
Most unwanted hair is simply normal hair you would rather not have, set by genetics and family background. It responds well to laser matched to your skin tone.
Coarse dark hair in a male pattern in women, on the upper lip, chin, jaw, chest or abdomen, driven by androgens and most often by polycystic ovary syndrome. Laser treats the hair you have, so we plan for maintenance and, where a cause is likely, help you start with a doctor.
Excess hair that is not in a male pattern and not driven by androgens. It can be inherited or linked to certain medications or conditions, and it responds to laser under the same skin-tone rules.
The BioPlus difference
Laser hair removal aims light at the melanin in your hair. Melanin also sits in your skin, and in deeper skin tones there is much more of it, so that surface pigment competes for the same light. Push a laser meant for light skin onto darker skin, and the epidermis absorbs too much energy, overheats, and leaves a burn or a dark mark that can last months. It is physics, and it is the most common reason laser hair removal goes wrong on medium and deep skin.
The wavelength is what changes the outcome. The longer the wavelength, the less it is absorbed by surface pigment, and the safer it is on darker skin. Treating hair and pigment across every skin tone is what we have done since 1996. It simply follows different rules.
Strongly absorbed by melanin and fast on dark hair, best kept to lighter skin, Fitzpatrick I to III.
The mid-range all-rounder for Fitzpatrick I to IV and selected type V, with strong cooling. Efficient on large areas such as legs and backs.
The longest common wavelength, absorbed the least by surface pigment, so it passes through a pigmented epidermis and reaches the follicle. The wavelength of choice for Fitzpatrick IV to VI, and the reason deep skin tones can be treated at all.
The evidence for 1064 nm
The research on hair removal in skin of colour points one way. A systematic review and meta-analysis in Fitzpatrick IV to VI found the long-pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser produced better hair reduction than the alexandrite laser, with less post-inflammatory pigmentation than diode lasers. Head to head against IPL on dark skin, Nd:YAG performs better with fewer side effects. BioPlus runs 1064 nm on two platforms, so a deep skin tone is treated with the wavelength the evidence supports rather than the only one in the building.
Your skin tone is the starting point of the plan, not a reason to be turned away.
How your visit works
Laser hair removal fails most often when the laser is matched to the hair and not to the skin. So the visit checks your skin first.
A physician records your Fitzpatrick skin type, reads the melanin in the area to be treated, and looks at your hair colour and thickness, because those decide the wavelength and the starting settings.
We match you to the wavelength that suits your skin tone, screen your history for hormonal drivers, and set an honest session count and schedule for your area.
Cooling protects the surface while the follicle heats, settings stay conservative, and a test patch comes first on darker or tanned skin.
We track your response across the course and plan occasional maintenance, because permanent hair reduction is kept up over time rather than finished in one visit.
How care is built
No two hair plans here are identical, because the plan follows your skin tone, your hair, the area, and whether a hormonal driver is in play.
Chosen for your skin tone. Lighter skin with dark hair can use the fast 755 nm alexandrite or the 810 nm diode. Deeper skin tones, Fitzpatrick IV to VI, are treated on the 1064 nm Nd:YAG. BioPlus carries all of these, so your plan starts from the right wavelength rather than the only one in the building.
Faces are treated about every 4 to 6 weeks, bodies about every 6 to 8, following the growth cycle in each area. Large areas such as legs and backs go quickly, while small hormonal areas such as the chin need patience and usually more sessions.
If your hair is hormonally driven, the plan says so from the start. Laser thins and softens it and maintenance keeps it in check, and where a medical cause is likely, laser works best alongside a doctor's plan.
Treatments we may use
These are the devices a hair plan here is built from. Which one treats you depends first on your skin tone, then on your hair and the area.
Dual-wavelength 755 and 1064 nm laser
A dual-wavelength laser carrying both a 755 nm alexandrite and a 1064 nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG in one system, with a Skintel reader that measures the melanin in your skin before treatment. Two wavelengths cover the whole Fitzpatrick range from one machine, so the deepest tones are treated on 1064 nm while lighter skin uses the fast 755 nm.
Why this oneCovers every skin tone from one platform, including the deepest on 1064 nm.
Learn more →810 nm diode laser
InMode's 810 nm diode laser for hair removal, a large-spot, high-speed device with built-in contact cooling. At 810 nm it sits in the middle of the wavelength ladder, a strong all-rounder for Fitzpatrick I to IV and a fast choice for large areas such as backs and legs. For the deepest tones the evidence favours 1064 nm instead.
Why this oneA fast, well-evidenced diode workhorse for lighter to medium skin and large areas.
Learn more →1064 nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG
The 1064 nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser inside the Fotona SP Dynamis, run in a dedicated hair removal mode. This is a separate function from the Fotona 4D facial protocol, which treats collagen and texture and does not remove hair. As a 1064 nm route it spares the surface while the follicle heats, giving a second deep-skin option alongside the Elite iQ.
Why this oneA second 1064 nm route for darker skin tones and patients turned away elsewhere.
Learn more →BioPlus by the numbers
What to expect
Most people need a full course of 6 to 8 sessions, sometimes more for hormonal facial hair. Faces are spaced about 4 to 6 weeks apart, bodies about 6 to 8 weeks.
None to about a day of redness and small goosebump-like swelling around the follicles. Makeup and normal activity are usually fine the same or next day.
Treated hairs shed over the following 1 to 3 weeks, which can look like slow regrowth and is actually the hair leaving. Across a full course, most people with dark hair see a large, lasting drop in how much grows back.
Sunscreen on any exposed area, and skip heat, heavy sweating and friction for 24 to 48 hours. Before each session, shave the area and avoid waxing, plucking, threading and tanning.
Here is the honest version. A full course gives most people with dark hair a large, lasting drop in how much hair grows back, and what returns is usually finer and lighter. It is permanent hair reduction, not the end of hair forever. Fine and dormant follicles can switch on later, and hormones can prompt new growth, which is why occasional maintenance sessions keep results where you want them. Hormonally driven hair, from polycystic ovary syndrome for example, needs maintenance as a matter of course, and works best when a doctor is treating the hormone alongside the laser. Results vary from person to person, and your physician will tell you what is realistic for you.
We match the laser to your skin, not your skin to the laser.
The BioPlus approach to laser hair removal
Questions patients ask
Not completely, and the honest term is permanent hair reduction. A full course gives most people with dark hair a large, lasting drop in regrowth, and what comes back is usually finer and lighter, but fine or dormant follicles can reactivate and hormones can prompt new growth, so occasional maintenance sessions keep results steady. Any clinic promising to remove every hair forever is promising something lasers do not deliver.
Yes. With the right wavelength and settings, dark skin is treated routinely, and BioPlus has done it since 1996. The key is the 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser, which surface pigment absorbs the least, so it reaches the follicle without overheating the skin. A systematic review in Fitzpatrick IV to VI skin found this wavelength gave better hair reduction than the alexandrite laser and fewer dark marks than diode lasers. The burns and dark spots people worry about come from the wrong laser on the wrong skin, usually a clinic with only one device. Choosing the wavelength for your skin tone is the whole job.
Yes. Asian skin spans a wide range of tones, and each is treatable with the wavelength that suits it, lighter tones on alexandrite or diode, deeper tones on 1064 nm Nd:YAG. The main risk on medium and deep skin is a dark mark after treatment, called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and it is avoided by matching the laser to the skin, cooling well and starting conservatively with a test patch. This is exactly the assessment your consultation does.
It should not, when it is done correctly, and preventing dark spots is the reason wavelength and settings are chosen so carefully. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation happens when the skin absorbs too much laser energy and reacts with extra pigment, a risk that rises with deeper skin tones and the wrong device. On darker skin we use 1064 nm, cool the surface, keep settings conservative and test first. If you have a history of dark marks after a spot or a shave, tell us, because it changes the plan.
Most people need a full course of 6 to 8 sessions, with hormonal facial hair often needing more. Sessions are spaced about 4 to 6 weeks apart on the face and 6 to 8 weeks on the body, because the laser can only affect follicles in their active growth phase and that timing differs by area. After the course, occasional maintenance sessions keep the result where you want it. Your exact number depends on your hair, your skin tone and the area, and your physician gives you a plan at consultation.
Most people find it very manageable. Each pulse feels like a warm pinprick or a light elastic snap against the skin, and the devices cool the surface as they work. The 1064 nm setting stings a little more than the others, and sensitive areas such as the upper lip or bikini line can be numbed with a topical cream beforehand. It is far quicker and less drawn out than waxing.
A laser sends out one precise wavelength, while IPL sends a broad flash of many wavelengths at once. That difference matters most on darker skin, where IPL's broadband light is absorbed across the whole surface and raises the risk of burns and dark marks, and where a single-wavelength laser such as 1064 nm can be aimed past the surface pigment. IPL can work on lighter skin, though it is generally less effective than a true laser and less forgiving on deep skin tones. BioPlus uses lasers for hair, and matches the wavelength to your skin.
No, not reliably. Laser hair removal targets the melanin that gives hair its dark colour, so white, grey, red and fine blond hair, which hold little or no melanin, do not absorb enough light to respond. If most of your unwanted hair is pale or grey, laser is not the right tool, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a course that will not work. Electrolysis is the option that does not depend on pigment.
Yes, and it helps, with realistic expectations. Laser thins and reduces the hair you have, which many people with polycystic ovary syndrome find genuinely worthwhile, but it does not change the hormones prompting new follicles to grow, so expect to need more sessions and ongoing maintenance. Hormonal hair is usually managed best with laser and a doctor's plan together. If coarse hair appeared suddenly or came with other changes, we will help you start with a medical assessment first.
Cost depends on the area treated and the number of sessions, so a real price comes after we see your skin and hair. Your consultation at BioPlus is complimentary, and you leave it with a written plan and exact pricing, so the decision is yours to make at home. Treatment is a private esthetic service and is not covered by MSP.
Related concerns
Prices and booking
Prices by area, body-area details and both locations sit on our laser hair removal page.
Dark marks and tone
The same care with wavelength and skin tone that keeps hair removal safe on deep skin runs the pigmentation plan too.
Texture and firmness
Many of the same platforms treat texture, firmness and fine lines, so a longer list can be planned together.
Complimentary consultation
The right laser for you depends on your skin tone, your hair and your health, and matching them is what a physician-led clinic is for. Bring yours to a team that has treated every skin tone since 1996. Your consultation is complimentary. A physician reads your skin, checks your hair and history, and builds your plan before you decide anything.
Book a complimentary consultationExplore treatmentsOur services are private esthetic services and are not covered by MSP.