GentleMax Pro
The laser for hair removal. It aims at the pigment in the hair root and cools the skin around it, with two wavelengths for every skin type.
A laser that tackles unwanted hair growth at its core, reduces ingrown hairs and irritation and gives lastingly smooth, calm skin. Whatever absorbs the energy heats up, the rest does not.
The therapist chooses the settings based on your skin, your health, the treatment area and the goal of the treatment.
GentleMax Pro, Candela
Which concerns we treat with it
Per concern it says which treatment is used for it. Which one suits you is established by the skin therapist at the intake.
What this device actually does
Candela's GentleMax Pro has two lasers: an alexandrite at 755 nanometres and an Nd:YAG at 1064 nanometres. The alexandrite is very strongly absorbed by melanin, the pigment that gives a hair its colour. So the energy travels down the hair shaft to the root and light skin around it stays relatively untouched.
The Nd:YAG is absorbed far less by pigment and reaches deeper. So most of the energy passes the top layer on its way to the root, which makes it the wavelength of choice for dark skin.
The pulse duration is adjustable from a quarter of a millisecond to a hundred milliseconds, and the spot size from 6 to 18 millimetres. Those are the two dials that matter: a thick, dark hair asks for something other than a fine one, and a large spot reaches deeper than a small one.
What sets this device apart is the cooling. With the Dynamic Cooling Device, Candela sprays a burst of cryogen onto the skin, milliseconds before and after the pulse. The epidermis cools back down while the hair root holds the heat. That is why higher energy is possible with this laser than would be responsible without that cooling.
Which laser do you get?
Everywhere you read that this device works on skin types I to VI. What is rarely added is why: there are two different wavelengths in it, and your skin type decides which of the two you get.
That is not a detail for technicians. It is the difference between a good treatment and a burn.
Choose your skin type and you see which of the two is used, how deep it goes and why it is the right one for you.
Choose your skin type
The Fitzpatrick scale is about how your skin responds to sun, not about how it looks. If you are not sure, it is established at the intake.
Light to medium
There is little pigment in the top layer to absorb on the way, so the 755 reaches the root. That is also why it is the stronger of the two here.
Schematic. The proportions are not accurate to the millimetre.
With skin type III we work with
755 nm
Alexandrite
Still enough difference between skin and hair root. The setting is more cautious than with type I, though, and the test patch is not a formality here.
755 nm
Alexandrite
Very strongly absorbed by pigment
On light skin this is the stronger of the two. The hair root absorbs almost everything and the skin around it barely anything, so less energy is needed for the same effect.
The other sideIf there is pigment in the top layer of the skin as well, it absorbs along. So this wavelength is not the right choice on dark skin.
1064 nm
Nd:YAG
Absorbed far less by pigment
The light largely passes the top layer and goes deeper. So this is the safe choice on skin with a lot of its own pigment, and also the better one for deep-lying hair roots.
The other sideLess absorption means less yield per pulse. More energy is needed, and that feels firmer than the alexandrite.
Where this device is meant for
On the left what this device was made for, on the right when something else does more for you.
- Hair growth on almost any area of the body
- Reducing ingrown hairs and irritation from shaving
- Adjustable to different skin types
- Pigment spots or texture. Those are other devices
- Grey or very light hair, because there is too little pigment in it
- Tanned skin
What is different from the other devices here
Several devices here do the same thing to the eye. Which one you get depends on your skin and on what was measured. Below is how they differ from one another.
- Compared with
Fotona TimeWalker
Aims at water and works on tissue. This laser aims at melanin, and that is why it hits the hair root and not the skin around it.
To the Fotona TimeWalker - Compared with
Nordlys
Is not a laser but a lamp with a bundle of wavelengths. That works less precisely on the hair root and goes less deep.
To the Nordlys - Compared with
Precision Photonic System
Works with light on the skin itself. This laser works on the hair root: two different targets.
To the Precision Photonic System
The concerns this device fits.
Every page below also says what this device is not for, and whether we treat that concern at all.
Frequently asked questions
Why this laser and not the Nordlys?
The alexandrite at 755 nanometres is strongly absorbed by the pigment in a hair, and that makes it precise on the hair root. The Nordlys works with a band instead of a single wavelength and is therefore broader but less precise on hair. Which one you get depends on your skin type and the area.
What exactly does the cooling do?
Just before and after every pulse the device sprays a burst of cryogen onto your skin. That cools the top layer back down while the heat stays in the hair root. You feel it as a cold tap around the warm pulse.
Why does it feel different on my upper lip than on my legs?
The spot size and the pulse duration are chosen per area, and the skin is not equally thick or equally sensitive everywhere. On a small, sensitive area the therapist works with a different setting than on a large one.
Is this possible on darker skin?
That depends on the setting. With more pigment in the skin the margin is smaller, so the therapist judges it beforehand. If it is not safe, we do not do it.
The difference is in the hand that operates it
The same GentleMax Pro gives a different result in two clinics. What counts is the measurement beforehand, the setting that belongs with it and the therapist who judges what suits your skin.
The measurement
Under UV and in normal light, so that you know what is there and how deep.
The setting
Strength, depth and pulse duration are chosen for your skin, not to a standard.
The honest no
If this does not fit what is going on with you, we say so.