Exact Answer: 1 Week To 2 Week
The intense pulse light method, or also abbreviated as IPL, is a cosmetic procedure that has gained quite a bit of popularity in recent times. An intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure is majorly done as a treatment method to treat dark spots and other irregular acne scars present on the skin.
The intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure is also used to treat skin acne and other such spots such as age spots and sunburns. This procedure is found to be highly effective and either reduce the darkness of spots or scars to a very significant extent or even vanishes them if the procedure is performed by an experienced professional and with high accuracy. However, it also depends upon the type of spots or acne and the severity of the dark spots.
How Long After IPL Can You Use Retinol?
| Concentration Of Retinol | Time |
| 0.3% to 0.7% | 5 to 6 days |
| 0.7% to 1% | 6 to 12 days |
| Above 1% | 12 to 18 days |
Multiple factors affect which a person should avoid using retinol after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure. However, the main factor which should be put under consideration while calculating the time for how long retinal should be avoided after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure is the concentration of the retinol to be used.
When the concentration of retinol used in products is considered, there the concentration can be divided into three major categories, which are, 0.3% to 0.7%, 0.7% to 1%, and lastly, more than 1%.
If a person uses retinol which has a concentration level of retinol that ranges between a minimum of 0.3% to a maximum of 0.7% then it takes the least amount of time for a person to avoid using retinol after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure. In most cases, products that have more than two active ingredients apart from retinol have this level of concentration for retinol.
For this concentration of retinol, a person should avoid using retinol after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure for about 5 days to 6 days.
If a person uses retinol which has a concentration level of retinol that ranges between a minimum of 0.7% to a maximum of 1% then it takes a longer amount of time for a person to avoid using retinol after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure as compared to products having a lesser concentration of retinol. I
n most cases, products that have more than one active ingredient apart from retinol have this level of concentration for retinol. For this concentration of retinol, a person should avoid using retinol after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure for about 6 days to 12 days.
If a person uses retinol which has a concentration level of retinol above 1% then it takes the maximum amount of time for a person to avoid using retinol after an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure. In most cases, products that have only one active ingredient, that is, retinol has this level of concentration for retinol. For this concentration of retinol, a person should avoid using retinol after intense pulsed light cosmetic procedures for about 12 days to 18 days.
Why Does It Take That Long After IPL To Use Retinol?
During the procedure of intense pulsed light cosmetic operation, a laser is used which emits pulses of a certain frequency such that the pulses deep into the skin, and crosses initial layers of the dermis, such as the epidermis.
These pulses when entering into the deep skin layers increase the collagen levels within the cells which consequently results in the replacement of old and dead skin cells and regeneration of new skin cells. As a result, an intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure helps in the regeneration of new skin.
The whole procedure of intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure takes about a minimum of 45 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour to get completed.
Conclusion
When a person uses solely, that means without any other active ingredients in the product, but just retinol then the concentration of retinol is high in such products. On the other hand, products that include multiple active ingredients in them apart from just retinol as an active ingredient have low concentrations of retinol in them.
References
- https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa021171
- https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1976.tb10390.x
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