Upper lip laser hair removal
a five-minute session

The area is narrow with sharp boundaries, so it is easy to confuse with neighbouring items on the price list:

The skin above the upper lip is thin and richly supplied with blood vessels, with the orbicularis muscle beneath it. Wax removes a layer of epidermis together with the hair — hence the typical redness lasting several hours and skin tears with a careless pull.

Laser hair removal leaves the epidermis intact — the energy is absorbed by melanin in the follicle. This matters especially if you use retinoids or acids, after which the epidermis is thinner.

A third thing: waxing above the lip needs repeating every 2–3 weeks, and between appointments the hair has to grow long enough to grip. With the laser you simply shave the area and nobody has to wait.

Position and protection. Sitting or reclining, with eye shields. We always protect the eyes when working on the face.

Sensation. Short, sharp pinpricks — the area is tiny, so the whole session is a few dozen pulses. The skin above the lip is sensitive, but the session ends before the sensation can build up.

At Velvet Skin Clinic we plan a series of 6–10 sessions in this area, every 4 weeks — intervals on the face are shorter than on the body.

The upper lip usually needs a longer series than body areas and more frequent maintenance sessions, because facial hair is strongly hormone-dependent. The range is our clinic's protocol.

There is one reason a single session is never enough: the laser only affects follicles in their growth phase (anagen). At any given moment only part of the follicles in an area are in that phase — the rest are in catagen or telogen and do not respond to light. That is why sessions are repeated at intervals, to catch successive groups of follicles as they enter anagen (Natarelli et al., 2023, PMID 36769541).

We do not use one laser for everything. The device for this area is chosen at your consultation, after assessing your skin phototype and the thickness and colour of the hair. For phototypes IV–VI, the choice of wavelength is a matter of safety, not convenience (Lee et al., 2026, PMID 41884758).

Prices apply at both clinics. The longer the series, the lower the price per session. When treating several areas at once, package prices from the full price list apply.

Laser hair removal works over a series, not from one session to the next — below is what you can realistically see at each stage in this particular area. Results are individual and depend on hair colour and thickness, skin phototype, and hormonal factors.

Why you will find no before & after photos here

Because in laser hair removal such a photo would prove nothing. You arrive at the session shaved — a condition without which the laser cannot work properly. A "before" photo would therefore show shaved skin, and an "after" photo hair-free skin. Both look the same; the difference only appears two to three weeks later, when one of them does not grow back.

It is more honest to describe what changes and when — and to show reviews from people who completed a full series. Before-and-after photos make sense for treatments with immediately visible results, and we publish them in those categories.

Below are situations specific to this area. Contraindications common to all laser treatments — photosensitising medication, photosensitive epilepsy, cancer under active treatment, recent procedures in the area — are discussed during your consultation. Complications after laser treatments and how to manage them are described in a 2026 review (Nguyen et al., PMID 41797616).