Nordlys
IPL works with a range of wavelengths rather than one. So it is broadly usable and goes less deep than a laser.
IPL sends not a single wavelength into the skin but a range, with a filter that takes out the coarsest part. So it hits several targets at once: redness, visible vessels and surface pigment. On average it goes less deep than a laser.
The therapist chooses the settings based on your skin, your health, the treatment area and the goal of the treatment.
Nordlys, 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 Nordlys is not a laser but IPL: intense pulsed light. A laser emits one wavelength, IPL a band. Candela calls its variant Selective Waveband Technology: two filters cut the top and bottom off the spectrum, leaving a narrower band than ordinary IPL, with pulses shorter than a millisecond.
Which band comes out depends on the applicator. The manufacturer supplies several, from 530 to 750 nanometres for pigment to 645 to 950 nanometres for hair growth. Every band is chosen around what it has to hit: haemoglobin in a vessel, melanin in a spot.
The same device can also work with an Nd:YAG at 1064 nanometres, and with fractional lasers at 1550 and 1940 nanometres. Those go deeper than the IPL light and do different work.
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.
- Redness and visible vessels on the face
- Surface pigment across a large area
- Working fast where reach counts for more than precision
- Anything deep. The light does not reach there
- One specific spot; a laser is more precise for that
- Every skin type
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
One wavelength per mode, right down into the dermis. The Nordlys works more broadly and more superficially, and that suits vessels and pigment sitting just under the skin.
To the Fotona TimeWalker - Compared with
GentleMax Pro
One wavelength, aimed at the hair root. The Nordlys is less suited to that, and better suited to redness.
To the GentleMax Pro - Compared with
Precision Photonic System
Works with light that calms the skin. The Nordlys aims at the red in blood and uses heat for that.
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
Is IPL the same as laser?
No. A laser emits one wavelength, IPL a band. So that band hits several things at once – redness, vessels and surface pigment – and on average goes less deep.
Why does a spot get darker first?
That is part of it. The pigment comes to the surface before it fades, and that takes a number of days. It does not mean it is getting worse.
What decides which applicator I get?
What the treatment is aimed at. For pigment the therapist chooses a different band than for hair growth; that is why there are several.
Can this be done on my legs or back too?
IPL works across a large area and that is exactly its strength. Whether it suits your concern depends on what is there and how deep.
The difference is in the hand that operates it
The same Nordlys 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.