“I’m in this business to make people happy,” says Kristen Haines, whose intimate Euphoria Spa has been a Tribeca mainstay for eight years now. “But I also want results for my labor. I don’t want to spend two hours on someone’s back and not see any hair fall out!”

We’re talking about treatments involving IPL, or Intense Pulsed Light, and I had just remarked on how passionate she was about what it can do. “Most of our IPL business is from referrals,” she says. “Our clients are happy with the results.”

And when people are passionate, I get inquisitive….

What is IPL for?
It can do a lot of different things, but we specialize in three: Skin rejuvenation, hair removal, and skin tightening. With sun damage, for instance, it’s an effective way to get rid of browns and reds—anytime someone has sun spots, broken capillaries, or a rudiness to the skin, it helps to reduce it.

Does it hurt?
No. When the light pulsates on the skin, it feels like a snap with a rubber band.

Take me through the process, not that my skin needs it….
[She pauses for a second, looking at my skin and politely ignoring my statement.] We put a gel on the skin, and then we just glide the tip over—it has two cooling bars that automatically cool and numb the skin. The light is attracted to the melanin, so any dark spots absorb the heat. At first, they get a shade or two darker, and then, over the next couple of weeks, they flake off. (You can exfoliate but you don’t want to pick the spots off. The important thing is to ensure your skin is hydrated.) To remove the spots entirely, you need between three and six sessions, depending on how long the damage has been there and how deep it is.

[At this point we’re interrupted by a client saying hi. She’s visiting the spa in preparation for the Emmys.]

So IPL works similarly for hair removal? It’s possible I’d be more of a candidate for that.
A lot of men and women get it for hair removal. The light travels down the hair to the follicle. The hair has to be in a certain stage for IPL to work—which is why you need a few treatments, so you get every hair when it’s in the right part of its growth cycle. New York magazine called us the best hair removal experts in New York, and IPL is so much about knowing who’s a good candidate. We won’t just offer it to anyone who makes an appointment. But it really is life-changing for some people—such as people who get ingrown hairs.

You mentioned “skin tightening.” What does that mean exactly?
Your collagen breaks down over time. People try to firm their skin up by putting collagen on the skin, but collagen needs to be produced—you can’t just add to it. With IPL, the heat from the light bypasses the surface of the skin and goes under to the collagen, which it heats up so the skin has to produce more—that’s the gist, anyway.

But where do people tend to get their skin tightened?
The biggest area is right here [she points to the folds that develop above the mouth]. They’re called labial folds or “marionette lines.” Women start seeing them develop in their late 30s or early 40s. Fine lines are not unattractive; they add character. But the changing shape is what drives people crazy. And IPL really works on that. It firms it up! If you pull the skin back a bit you can see how you’ll look. IPL is also used to fix jawline drooping, and you can lift the brow, making you look more awake. The treatment schedule is similar for hair removal or skin rejuvenation—three to six treatments every five weeks—but while you’ll see an immediate effect, in this case, it doesn’t last. It’s like going to the gym. But three treatments lasts three months, and six treatments lasts about a year. So it’s fairly long-term.

Why would I get IPL at Euphoria Spa and not somewhere else?
The main reason is our aestheticians: They have tons of experience. We’ve been doing IPL for five or six years, and we have the same people working here. You know who you’re going to get each time. We do it on each other! We know what to expect.

So you’ve done it?
Oh, yeah. I get it for everything. Except I’ve been pregnant forever, so I’ve had to stop for a while.

How long does a session take?
Anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours. And over time, the treatments take less time. And you feel less over time.

Not that it hurts….
It doesn’t!

And what does it cost?
That entirely depends. We have to do a free consultation because we can’t tell how many treatments you’ll need—or how long the treatments will be—without seeing you. And there are people who aren’t eligible. You need to have been out of the sun for at least around two weeks. The light is attracted to melanin, and the last thing you want is to burn the skin. You can’t be on any light-sensitive antibiotics. You can’t have reddish or blonde hair. Some people with blonde hair still get IPL because they have dark hairs mixed in.

But I imagine one could save a ton of money over the long run, because you don’t have to buy all that shaving stuff.
Actually, Glamour just did a study on shaving: Over their lifetimes, women spend $10,000 on shaving—and that doesn’t even include waxing. And think about all the time you could’ve saved if you could have skipped shaving for the past 25 years! We’re seeing a lot of teenagers getting IPL for hair removal, because why wouldn’t you avoid the hassle of hair removal if you could? Plus, with waxing, you have to let the hair grow for three weeks or so—which can be humiliating for anyone, and especially teenagers.

Euphoria Spa is at 18 Harrison, just down the street from the Harrison restaurant. To book a free consultation, call 212-925-5925.

Sponsored by Euphoria Spa.