Harlem salon offers laser treatments for customers with darker skin

HARLEM -- Laser hair removal has not always worked well for everyone, depending on your skin tone and hair color. One salon in Harlem is using a laser that it says does work for darker skin.

"I kept hearing the same thing over and over - 'no one understands me, they're not addressing me'," says aesthetician Seven Brown.

Those comments prompted Brown to open her own skin care center in Harlem where she lives. While she treats people of all skin types, she wants people of color to know she gets them.

"You have to keep that hyper-pigmentation at bay so that the skin ends up better, not worse than before," says Seven.

Seven evaluates where each client falls on the Fitzpatrick Scale, and then gauges treatment. For facials, she opts for gentler extractions.

"When you are dealing with skin of color, what we do is a traditional steaming process and allow the blackheads to come to the surface," she adds.

For peels, there's important prep work with a melanin suppressant.

"We're using a process to keep the melanin down - the outcome is safe," says Seven.

And for laser hair removal, she uses a machine that offers an Alex light for white skin and a Yag light for skin of color. The wrong light can burn. The Yag light allows for fast removal without injury. And finally, Seven understands why people of color may be put off by using sunscreen,"

"When you have zinc and paste - purple haze. We don't want that," she adds.

Seven says there are lines that don't cause that, so there is no excuse.

"I always say, 'I only see you once a month, you have the power'," she says, "the more you know, the more you can do."