Abstract: The present invention provides a very simple easily administered skin treatment process for (1) the removal of superficial epidermal skin cells in the human skin (2) the reduction or removal of unwanted hair and (3) the mitigation of skin conditions such as acne and seborrhea. A contaminant having a high absorption at at least one wavelength of light is topically applied to a section of the surface of the skin. A preferred contaminant is a mixture of 20% by weight of one micron graphite particles in mineral oil. Graphite is a very strong absorber of 1.06 micron light produced by the Nd:YAG laser. Portions of the contaminant are forced to infiltrate into spaces between the superficial epidermal cells, into hair ducts in the skin and into and/or adjacent to sebaceous glands. The skin section is illuminated with short laser pulses at the matching wavelength, so as to impact sufficient energy to the contaminant to cause explosion in the contaminant.

Abstract: The present invention provides a very simple easily administered skin treatment process for (1) the removal of superficial epidermal skin cells in the human skin (2) the reduction or removal of unwanted hair and (3) the mitigation of skin conditions such as acne and seborrhea. A contaminant having a high absorption at at least one wavelength of light is topically applied to a section of the surface of the skin. A preferred contaminant is a mixture of 20% by weight of one micron graphite particles in mineral oil. Graphite is a very strong absorber of 1.06 micron light produced by the Nd:YAG laser. Portions of the contaminant are forced to infiltrate into spaces between the superficial epidermal cells, into hair ducts in the skin and into and/or adjacent to sebaceous glands. The skin section is illuminated with short laser pulses at the matching wavelength, so as to impact sufficient energy to the contaminant to cause explosion in the contaminant.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process for the destruction of unwanted human hair. Hair ducts in a section of skin in which the unwanted hair are growing is contaminated with a contaminant having a high absorption at at least one frequency band of light. The skin section is then illuminated with light at the frequency band of high absorption so as to impact sufficient energy to the contaminant so as to cause death to the hairs growing in the ducts. In a preferred embodiment the contaminant is a mixture of 1 micron graphite particles in mineral oil and each section is illuminated with about 5 laser pulses at 1.06 micron wavelength produced by a Nd:YAG laser, each pulse having an energy density of about 3 Joules/cm.sup.2 and a pulse width of about 10 nanoseconds. In another preferred embodiment the hairs in the section of skin being treated are pulled out prior to application of the contaminant so as to provide more space for the contaminant in the hair duct.