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May a man remove his facial hair with a laser treatment? (that is the hairs that are normally ossur to remove by way of a razor.)

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Can you clarify (in words or with a link) how exactly the lasers remove the hair? – Double AA♦ Sep 9 '12 at 14:03
related, if not duplicate: judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/16453/… – Menachem Sep 9 '12 at 16:37
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@Menachem definitely related, though that one asks about the brow and it's possible the halacha is different for beards. – Monica Cellio♦ Sep 9 '12 at 17:16
I seem to recall that there were people that used some sort of paste to get rid of facial hair. It took off quite a bit of skin as well, but I am pretty sure it was halachically OK. – soandos Sep 9 '12 at 18:43
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@DoubleAA Laser hair removal works by (semi-permanently) killing the cells that grow hair. The laser heats the cells which kills them. The hair cells heat up more than the skin around them because they have dark colored hair in them which absorbs more light than light colored skin. (It doesn't work well on dark colored people.) See also – Ariel Sep 9 '12 at 22:16
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This answer is not an Halakha

The issur of shaving needs two conditions :

  • to destroy the hair
  • to use a blade

Since the laser is not a blade, it could be allowed to use it. As it is allowed to use depilatory cream. However, there are other reasons to not remove one's hair. You can see this link for further details.

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