5 Mistakes I See Women With Deeper Skin Tones Make Before a Laser Treatment

Michelle Vernon is a Master Injector with over 15 years of experience in medical aesthetics. She is also the founder of Body Studio Skincare, a two-location medspa in Kingston and Montego Bay, and MedSpa Blueprint AI, a white-label AI skin consultation platform for clinics.

I have spent fifteen years with my hands on other people’s faces. Across two clinics and thousands of consultations, most of my clients have had medium-brown to deeply pigmented skin the complexions professionals classify as Fitzpatrick skin types IV through VI.

The Fitzpatrick scale is simply a system used to describe how skin responds to sunlight. Types IV through VI generally include brown and Black skin tones that tan easily and rarely or never burn.

Over the years, I have corrected a great deal of other people’s work. In most cases, it was not because the practitioners were careless. It was because much of their training and research was based on lighter skin, even when the person sitting in their chair had a deeper complexion.

These are the mistakes I see most often and what I tell my clients instead.

Mistake one: Assuming the only question is, “Will it work?”

Almost every woman who sits down with me for the first time asks some version of the same question: Will this work on my skin?

It is an understandable question. Many women with deeper complexions have spent a lifetime being told, directly or indirectly, that cosmetic treatments were designed for someone else.

The honest answer is that many modern treatments can work successfully on deeper skin. Whether the treatment produces a result is not the only concern. We must also consider how the skin will respond and what the treatment might leave behind.

One of the most important risks is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, often shortened to PIH. This simply means a dark mark or patch that develops after the skin has been irritated or injured.

When skin experiences heat, inflammation, or trauma, it may respond by producing additional pigment. This reaction can be more noticeable and persistent in darker complexions. A treatment that produces temporary redness in one person might leave another person with a dark patch that takes months to fade.

I would rather a client walk into my clinic asking, “How might my skin respond after this treatment?” than only asking, “Will it work?” That question can change the entire treatment plan.

Mistake two: Not understanding why some devices are riskier than others

This is the part almost nobody explains, yet it is one of the most useful things a client can understand.

Many lasers and intense pulsed light treatments commonly known as IPL work by directing light toward a specific color within the skin. During laser hair removal, for example, the device is trying to target the pigment in the hair follicle. When treating certain types of discoloration, it may be trying to target pigment within a dark spot.

The challenge is that deeper skin also contains more natural pigment near its surface. That pigment may absorb some of the light energy before it reaches the intended target.

When too much energy is absorbed at the surface, the skin can become overheated or injured. That injury may then lead to burns, light patches, or additional darkening. This is not a flaw in darker skin. It is about how a particular device interacts with pigment.

Radiofrequency treatments work differently. Instead of relying on light being attracted to pigment, radiofrequency uses electrical energy to create controlled heat within the tissue. Because it does not target melanin in the same way, it may offer more treatment options for deeper complexions.

However, that does not make every radiofrequency treatment automatically safe. The device, settings, treatment depth, and provider’s experience still matter.

The type of laser also makes a difference. Certain longer-wavelength lasers can reach more deeply into the skin while interacting less with the pigment at the surface. This is why the 1064-nanometer Nd:YAG laser has long been used for laser hair removal and other carefully selected treatments in darker skin.

You do not need to memorise device names or become an expert in laser physics. You only need to understand that these differences exist. If a provider cannot explain why a particular device is appropriate for your complexion, that silence tells you something important.

Mistake three: Believing “we treat all skin types” without asking more questions

I want to be careful here because this statement is not always dishonest. Some clinics genuinely have the equipment, training and experience to treat a wide range of complexions safely. However, “we treat all skin types” is a marketing statement, not a complete clinical explanation.

A device may be approved or promoted for multiple skin tones, but that does not tell you how much practical experience a particular provider has using it on people who look like you.

The gap between what a device can theoretically do and what a practitioner knows how to do with it is where injuries can happen.

Three questions can help you close that gap:

How many clients with my complexion have you treated using this specific device? Do not settle for a general statement about treating “skin of colour.” That term includes an enormous range of complexions and skin responses. Ask about clients whose skin tone is similar to yours.

How will you adjust the treatment for my skin? An experienced provider should be able to explain that the energy level, pulse timing, cooling method and time between appointments may need to be adjusted. You do not need to understand every number. You do need to hear a thoughtful, specific explanation rather than a vague assurance that everything will be fine.

What will you do if I develop darkening or another reaction? Anyone who regularly treats deeper skin should have a clear plan for managing complications. Reactions can occur even when a treatment is performed carefully. A good provider will welcome these questions. I certainly do.

Clients who ask informed questions often achieve better outcomes because they are choosing their provider based on competence, not convenience, confidence, or price alone.

Mistake four: Skipping the test patch

I sometimes lose clients over this. Someone comes in wanting a full-face treatment three weeks before a wedding. I tell her that we first need to treat a small, less noticeable area and allow enough time to see how her skin responds. She is disappointed. Occasionally, she goes somewhere else.

But a test patch allows us to observe how the skin reacts before treating a large or highly visible area. It is far better to discover a potential problem on a small area than across the entire face.

It is also important to understand that some reactions are delayed. Immediate redness does not tell us everything. Unwanted darkening may not become visible right away, which is why the provider must allow an appropriate amount of time before assessing the test area.

A test patch cannot guarantee that there will be no reaction during the complete treatment. It is still a valuable safety step. If a clinic refuses to perform one or treats your request as unnecessary, you have learned something important about how it approaches risk.

Mistake five: Treating the procedure as the entire plan

What happens before and after the appointment can significantly affect the outcome.

Sun exposure is one of the most common ways I see an otherwise good treatment result become complicated. Sunlight encourages the skin to produce pigment, and recently treated skin may be especially sensitive to irritation and discoloration.

This is not simply about vanity or being diligent with skincare. It is about protecting skin that has just experienced a controlled injury.

The time between treatment sessions also matters. Trying to complete a series too quickly can expose the skin to repeated inflammation before it has fully recovered. For deeper skin, accumulated irritation can increase the likelihood of lingering dark marks.

Clients must also tell their providers about skincare products, prescription medications, recent sun exposure, and any active irritation. Strong exfoliating products, retinoids, and other treatments may affect how the skin responds.

The treatment itself may take less than an hour, but the choices made between appointments are an essential part of the plan.

What I actually want you to take from this

Not fear. Fear is the outcome I want least, yet I see it constantly. Women with deeper skin avoid treatments entirely because they have heard the horror stories and concluded that the entire category is unsafe for them. That is a real loss.

Many treatments can be performed successfully on deeper complexions when the correct technology, settings, and expertise come together.

The beauty industry has historically studied darker skin later and less thoroughly. At the same time, consumers have not always been given a reliable way to distinguish a genuinely experienced provider from a merely confident one.

You do not need to become an expert in laser technology. You need to ask informed questions, insist on appropriate precautions, and treat vagueness as an answer, not as a minor inconvenience.

The technology itself is not necessarily the problem. The problem arises when access to the technology develops faster than the knowledge required to use it safely on everyone. Closing that gap begins with a conversation between you and the person holding the device.

Ask better questions. The good providers will be glad you did.

Related Stories