Compare · Procedures

IPL vs V-Beam

IPL: A broad-spectrum flashlamp, not a laser, used mainly for brown sun spots and facial redness. It is effective for those two problems on lighter skin, and it is not safe on deeper skin tones.

V-Beam: A laser tuned to the color of blood. It fades facial redness, broken vessels, rosacea flushing, port-wine stain birthmarks and some red scars. The thing to plan around is whether your settings will bruise the skin or not.

Reviewed by Dr. Schwarz, Board-Certified Dermatologist
Last updated: 10/22/2026
Editorial illustration for IPL, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.Editorial illustration for V-Beam, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.
Choose ifKey differencesWhat is it?What it treatsTreatment areasSkin tonesHow it worksBefore your treatmentDay of treatmentAfter your treatmentRisksCostQuestionsRelated

Choose IPL if…

Choose for sun spots and facial redness on lighter skin — it is not safe on deeper skin tones.

  • Lighter skin with brown sun spots
  • Rosacea redness or small vessels
  • You'll avoid tanning before and after

Choose V-Beam if…

Choose for facial redness, broken vessels, port-wine stains or red scars — plan around whether your settings will bruise.

  • Persistent rosacea redness or visible vessels
  • A port-wine birthmark
  • You can plan around possible bruising
Alternatives, not combined

Can you have both?

Both treat facial redness and vessels. V-Beam targets vessels more precisely; IPL also helps brown spots. One is chosen per session.

Key differences

● IPL
● V-Beam
DowntimeNone → 2+ weeks
1–2 days
1–2 days
PainMinimal → Needs anesthesia or sedation
Mild
Mild
Results showImmediately → 3+ months
1–4 weeks
1–4 weeks
How long it lastsWeeks → Years or permanent
6–12 months
1–2 years
Visits neededOne → Every few months
A longer series (4–6+)
A longer series (4–6+)
Cost per visit$ → $$$$$
$$
$$
ReversibleYes, can be undone → No, permanent
No, fades slowly
No, fades slowly

What is it?

IPL

V-Beam

What is it?

It is broad-spectrum light.

IPL uses filtered pulses across a range of wavelengths, not a laser.

It has several uses.

It treats redness, benign pigmentation and unwanted hair.

Spots need a diagnosis first.

A brown spot should be assessed before fading.

Skin type affects risk.

Tanning, darker skin and medicines raise the risk of burns or pigment change.

It is a vascular laser.

Brief pulses of visible light are absorbed by hemoglobin in blood vessels.

It treats redness and vessels.

It is used for vascular lesions, persistent redness and some red scars.

Redness has many causes.

The diagnosis should be confirmed first.

Recent tanning matters.

Prior pigment changes, scarring and tanning affect safety.

What it treats

Evidence level
IPL
V-Beam
Strong evidenceMost established uses
Redness and fine superficial vessels across a light-skinned cheek and nose.

Rosacea

Reduces redness and vessels.

AI-generated educational illustration of Sun Spots: 1. Sun Spots Header — Light Skin; Lighter skin. Not a clinical photograph.

Sun Spots

Darkens spots that then flake off.

Redness and fine superficial vessels across a light-skinned cheek and nose.

Rosacea

Reduces redness and vessels.

Port-Wine Stains, representative educational image.

Port-Wine Stains

The standard treatment.

Fine branching superficial spider veins on the lower leg.

Spider Veins

Clears facial vessels.

Moderate evidenceSome supportive research
Fine branching superficial spider veins on the lower leg.

Spider Veins

Clears small facial vessels.

Post-Inflammatory Redness.

Post-Inflammatory Redness

Fades red marks.

Post-Inflammatory Redness.

Post-Inflammatory Redness

Fades red marks.

A raised, smooth, firm scar on the upper chest on light skin. It is shiny pink-red and hairless, and its edges spread well past the small mark it grew from.

Keloids

Reduces redness and itch.

Little evidence
—
AI-generated educational illustration of Sun Spots: 1. Sun Spots Header — Light Skin; Lighter skin. Not a clinical photograph.

Sun Spots

Other lasers work better.

Not effective
Acne scarring on light skin. Small sharply cut pits and broad shallow dips across a cheek, several sitting inside faint flat pink marks, with no active spots.

Acne Scarring

Doesn't change texture.

Flat tan patches with soft irregular edges across the forehead and upper cheek of an adult with light skin, the surface completely smooth.

Melasma

Doesn't target pigment.

Can make it worse
Flat tan patches with soft irregular edges across the forehead and upper cheek of an adult with light skin, the surface completely smooth.

Melasma

Patches often rebound darker.

—

Treatment areas

Treatment areas

Face, neck, chest and hands.

Face, neck and chest; the selected vessels or lesions determine the treatment field.

Skin tones

Skin tone
● IPL
● V-Beam
Lighter skin
Low risk
Spots darken then flake.
Low risk
Bruising with stronger settings.
Medium skin
Some risk
Burns and dark marks possible; conservative settings.
Some risk
Temporary darkening possible.
Deeper skin
Higher risk
Not safe — high risk of burns and pigment change.
Some risk
Skin pigment competes for the light; conservative settings and experience matter.

How it works

IPL

V-Beam

How it works
IPL mechanism diagram. Filtered light enters skin: A range of wavelengths is selected for the treatment target. Pigment or blood absorbs energy: Melanin or hemoglobin converts absorbed light into heat. Selected targets fade: Healing can reduce the treated brown spots or visible vessels.
V-Beam mechanism diagram. Light reaches the vessel: Pulsed dye laser light enters the treatment area. Blood absorbs the light: Hemoglobin absorbs energy, producing localized heat. Treated vessels fade: Controlled vessel injury can reduce visible redness over time.
Diagram explanation

Filtered light enters skin: A range of wavelengths is selected for the treatment target. Pigment or blood absorbs energy: Melanin or hemoglobin converts absorbed light into heat. Selected targets fade: Healing can reduce the treated brown spots or visible vessels.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

Light reaches the vessel: Pulsed dye laser light enters the treatment area. Blood absorbs the light: Hemoglobin absorbs energy, producing localized heat. Treated vessels fade: Controlled vessel injury can reduce visible redness over time.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

Before your treatment

IPL
V-Beam
2–4 weeks before

4 weeks before: Sun and tanning: No sun, sunbeds or self-tanner.

2 weeks before: Hair removal: No waxing, threading or hair removal cream.

4 weeks before: Sun and tanning: Avoid sun, sunbeds and self-tanner on the area.

Before you book: Events: If bruising would be a problem, say so before the first pulse — it changes the settings.

The week before

3 to 5 days before: Actives and clean skin: Stop retinoids and exfoliating acids.

Actives and hair removal: Stop retinoids, benzoyl peroxide and exfoliating acids 3 to 5 days before.

Actives and hair removal: Stop waxing, threading and hair removal creams.

Day of treatment

IPL
V-Beam
Before you arrive
Not specified

Clean skin: Clean skin, no makeup.

Arrival & prep

Skin tone: A good provider will ask, and will decline if IPL is wrong for your skin.

Skin tone: Be direct about your skin tone and how easily you tan.

Skin is cleaned and examined, and the provider checks your skin tone and recent sun.

Skin is cleaned and photos usually taken.

Treatment

Opaque goggles go over your eyes and stay on; that is not optional.

The handpiece is pressed on the skin and fired in overlapping shots. You see a bright flash through closed eyelids. Each pulse feels like a hot rubber band snap, hottest over brown spots and hair, and stops as it ends. A full face takes about 20 minutes.

You wear opaque eye shields, with metal shields under the eyelid near the eye.

The handpiece fires overlapping pulses, each preceded by cold gas, with a snapping sound and a smell of cold. Nose and cheeks take a few minutes, a full face 10 to 20 minutes. Each pulse is like a hot rubber band snapped on the skin: sharp, brief, worst on the nose and upper lip.

Before you leave

Skin looks pink and feels warm, like mild sunburn.

Warm, red and slightly swollen, like mild sunburn.

After your treatment

IPL
V-Beam
First 24 hours

Days 1 to 2: Redness fades.

Days 1 to 3: Swelling is worst the morning after and settles over two to three days, with cheeks and under-eyes puffing most.

Days 2–7

Days 3 to 14: Treated spots darken into fine brown flecks like coffee grounds, then flake away, leaving more even skin.

Days 3 to 14: Purple turns brown, then green, then yellow, then goes.

Weeks 2–4

Weeks 2 to 6: Vessels and background redness clear gradually, and keep improving over later sessions.

Weeks 2 to 8: Once the bruise clears, the change from the session becomes visible.

Time to results

1–2 weeks per session

1–4 weeks per session

How long results last

Months to years; new spots with sun

Months to years; new vessels can form

Risks

Risks
  • Dark patches
  • Blistering or a burn
  • Loss of skin color
  • Melasma getting worse
  • A cold sore outbreak
  • Hair loss where you did not want it
  • Most of what happens after a pulsed dye laser is expected
  • Dark patches
  • Light patches
  • Crusting or a blister
  • Swelling that is not settling
  • A cold sore outbreak

Cost

Per session

In the US a full-face session usually runs about $300 to $600.

In the US, a pulsed dye laser session for the face usually runs $300 to $700, and small single-area treatments such as one cherry angioma or a few nose vessels can be less.

Insurance

Insurance does not cover cosmetic pigment or redness treatment.

Insurance almost never covers laser treatment of rosacea redness or facial vessels — it is classified as cosmetic.

Questions

IPL

V-Beam

Individual Questions
Is IPL safe for deeper skin tones?

No. Broadband light is absorbed by all the pigment in its path, including the pigment that gives skin its color. On deeper skin tones that means burns and light or dark patches, and pale patches can be permanent. For pigment, ask about prescription creams and superficial peels. For hair, a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser.

Can I use a home IPL hair removal device on deeper skin tones?

No. The skin tone chart supplied with home devices exists because the technology injures skin with more pigment, and most are labeled unsuitable for deeper skin tones and tanned skin. Many refuse to fire. The risk is the same as a clinic device, with nobody present to spot a problem early.

Does IPL help melasma?

Usually not, and it commonly makes melasma worse: better for a few weeks, then darker and wider. If you have brown patches on the cheeks, forehead or upper lip, get a diagnosis before any light-based treatment.

Why do my spots look darker afterward?

That is what is meant to happen. Treated sun spots darken into fine brown flecks over the first few days, then flake off over one to two weeks. Do not scrub or pick.

How many sessions will I need?

Usually three to five for the face, three to four weeks apart, then maintenance once or twice a year. Brown spots improve faster than redness. Hair reduction takes six to ten or more.

Does IPL work on wrinkles or acne scars?

No. IPL works on color: brown pigment and red vessels. Wrinkles, texture, pores and indented scars need a fractional laser or microneedling.

Will I have a bruise?

Only if the laser is set to give you one. Purpuric settings burst the vessel and leave a purple bruise for 7 to 14 days, and generally clear more per session. Non-purpuric settings leave you pink and slightly swollen for a day or two and need more sessions. Decide before the first pulse.

Does it treat rosacea?

It treats part of it. Visible vessels and the background flush respond well. The bumps and pus spots do not, and those need creams or tablets. Most people with rosacea use both.

How many sessions will I need?

For facial redness, usually 3 to 5, spaced 4 to 8 weeks apart, then a top-up every year or two. A few isolated broken vessels may need only one or two. Port-wine stains take many more, over years.

Is it safe on deeper skin tones?

It is used on deeper skin tones, with lower energy, longer pulses and more cooling, often with a test spot first. The risk of a light or dark patch is higher than on fair skin, so many providers choose a 1064 nm Nd:YAG instead, because that wavelength is absorbed much less by pigment.

Will the redness come back?

Usually, gradually. The laser clears the vessels that are there; it does not stop new ones forming or change the rosacea underneath. Most people return for maintenance every one to two years, and sunscreen and prescription creams stretch that out.

Does it help brown marks or melasma?

No. This wavelength is aimed at blood, not pigment. Melasma can even be provoked by heat and light, so if pigment is your main concern this is the wrong device.