IPL BBL What The Hell?!

IPL, BBL, and Fraxel explained — what they actually are, how they differ, and why the wrong treatment can burn you. Host Kim Laudati and Angel Morton break it all down in 8 minutes.

BBL is not a separate technology — it's a rebrand of IPL, the same intense pulsed light platform used to target redness, rosacea, brown spots, melasma, and hyperpigmentation. And despite how widely it's used, IPL remains one of the top causes of patient burns in aesthetics. Kim and Angel explain why that happens and what patients should ask before booking.
They also clear up the Fraxel confusion — it's a brand name, not a treatment category — and explain how newer fractionated laser platforms have improved significantly in safety, comfort, and results.
Plus: why winter is laser season, why sun exposure before treatment is a serious risk, and why consistent scheduling is the only way to see real cumulative results.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

IPL, BBL, what the hell?

SPEAKER_02 0:05

It's very confusing for patients because IPL stands for intense pulse light and BBL stands for broadband light. They're the same exact thing. So this is not laser, this is photodynamic light therapy. So that is an these are different ways that companies have tagged this particular technology over the years. So in the beginning, going back um, you know, like 20 years ago or whenever it was that IPL first entered into the genre, it was called exactly what the actual uh technology is: intense pulsed light. So IPL. But IPL is the number one thing that patients will get burned for, not laser. You would think laser would be number one in the country. In America, the number one thing patients are getting burned for consistently over every single year is IPL. So knowing this, the Citon Company, which is a privately owned, um, very successful laser company that sells lasers and intense post-light systems, rebranded it as BBL, so broadband light. BBL, IPL, it's the same thing. They will target browns, they'll target reds. So you can treat rosacea, redness, you could treat brown spots. These are both things that will stimulate collagen growth. So you'll see a little bit of anti-aging from either targeting reds or browns, but they fire through crystals that are at very specific nanometers. They're not laser energy. So it's not as deep. They don't go as deeply as lasers do. They're more shallow targets for vascular and dyschromia with um with melasma, with uh hyperpigmentation, whatever you're treating your target is. But at the end of the day, like you said, IPL, BBL, what the hell? Same exact thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

It just kind of like went to the witness protection program, got a new identity, came out.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

So, what about when it comes to uh Fraxel and Frax?

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Same thing. So Fraxel, and this actually irritates me because Fraxel is the first fractionated laser company. It's a brand name, but they were the very first to market. And from then to now, that company has been sold numerous times. And over all the years that they have been sold, um, every time the new company takes over, you know, they do a marketing blitz and you see Fraxel comes back out again and they make it new and exciting. However, the technology has only been upgraded, uh, as far as all my extensive research uh following Fraxel since the beginning, it's only been upgraded twice. So this is antiquated fractionated laser. We have fractionated laser now that is extremely updated, and it's the best of this technology. So it's safer, you need less passes. And um for uh darker skin types, now again, there are different levels of fractionated lasering. Uh Candela Medical refers to it as fracks, and Cyton refers to it as ProFrac. So again, different names for the same treatment.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

But if you're looking for a fractionated laser treatment, I always tell my patients, give me two seconds to let me educate you. I'm not saying fraxal's bad, it's just outdated. You're going to need seven or eight passes of building heat, building heat, building heat to cover that same 30 to 40 percent of treatment area per section of skin that we're working on rather than just one pass or two passes. So it's a big difference in comfort level. It's how rapidly we can target, how accurately we can target, and how safely we can target. All these things have changed. So remember, Fraxel is a trade name. So please don't call me and ask me for Fraxel.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

And what about when it comes to the time of year or season? Um, does it matter when you get lasers done? Is there an ideal time?

SPEAKER_02 4:06

Well, you'll hear a lot and see a lot on advertising right now that it's laser season. So even if you're in a sunshine state and you're not in the upper um East Coast like we are here in New York and New Jersey, where it's technically winter, we're in the winter season, the earth doesn't rotate as close to the sun as it does in the summer months. So laser season is considered the winter time, no matter what state you're in, because the sun and the UV rays are not as intense as they normally are during the summertime. So it's laser season. You see that all over the place. It's laser.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Because there's sensitivity to the sun. So if you get this treatment, you want to be avoiding that as much as you can.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Absolutely. So depending on the laser treatment or the IPL, it's a lot of sun withdrawal time. So classically, three weeks of no direct sun exposure prior to treatment, and then no direct sun exposure immediately after treatment, and no direct sun exposure in between. So for example, uh your average IPL series of intense pulse light treatments will be three to four treatments once every three to four weeks. So just to make it simple, for layman's terms, let's say a patient's coming for four treatments once a month. So for three weeks before, no direct sun, then for those four months, no direct sun, and then for three more weeks after the final treatment minimum, no direct sun. So this is your entire winter, no direct sun exposure.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

So when you're looking for IPL, BBL, laser treatments.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

What the hell? Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

You have to think, what the hell? Because you actually have to consider your travel and your sun exposure. Like what are what's you what are your upcoming activities? Can I fit this properly in? Because you don't want to start a series. If it's if it can be avoided, don't start a series and then break, you know, and then three weeks later go on vacation and then try to pick up your treatments again later on. Because we're trying to provide you a cumulative benefit. So if you just randomly get treatments here and there, you're just kind of throwing things at the wall.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Just like starting from the beginning again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Yeah. So every single time you're just starting over because we're fighting the daily aging process. So do yourself a favor, save the money and schedule properly for your timing. So then you're going to be happy because you'll see the results that are coming through that we're helping you to achieve.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Gotcha. I didn't know scheduling was so important. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Gotta stick to it. Like we jump in there with you and we're committed to your cause. So you've got to work with us, you know. That is true.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

It really is a big commitment between both parties, too.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Absolutely, absolutely. And unfortunately, sometimes we get more committed, we feel, than the patients do, you know, because they want to get the results, but then they're like, oh yeah, I forgot. I have to, I can't make that appointment and I have to reschedule this other appointment. And now I went in the sun. So now you have to start all over again two months from now. And it's like, that's great. I'm glad you're enjoying your life, but you're spending money and investing your time to come here. And we really want to see you get those, um, get your results, you know. But if you don't follow the designated time that we script out for you, then it's very frustrating for us. And it can be very frustrating and you know, a little bit of a of a time suck and a waste of time for you.