This is a question that I get quite often. The main differences between medical clinics and beauty salon for IPL hair removal are:
1) Ability to manage complications.
No hair removal procedure is 100% safe and no doctor can guarantee 0% complications.
This being said, in the rare event that there is a complication (eg hypo-pigmentation), it is safer to have a doctor to manage the complications using medical-grade creams and medicines.
Doctors are also able to pick up potential complications early - this is important because earlier identification of complications means earlier treatment and lower chance that these complications becoming permanent.
2) More Effective Medical-grade IPL/Lasers
Only licensed medical clinics are authorised by Ministry of Health to possess medical-grade hair removal lasers/IPL, which are more effective and safer. Apart from safety, medical-grade hair treatments also translates to cost- and time-savings in the long-run.
For more information, please check out this Complete Guide to Permanent Hair Removal in Singapore.
Hope that this helps! Best regards,
Dr Justin Boey