Laser, photoepilation, or sugaring: what to choose in Kazakhstan

Photoepilation was once advertised as a replacement for laser, and today people ask about it more often than they book it. Laser is offered by 57% of the businesses that do hair removal, sugaring by 50%, wax by 43%. There are 1,220 such businesses in the country. Photoepilation is offered by just 4%. The method people still ask about has almost disappeared from the country

What do hair removal studios offer?

method	businesses	share
Laser hair removal	696	57%
Sugaring	614	50%
Wax hair removal	520	43%
Electrolysis	105	9%
Alexandrite laser listed separately	48	4%
Photoepilation	44	4%

A business usually offers several methods at once, so the shares add up to more than a hundred

How do laser, photoepilation, and sugaring differ?

	laser	photoepilation	sugaring and wax
What it does	destroys the hair follicle	the same, but with scattered light	removes the hair with its root
Result	lasting, up to several years	noticeably weaker than laser	up to a month
Number of sessions	usually 6-10	more than laser	again every time
Light and gray hair	works poorly	works poorly	works on any hair
Pain	tolerable, feels like a snap	similar	more noticeable
Price per course	highest	medium	low per visit, higher per year

Laser and photoepilation work on the same principle: the pigment of the hair heats up and the follicle is destroyed. The difference is in the light. A laser gives one narrow beam, while photoepilation uses a wide spectrum, so the energy scatters and the result is weaker. Hence its 4% share: the market has voted

Sugaring and wax do not touch the follicle. The hair grows back, but they work on any hair color and cost less per visit

Who should choose what?

Dark hair on light skin: laser works best
Light, red, or gray hair: laser is almost useless, so you are left with sugaring, wax, or electrolysis
You need a result for an event in a week: sugaring or wax
You are ready to invest in a six-month course: laser
Single stray hairs: electrolysis, which only 9% of businesses offer

What should you ask before booking hair removal?

What device do you use and what type of laser
How many sessions I will need with my hair type
What the price includes: the whole course or one session
What not to do before and after the procedure

A specialist who promises "forever in one go" promises the impossible. Hair grows in cycles, and a single session only catches the hairs in the active phase

About ratings in this category

The median rating of hair removal businesses is exactly 5.00. That is higher than for the beauty and health market as a whole, where the median is 4.80. Choosing by stars makes no sense at all here: look at the number of reviews and read the recent ones

Where the numbers come from

The open 2GIS directory, August 2026. We counted 1,220 active businesses in Kazakhstan in the hair removal category, with methods taken from their own listings