A hair-removing device (1) includes a laser source (3), an adjustable laser beam manipulator (5) for positioning a laser beam (7) of the laser source (3) in a target position (9) on a skin (11) to be treated, and an image sensor (47) for detecting an image (49) of the skin. The hair-removing device further comprises a control unit (17) which determines a position and orientation on the skin of a hair (13) to be removed, and which determines the target position of the laser beam as a function of said position and orientation of the hair. The control unit brings the laser beam manipulator in a state corresponding to the target position of the laser beam, and activates the laser source when the laser beam manipulator has reached said state. Thus, the hair-removing device is suitable for use by inexperienced users, and is particularly suitable for the consumer market. In a particular embodiment, the control unit determines the target position of the laser beam in a position (71) on the skin under which a root (15) of the hair is present, so that the root of the hair is destroyed and the hair-removing device (1) is an epilating device by means of which the hair is removed for a relatively long time or even permanently. In another embodiment, the control unit determines the target position of the laser beam in a position (65) on the hair where the hair comes out of the skin, so that the hair is burnt through near the skin surface and the hair-removing device (1'') is a shaving device by means of which a high skin smoothness is obtained.

The invention relates to a device (1) for shortening hairs (3), in particular growing from human skin (5). The device (1) has a laser source (7) for generating a laser beam (9) during a predetermined pulse time, an optical system (15) for focusing the laser beam into a focal spot (25), and a laser beam manipulator (17) for positioning the focal spot in a target position. According to the invention, a dimension of the focal spot (25) and a power of the generated laser beam (9) are such that, in the focal spot (25), the laser beam has a power density which is above a characteristic threshold value for hair tissue above which, for the predetermined pulse time, a laser induced optical breakdown (LIOB) phenomenon occurs in the hair tissue. The LIOB phenomenon results in a number of mechanical effects in the hair tissue, such as cavitation and the generation of shock waves, which damage the hair (3) in positions surrounding the position in which the LIOB phenomenon occurs. From experiments it appeared that, with a sufficient amount of total energy of the laser source (7), the LIOB phenomenon can be used to completely break and thus to shorten a hair. An advantage of the device (1) according to the invention is that the amount of total energy, which is necessary to completely break a hair (3), is at such a level that irritation and damage of the skin tissue surrounding the hair are limited to an acceptable level or even completely prevented.