Objective To observe the clinical effect of intensive pulsed light hair removal. Methods A total of 82 patients who were going to receive hair removal treatment in Nanjing Huahanqi Beauty Hospital from January 2022 to December 2023 were selected as the research objects. They were divided into control group and observation group by random number table method, with 41 patients in each group. The control group was treated with semiconductor laser hair removal, and the observation group was treated with intensive pulsed light hair removal. The clinical efficacy, quality of life and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of treatment in the observation group was 97.56%, which was higher than 78.05% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). After treatment, the scores of material life, psychological function, physical function and social function in the two groups were higher than those before treatment, and those in the observation group were higher than those in the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P <0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 2.44%, which was lower than 19.51% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). Conclusion Intensive pulsed light has better hair removal effect, more comprehensive hair removal, lower incidence of adverse reactions, good safety, and can improve the quality of life of patients, which is worthy of clinical application.