Trying to choose a home hair removal device? It’s tricky... especially if you’ve been going to a salon and having the beautician suggest what to do.
But with salons perhaps less appealing or even available right now, and salon treatments scarily expensive, now’s the perfect time to check out the options for doing your own, long lasting hair removal at home.
RAZORS
• Wet or dry, shaving simply snips the hairs just above the surface
• Needs redoing fairly often
• May cause skin irritation
IPL DEVICES
• Fast and pain free
• Pulsed light heats the hair follicles and interrupts the regrowth cycle
• Long-lasting. Easy to maintain
EPILATORS
• Smooth when you’ve just done it
• Usually a bit uncomfortable
• Generally need to redo every 3-4 weeks
|
Braun |
SmoothSkin |
Philips |
|
Once a week for 12 weeks |
Once a week for 12 weeks |
Once a week for 12 weeks |
|
Braun |
SmoothSkin |
Philips |
|
From 4 weeks |
From 4 weeks |
From 8 weeks |
|
Braun |
SmoothSkin |
Philips |
|
400,000 |
Unlimited |
250,000 |
|
Braun |
SmoothSkin |
Philips |
|
5-8 Watts/cm2 |
10-1 Watts/cm2 |
5-8 Watts/cm2 |
|
Braun |
SmoothSkin |
Philips |
|
|
Treatment time & Frequency |
Once a week for 12 weeks |
Once a week for 12 weeks |
Once a week for 12 weeks |
|
Results |
From 4 weeks |
From 4 weeks |
From 8 weeks |
|
Flashes |
400,000 |
Unlimited |
250,000 |
|
Optical Power |
5-8 Watts/cm2 |
10-1 Watts/cm2 |
5-8 Watts/cm2 |
• From studying how light, skin and hair interact to exploring the most effective pre and post treatment care, SmoothSkin are constantly innovating to give you the best results from doing your own hair removal.
• SmoothSkin essentially discovered the effect on which IPL is based. It was SmoothSkin’s Professor Marc Clement who first found that hair did not regrow on his arm where he had passed a laser over it.
• The company that makes SmoothSkin has, amazingly, more than 30 years’ experience of developing and perfecting the IPL technology and products.
• It’s a British company. Design, manufacturing and testing are all based at Swansea, UK.
• There’s a streamlined choice of models that still covers just about everyone’s needs in terms of both capability and cost.
• Both main models (SmoothSkin Bare+ Ultrafast and SmoothSkin Pure) look and feel really great.
• SmoothSkin essentially discovered the effect on which IPL is based. It was SmoothSkin’s Professor Marc Clement who first found that hair did not regrow on his arm where he had passed a laser over it.
• From studying how light, skin and hair interact to exploring the most effective pre and post treatment care, SmoothSkin are constantly innovating to give you the best results from doing your own hair removal.
All round fantastic buy
“This IPL device does what it says on the tin, as it were. I have really thick, dense hair on my legs and after my third session only (of 12 sessions!) I am seeing the hair grow back much slower and in patches - with some areas where the hair isn't growing back at all. Very satisfying to watch!”
Anais C.
No hair after 5 weeks of use!
"By week 5, I had no regrowth on my arms, belly, lower back, face and legs. There was a significant reduction of regrowth on my underarms and bikini. The instructions say, initially use weekly for 12 weeks, then top up every 4-8 weeks. So I’m not even halfway through the initial treatment and it has worked almost 100%! Bear in mind you must be committed to the process and KEEP CONSISTENT.”
MK
Wish I'd bought it years ago
“I've only been using it for 3 weeks but the results have far exceeded my expectations so far! I'm very pale with thick dark hair on my legs and right now I haven't shaved in a week and I have hardly any regrowth - usually, by now I'd be a yeti.”
Melissa
100 shots a minute
•
10 minute treatment time
•
2-4 weeks between top ups
•
1 energy settings
•
1 treatment mode
•
Gentle mode (No)
130 shots a minute
•
10 minute treatment time
•
4-8 weeks between top ups
•
14 energy settings
•
1 treatment mode
•
Gentle mode (Yes)
IPL is amazing for getting long term, salon-style hair removal results at home.
Trials have shown a reduction of hair after just four treatments, which means you could begin seeing lasting results in just one month.
Each full body treatment - your legs, underarms, face and bikini - takes between 10-20 minutes, and there’s no pain.
Most users say it tingles a little on their skin or causes a slightly warm feeling, but the sensation varies from person to person and from one treatment area to another.
Sometimes, if you have coarse, dark hair you may notice an initial sensation that feels like a gentle flick on your skin. But who cares about that!
Because of the way the technology works, IPL isn’t suitable for all skin and hair types.
If have the darkest skin tones, or if you have red, grey or very light (blonde) hair, IPL is unlikely to be effective for you and isn’t really recommended.
Check your hair and skin tones below. If you’re a tick on both lines, you’re good to go.
HAIR COLOUR
SKIN TONE
Hair colour and skin tone both look suitable?
You and IPL are made for each other.
Answer a few simple questions from our Beauty Device Experts, and we’ll show you the best IPL devices for you.
How does IPL work?
So... IPL hair removal devices use light to heat the follicles of your hair and prevent them from regrowing.
The device makes repeated, single white flashes of light, each of which contains a broad range of light wavelengths.
The light is absorbed by the melanin in the shaft of your hairs, so that the hair shaft and follicle heat up.
By controlling the amount of light energy, the device heats the follicle cells to a precise temperature sufficient to interrupt the hair growth cycle without overheating the surrounding skin, which could cause irritation.
The result is to prevent regrowth of the hair, and while the process may not entirely eradicate it for ever, if hairs dos eventually reappear, their growth will be far less vigorous.
• Because of the broad ‘flash’ of light, IPL devices apply their treatment to a relatively large area each time. This means you can cover a large area very quickly.
• IPL is less powerful, but also less dangerous than the laser treatments sometimes used in salons. This makes it safer and more suitable for home use.
• If you repeat your treatments regularly in line with your device’s instructions, after a few months you should find hair re- growth has slowed dramatically, and it’s easy to keep your skin looking and feeling amazing with no ongoing cost.
