How does at-home IPL compare to Salon IPL?

by BR Natalie

So 2 weeks have passed since my first at-home IPL session.  (You can find out all about that here.)  So what happened between Session 1 and Session 2, aka, Day 1 and Day 14?  

Never Boils.

The in between session period was weird.  I knew from my research that it'd look like my hairs were growing as usual, but in fact they were 'pushing out'.  I spent the first few days after treating my legs with the i-LIGHT looking at my legs, wonder when the hairs would start to push through and out.  It's very much a watched-pot scenario!  Life naturally got busy and I stopped watching.  

On Day 14 I had a look at my legs, and wow.  The difference was insane.

How's it lookin'?

Let's not forget the amazing results the Remington i-LIGHT® Pro+ Face & Body tells us it's capable of - In clinical trials on the body, treatment sites showed up to 94.3% fewer hairs twelve months after just 4 weeks of treatment.

Well, lets jump straight into the results of the first session.  I've marked out on my leg that will not be treated using the i-LIGHT throughout this review period of four weeks.  I chose an area of my leg that is well, normally hairy.   I chose a similar leg area for the first comparison photo.

The left was shaved and then treated with the i-LIGHT on Day 1.  The right was just shaved.

A HUGE difference right?! I'm very impressed, and very encouraged.  Here's a couple of other areas:

My legs have definitely responded more than my armpits (I'll spare you the images of them!).  I'd say the hair on my legs is already 70-75% reduced.  My underarms, hmm, maybe 45-50%.  Which after one session is still pretty amazing.

So going by the clinical trials I can expect the reduction to be permanent.  And let's not forget, this is after just one session - there's still 2 more to go!  To refresh your memory, hair grows in different patterns and you need to 'zap' the hair with the IPL machine at the right time of it's cycle.  So you'll need to treat the areas you want to be permanently fuzz-free a few times to catch all of the hairs.

Over a four week period you follow this session pattern:  Day 1, 14 and 28:  Shave and treat the area with the i-LIGHT.  After that you can use the machine to touch up more stubborn areas.

Ok, it's impressive.  But how does it compare to salon IPL?

Ah, this might be one of the most asked questions I've received so far.  How can an at-home machine compare with a salon machine?  So I've done some research for you!

- Energy Output.  

• This is the energy needed to heat and disable the hair follicle, while leaving the skin relatively cool.
• Above 6J/cm² is recommended to achieve permanent hair removal, similar to professional hair removal devices
• The i-LIGHT® PRO+ Face & Body provides a 7-8J/cm² - higher than the recommended minimum!

- Energy Levels.

• To prevent IPL from being uncomfortable/painful, a range of 5 energy levels is recommended.  
• But, the lowest level should still be at least 6J/cm² - less than this an it won't be an effective permanent treatment.
• I've had a look at other at-home devices, and some have a lowest level of 1J/cm²! 
• The i-LIGHT's lowest level is above 6J/cm²!  
• So even at it's lowest, most comfy setting, the i-LIGHT is still at the recommended level for permanent results!

- Wavelength

• Ok, so the wavelength of the light determines the depth it will reach.  A device with a low wavelength might not reach the hair follicle, which means it won't be able to disable it.
• Humans see different wavelengths as different colours. Blue, green and yellow light have low wavelengths where red light has high wavelengths.
• Wavelengths above 600nm are recommended to achieve permanent hair removal.
• The i-LIGHT® PRO+ Face & Body has ProPulse™ selective wavelength (>600nm) - it's red,

- Longevity of the machine.

• Salon machines are made to last hundreds, if not thousands of treatments.  
• The number of flashes a machine makes before the bulb will need replacing varies depending on the wavelength and energy output of the IPL.
• On average 1000 'flashes' are needed for one full body treatment.  The average at-home consumer should never need more than 30,000 flashes in their lifetime.
• Flash count doesn't really matter with the Remington i-LIGHT as the bulb is an infinity bulb, it'll never run out (and if it does, Remington will replace it for free!). 

Phew, I don't know about you, but I'm all scienced out for the moment!  So - what do you think of my results so far?  Any questions?  Let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer them in the next post.

Oh and guess what...we'll be giving a Remington i-LIGHT® Pro+ Face & Body away soon!

Images: Chelsea Anderson Photography & Design

The Remington i-LIGHT® Pro+ Face & Body was given to Natalie to try out.  No compensation for Natalie's opinions was given, as always, her thoughts are her own.