by BR Natalie
Since I’ve been trying out the Remington i-LIGHT® Pro+ Face & Body I’ve been inundated with questions. So many questions. Y’all have a lot of questions! I’m going to do my best to answer them all, right here, right now, so we've no time for my usual jibber-jabber. Let's jump straight into what you really want to know.
Is it worth the money?
Ok, let's start with the obvious. The machine costs a bit more than a pack of razors from the supermarket. Cough.
BUT - in clinical trials on the body, treatment sites showed up to 94.3% fewer hairs twelve months after just 4 weeks of treatment.
A year of full leg, underarm and Brazilian waxes costs around $1600. So for a fraction of this, you could be mostly hair-free (permanently) in just 3 sessions, which kind of makes this a bargain!
I’m still scared to spend this much money on something like this – what if it doesn’t work?
Remington offer a 90-day money-back guarantee which is actually awesome. The initial treatment course lasts 28 days, so the guarantee time period is very generous and will give you time to see the results for yourself.
Is it safe? Like aren’t people trained in salons to use IPL machines? Where are the goggles?
I'm not going to lie - I wondered this myself! The answer is really simple - this at home IPL device has built-in safety features making eyewear unnecessary. It also has the 'skin sensor', which you have to unlock. If your skin is too dark to safely use the IPL on, the machine won't unlock.
The i-LIGHT is also endorsed by dermatologist, Barbara Kubicka – an expert in advanced technical beauty and Specialist in Aesthetic Medicine.
It's probably worth remembering - Remington is a trusted hair removal brand with many years of experience in the IPL category. They're hardly going to risk tarnishing their reputation by putting out untested and unsafe machines are they?!
Where can I buy an i-LIGHt?
How does it compare to salon results and machines?
I went into loads of detail and research on the science-y stuff in this blog but in a nutshell - the Remington i-LIGHT ticks all of the boxes you need for safe and permanent hair reduction.
These are my results after one session - I chose similarly hairy areas for comparison. The left was shaved and then treated with the i-LIGHT on Day 1. The right was just shaved.
Impressive right?!
I heard you shouldn't IPL in the Summer?
When you IPL you're delivering a pulse of light and a little bit of heat to the skin. Your skin will be more sensitive to the sun's harmful rays after, but this doesn't mean you can't / shouldn't IPL in the summer.
What you need to do is use SPF 20 or above whenever you go into the sun - and let's be honest, you should be doing that every single day anyway. (We will NEVER stop nagging you about sunscreen!)
Does it hurt?
I wouldn't say it's painful, and as we established in my first blog, I'm a wimp. Do not be fooled by the giant babies I birth, I have an embarassingly low pain threshold!
Do you have a hair band around your wrist? Snap it against your skin - the i-LIGHT on it's highest level is no worse than that.
Does it cause an other reactions like dry skin, or 'bumps'?
There's no razor rash or 'plucked chicken' bumps after IPL. It doesn't cause dry or peeling skin. Your skin feels hot and a bit tingly after an IPL session, but this soon fades.
What's the deal with ingrown hairs?
Ingrown hairs are due to the shaving that occurs before the IPL treatment, not the IPL itself. The good news is that IPL can actually get rid of ingrown hairs - it might take a couple of sessions, but you don't need to attempt to dig out the ingrown hair - just treat the area with your IPL machine and it will eventually disappear.
Do you have to clean the machine?
The most maintenance you're going to have to do with your i-LIGHT is wipe the treatment window on the hand piece. A lint-free cloth is provided - if you encounter a few stubborn marks, moisten a cotton bud and give the window a bit of a rub with it.
Do you have any tips and tricks to make sessions easier?
Three sessions in and I consider myself a bit of a pro (cough) so here's some advice:
- If you're easily bored, dedicate 15 minutes a night and treat a smaller area, say one underarm or one leg from the knee down. The reason my results are so impressive is I've used the machine as directed, consistently over the 4 weeks.
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When treating larger areas, press and hold the Zap button down and glide the machine for a continuous flash mode.
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Around the ankles and face, use the single flash mode for more precise treatment - I also recommend using the facial attachment for those small fiddly areas too!
Have any of you guys tried IPL before? Did you go to the salon or did you try it at home? Do you have any questions you want Natalie to answer during her trial of the i-LIGHT? Ask away!
You can catch up on my IPL experiences so far in my three previous blog posts:
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.
Images: Chelsea Anderson Photography & Design
This sounds amazing.