At last, Tria has a rival on the home laser hair removal scene in the shape of the Philips Lumea IPL hair removal system, and with a RRP of £399, it is significantly cheaper. It is also claimed to be slightly easier to use than the Tria.

According to Philips, the Philips Lumea IPL hair removal system “uses gentle pulses of light to stimulate the hair root into a resting phase. Hair sheds naturally and regrowth is inhibited. Using it every two weeks enables you to enjoy smooth skin everyday”.

The Philips Lumea is a handheld, cordless, rechargeble device that you can use anywhere – even while watching TV!

Philips recommend that for the first few treatments only, you should pre-shave the area to be treated. Then all you need to do is choose the correct light intensity for your skin type, place the application window of the device above your skin, wait for the safety light to flash indicating correct placement on the skin, and press the button. Repeat on the next section of skin you wish to treat.

It should take about 2 minutes to treat one underarm, 4 minutes to do your bikini line, 15 minutes for a lower leg and 30 minutes for a whole leg.

They say that repeating the treatment every two weeks for the armpits and bikini areas, and every four weeks for the legs will keep the skin smooth and hair free.

The Philips Lumea system is claimed to work effectivly on
naturally dark-blond, brown and black hair and on skin types from white to dark brown. It is not suitable for very dark skin, and is not effective for naturally red, grey and light blond hair.

Naturally, you should check that the product is suitable for your paticular hair colour and skin tone before purchasing.

As you may know, male laser hair removal is becoming more and more common, whether it’s because men want a smooth hairless body too, or whether they just want to stop shaving their beards off everyday.

For a report on one mans experiences of laser hair removal, check out this post by Travis Illig.

As he puts it

..even today, it still hurts. Not nearly as bad as it did in my first treatment, but it hurts. On the upper lip it’s enough to bring tears to your eyes.

Had I known that .. I probably still would have done it. I don’t get the nasty ingrowns like I used to, .. and I can kiss my wife without removing the top layer of her skin with my sandpaper beard.

Find out more about male laser hair removal

The Guardian has an interesting article by Clare Marfleet,  medical manager at The Private Clinic of Harley Street here in which she talks about her laser hair removal treatment. She had her first treatment six years ago because she was fed up with constant shaving and the skin irritation it caused.
Read more »

By Justin Koh

Laser hair removal is supposed to be a safe process, yet dubious claims and inappropriate equipment still lead to scams and injuries. Consumers themselves must know the ins and outs of laser hair removal to prevent themselves from getting cheated. The following points will aid you in making a proper decision to get yourself ready at the clinic. Read more »

A new laser hair removal technique developed in the US promises less uncomfortable (OK then – less painful!) treatments. It’s common to use either a cooling gel, or in some cases an anaesthetic cream (only under qualified supervision!) co counter the discomfort caused as the hair follicles absorb the laser light and heat up.

The new machine takes a different approach by applying suction to the area being lasered – developer Eric Bernstein says, “Our skin is only allowed to feel one sensation at a time. So we can feel pressure or we can feel pain. Given the choice, we’d all choose pressure. So what this device does is it suctions the skin so we feel a pressure sensation and we can’t feel pain.”

This is the same reason why, when you hurt yourself as a child, your mother “rubbed it better”. The nerve endings in the skin can only respond to one stimulus at once, so you can overcome the pain stimulus by providing a stronger one, such as rubbing a larger area of the skin, or in this case, producing a sensation of pressure.

No news yet as to when or whether this new technique will become available in uk  laser hair removal clinics