IPL

ALL ABOUT MY PERMANENT HAIR REDUCTION JOURNEY: REVIEW ON HOME-BASED IPL DEVICES.

Hello lovelies and welcome to my first blog post! In this post I will focus on a home-based permanent hair reduction method that I have been using for around a year.

I am aware that there are so many IPL hair removal devices in the market; I will however specifically focus on the Remington IPL 6500. I have purchased this device exactly one year ago! I have always had thick and black body hair that I couldn’t wait to get rid off. My main hair removal method, before starting with IPL, was shaving. I would shave on a day and hair would literally start growing the very next day. I also hated waxing due to the unpleasant pain that is associated with it. So, I was on the hunt to look for a more permanent hair removal solution. 

So before going into the review, I'll briefly explain what IPL is and how it works: 

 IPL stands for Intense Pulsed Light. Many people think that IPL is the same as laser which is not true. IPL as the name suggests uses bright light (that has multiple wavelengths) for several dermalogical procedures including hair removal, whereas a laser uses a single wavelength. In IPL, light is first absorbed by the pigment in the hair. This light will turn into heat that will kill the hair growing cells. The only way for this process to work is by having hair that can be targeted by the light. This means that you have to shave your hair before the treatments and not epilate or wax the hair. 

Remington IPL 6500:

The Remington IPL machine is designed to permanently reduce facial and body hair. It comes with two attachments: one is meant to be used on the body (legs, arms, underarms, bikini line) and the other is meant for the face. I personally only used the body attachment to treat my arms, underarms, and legs (as I didn't have dark hair on my face). Before treating any area, you have to ensure that you shave the hair there instead of epilating or waxing it. 

The Remington IPL 6500 

  

Facial attachment (Left), Body attachment (Right)

The machine works by scanning the area that you want to treat. If your skin tone is compatible with the device, it will unlock and switch on. You can then select the energy setting that you want to use. There are 5 energy settings, 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest. Obviously, the higher you set the energy level, the more effective the treatment will be. I would recommend that you set the energy level to one that you feel comfortable with. One my first two sessions, I set the energy level to 3 as anything above that was kind of painful. However, on my 3^rd session, I upped the energy level to 5 in order to get better results. The pain is very similar to the feeling of being hit with a hot rubber band. Honestly, I found the first couple of treatments to be quite painful (even with the lower energy setting) but that really depends on the person’s pain threshold. The pain does decrease tremendously after a couple of treatments as the hair does get much lighter and thinner. 

The 5 energy settings on the machine

Results:    

It is important to keep in mind that results will vary from one person to the other. I personally, started seeing a great hair reduction and change in the texture of my hair after 4 sessions. The hair that grew back was much finer and lighter in colour (can be seen in the picture below). I have completed 12 sessions so far. I can confidently say that I am 60% hair-free. The hair that still grows does not really bother me as they are not as visible as they were pre-treatments. I can simply get my razor and snap any remaining hairs very quickly. I currently only shave once a month, as the hair takes much longer to grow back (such a relief!), in comparison to the next-day hair regrowth that I used to get pre-treatments. I will continue to do touch-up sessions once a month just to further maintain what I have already achieved.

Leg hair after 12 treatment sessions

So things to keep in mind are that IPL is really effective in hair REDUCTION. It by no means is a permanent hair REMOVAL solution. Home-based IPL devices may also take longer for you to see effective results (incomparison to salon treatments), so they definitely are not immediate. You will have to be consistent for you to see the difference. If you need more immediate and more permanent hair reduction options, then going to a specialized salon for laser hair treatment would be ideal. I personally chose to go for the home-based IPL treatments as I have a very busy working schedule. I wanted a solution that I can do at home whenever I am free, without the hassle of committing to going to a salon. It also is a much cheaper option! The price of this machine was around 170 KD (approx. 435 GBP) last year. The current price is much cheaper than that (it is currently £183.31 on amazon.uk!), so it is a total bargain in comparison to the hefty salon prices that you can pay :)!

FAQ:

Who is IPL suitable for?

It is suitable for light to medium skin tones and you also need to have dark body hair. IPL is not effective on blonde, red, or grey hair.

How often do I treat my body?

For the first 6 sessions, I used to treat my arms, legs, and underarms every 2 weeks. After 6 sessions, I started treating my body once a month only for touch-ups. It is important to know that hair grows in cycles. This is why several sessions are needed to see actual results (as some hairs may still be in the dormant stage when you treated a specific area, so these will grow again and you will have to treat them later etc).

How long does each treatment last?

I tend to do my arms, underarms, and legs all in one session. Treatment time will vary depending on the size of the area that you want to treat. For me personally, underarms take approx. 5 mins. Arms approx. 20 mins and full legs approx. 40 mins. In the manual, it is recommended to avoid (as much as possible) treating the same area twice. That however can be very tricky specially on larger areas such as legs. A great tip is to divide your leg into smaller grids using a white eyeliner. That makes is much easier to go over each area only once!

Treatment aftercare?

After every session, make sure that for the next 48 hours your skin is well protected from the sun by applying a good sun block. Also, avoid any hot showers for 48 hours. This is important to avoid any skin irritation or burning that may occur.

Will the results that I get be permanent?

No, there is no such thing as permanent hair removal. With changing hormones (e.g. during pregancy) hair regrowth might occur. Touch-up sessions can help maintain the results that you have achieved.

If there are any questions, please leave them down below and I’ll be more than happy to answer them!