Anyone tried Boots 'Smooth Skin' home IPL hair reduction system yet?

londonsurrey

Well, I've just done a session in my freezing cold bathroom(central heating's died) and one unexpected advantage is that it doesn't heat up as much after a few zaps. Lol!

fernnie

Hi there! I will be one of those posters who will post only a few times and then vanish!Found this forum while googling "Boots smooth skin reviews". And I come back only once every few weeks to read reviews.
First of all I am 100% legit... not a Boots employee ! I begged my uncle to buy this for me from the UK and so far I've used it about 3 times, and really it's not bad at all.
I've had IPL at the doctor's as well as at a salon, and Boots' is like the salon's, in terms of the strength used. I asked my salon and they use 7 joules (strangely enough 7 joules on their machine stings more than 7 joules on the Boots one)and are very reluctant to go any higher than me, while my doctor used around 20 joules.
What I noticed with this Boots one, as well as at the salon, is that hair grows back much more slowly, and it's less and finer. At the doctor's the pain is more intense, and also the hair seems to shed more easily. I'm happy enough with the Boots one, it works extremely well with the Bikini area, but less so with the fine but dark hair that covers my entire body...
Anyone who has a real problem with too much body hair will be quite happy with this I think. But for reference I'm an Asian of both Chinese and Indian origin and am closer to a Fitzpatrick type 4 than type 3.. meaning I'm rather dark. Really according to the warnings I'm not supposed to be using this at all, but since I've had experience with IPL I went ahead and got it anyway. For me the darkest setting is very comfortable, really no pain at all, but on the medium setting, if I use it for a longer time, it burns my skin and leaves marks.
I too am very confused as to why the treatments have to be done weekly. According to the salons and doctors, the reasons they space the treatment intervals at 6-8 weeks is because of the different phases of hair growth--- anagen, telogen etc... I am too lazy to do the treatments weekly anyway. My last one was 3 weeks ago, so I guess I'd better do it soon.
I will update every once in a while, if I remember to. I wonder all the time whether the reviews I read are real or not, so I thought I'd post my own very authentic review here.:)

gwhizz75

Just a quick tip to help with the overheating problem.... In the summer, I would sit on the floor with a fan pointed at me when I was doing the zapping. Then after each zap, I would point the head of the smooth skin at the fan so it cooled it down. No doubt I looked really crazy, and my boyfriend thought I was worshipping the fan with some kind of strange ritual but it did work. Also, make sure you hold the device completely off your skin when you are not actually zapping (those few seconds between each go) because the air will help to cool it.

userdefinable

Good advice re. fan thanks! The downside of leaving it away from skin when not zapping is that you don't get left with the imprint of the contacts then so you can't see which bits you've done

londonsurrey

Has anyone tried using it on their face? I'm trying to get rid of long sideburns, and although I've bought black sunbathing goggles, and tried shielding my eyes, I still get a red flash of light when I'm zapping my sideburns, and am concerned that it will damage my eyes.

Liv45

Hi everyone,

After reading through the 40+ pages of the thread I couldn't resist trying the Boots system and I'm hoping for a bit of info from other more experienced users. I've tried the Boots system a few times now on a test area and to be honest, I can't see much difference.

I've professional laser treatment before and it worked really well. It slowed growth and when there was regrowth it was very soft, never had any scarring etc. But with the Boots system, there hasn't really been any reduction at all.

I just wondered, do other people find the results with the Boots system are immediate? ie the hair that is there is removed immediately. When I had laser treatment at a salon the results were immediate so I thought perhaps the Boots system worked differently. My colouring is suitable and I've had good results before so I'm hoping I'm just doing it wrong rather than it not working!

Thanks for any tips or info

madget_2

Liv45 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

After reading through the 40+ pages of the thread I couldn't resist trying the Boots system and I'm hoping for a bit of info from other more experienced users. I've tried the Boots system a few times now on a test area and to be honest, I can't see much difference.

I've professional laser treatment before and it worked really well. It slowed growth and when there was regrowth it was very soft, never had any scarring etc. But with the Boots system, there hasn't really been any reduction at all.

I just wondered, do other people find the results with the Boots system are immediate? ie the hair that is there is removed immediately. When I had laser treatment at a salon the results were immediate so I thought perhaps the Boots system worked differently. My colouring is suitable and I've had good results before so I'm hoping I'm just doing it wrong rather than it not working!

Thanks for any tips or info

It wasn't immediate for me, but I did notice a gradual change. It didn't seem to work anywhere near as well as the salon laser treatment I had on my lower legs, and all of the hair grew back, even after I had completed many more than the recommended number of treatments.

For me, it was a waste of time and money, but it seems to have worked better for others.

Liv45

Thanks for the info madget. Sorry to hear you didn't have much success, I think I'm in the same boat. I can live without it being permanent but the change thus far is only very gradual. I will keep going with it but I'm not expecting to see results

madget_2

Liv45 wrote: »

Thanks for the info madget. Sorry to hear you didn't have much success, I think I'm in the same boat. I can live without it being permanent but the change thus far is only very gradual. I will keep going with it but I'm not expecting to see results

Since you've already got it, Liv, I'd definitely continuing using it. You never know, it might start making much more of a difference after continued use. Good luck!

fabuleuse_2

I've just discovered this product and I'm very tempted. The price is definitely off-putting for me though - it's about as much as I spend on all beauty-related items in about 5 years! I know it's currently £50 off its usual price; anyone think it will have a further reduction after Christmas?