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

userdefinable

There are an awful lot (at least one seems to land in my inbox every week) of very cheap clinic IPL treatments available through Groupon. That's if you subscribe to the London area offers. Typically £100 to £120 for 6 treatments in one large, two medium, or various small areas (the offers vary slightly). Always listed as worth between £1000 and £2000.

If I wasn't using Smooth Skin (having spent a fortune on it now and having reasonable success) I would go for one of those.

ShellyBee_2

Hi - I've just bought Smooth Skin and was wondering if anyone can confirm if I can keep using my microdermabrasion face cream (Dermacare) and also if I can continue to use an all over body moisturiser Palmers Cocoa Butter Forumla Skin Smoothing Lotion with Alpha Beta Hydrox & Shea Butter. The ingredients doesn't tell me the percentage of the acids used..it mentions lactic acid but no percentage - I assume it's really weak.

I know the guidelines mentioned not to have microbrasion during treatments and to avoid AHA's, glycolic acid etc.....but is that just the salon versions - as the home versions seem to be much weaker. I've only just started using the above products a couple of weeks ago and although I like them they're not affecting my skin in anyway - no readness, tenderness, etc etc

Any advice would be appreciated. (ps I should add that I did use the microbrasion at home a couple of days before the first laser treatment and I also used it again about 2 days after the laser and had no problems whatsoever. The smooth skin and the scrubs have never caused me any pink/redness, soreness or problems at all).

As for the machine I love it! Spent about 4 weeks doing research before buying. Liked the fact it seems to offer the most long-term hair reduction and also has the best reviews too. Mid range prices aswell and I really liked the fact that although the zap time may be a few seconds longer than some others, there's no recharge required once in use - you can continue for as much as you need doing. With the others I think you had to stop after 15mins and recharge the unit for another hour to continue?! so the additional seconds per zap is well worth it.

I was so excited about getting it I just went for it -everything! lol. Arms, legs, face, bikini lol...it was great and after I finished was still looking for more places to zap haha. Yes it took most of the evening but i didn't mind, was definitely worth it. Helped using the white eyeliner to section off my legs so I knew which part had been done. The zapper part did get hotter as time went on and I did the bikini line near the end so whereas the other parts didn't hurt at all...I started to feel it a bit there so just knocked it down to a dark setting - next time i'll start on that area first.

So only in 1 week but really like it and cant fault it in any way.

Any help on the above question re mircorbrasion etc would be appreciated.

Thanks

Littlesusie_2

jambo3 wrote: »

hi all (mostly girls I think??)

Ok, I am a MALE of INDIAN origin, medium skin colour, not very dark, however have fairly dark body hair. I do have an exceptional amount of body hair and have had 2/3 sessions of laser hair removal in a salon some years back. This cost me a few thousand pounds and didn't do a great deal for me (perhaps because I didn't keep it up regularly?).

So now I'm looking into a home kit - with the Boots smooth skin, my concern is that to cover the entire upper body (back, chest, shoulders, stomach, full arms) how many flashes would one full treatment take? I imagine 1000 or so maybe more? The life span of this product is only 10,000 flashes so I am likely to require a new bulb costing around £160 again?

Are there any guys on here who can give me their advice/experiences as to if this is the best one to use at home or is there another product that perhaps can do the job faster (I don't really want to have to wait 6 seconds before the next flash, I will be there for 8 hours doing my whole upper body this way?!)

thanks

If you're skin type is suitable then it would take ages to do your whole body. I'd suggest starting with the area that bothers you the most then when that treatment is finished move onto another area. I don't know if it's the same for men but many women who are very hairy have an underlying health problem such as hormone inbalance. It may be worth visiting your doctor to see of this is the case.

ShellyBee wrote: »

Hi - I've just bought Smooth Skin and was wondering if anyone can confirm if I can keep using my microdermabrasion face cream (Dermacare) and also if I can continue to use an all over body moisturiser Palmers Cocoa Butter Forumla Skin Smoothing Lotion with Alpha Beta Hydrox & Shea Butter. The ingredients doesn't tell me the percentage of the acids used..it mentions lactic acid but no percentage - I assume it's really weak.

I know the guidelines mentioned not to have microbrasion during treatments and to avoid AHA's, glycolic acid etc.....but is that just the salon versions - as the home versions seem to be much weaker. I've only just started using the above products a couple of weeks ago and although I like them they're not affecting my skin in anyway - no readness, tenderness, etc etc

Any advice would be appreciated. (ps I should add that I did use the microbrasion at home a couple of days before the first laser treatment and I also used it again about 2 days after the laser and had no problems whatsoever. The smooth skin and the scrubs have never caused me any pink/redness, soreness or problems at all).

As for the machine I love it! Spent about 4 weeks doing research before buying. Liked the fact it seems to offer the most long-term hair reduction and also has the best reviews too. Mid range prices aswell and I really liked the fact that although the zap time may be a few seconds longer than some others, there's no recharge required once in use - you can continue for as much as you need doing. With the others I think you had to stop after 15mins and recharge the unit for another hour to continue?! so the additional seconds per zap is well worth it.

I was so excited about getting it I just went for it -everything! lol. Arms, legs, face, bikini lol...it was great and after I finished was still looking for more places to zap haha. Yes it took most of the evening but i didn't mind, was definitely worth it. Helped using the white eyeliner to section off my legs so I knew which part had been done. The zapper part did get hotter as time went on and I did the bikini line near the end so whereas the other parts didn't hurt at all...I started to feel it a bit there so just knocked it down to a dark setting - next time i'll start on that area first.

So only in 1 week but really like it and cant fault it in any way.

Any help on the above question re mircorbrasion etc would be appreciated.

Thanks

I did the same on my legs using the white pencil and I must have drawn it in roughly the same place so no I have virtually hair free legs apart from where the pencil was, which looks rather stupid :rotfl:

RebekahR

Yea I sectioned mine off too when I was doing it. Only did 2-3 treatments with minimal differerce. Gave up due to lack of patience. Going to start on my face again as some fair dark hairs are back. Dunno how responsive they will be though as they aren't telegraph poles.

Littlesusie_2

RebekahR wrote: »

Yea I sectioned mine off too when I was doing it. Only did 2-3 treatments with minimal differerce. Gave up due to lack of patience. Going to start on my face again as some fair dark hairs are back. Dunno how responsive they will be though as they aren't telegraph poles.

I didn't notice any difference until after the 4 or 5th treatment. It's defiantly worth persevering

GeorgeBee

Ordered one and these and collected from instore today. Really excited about using it however there is no plug in the box (mains plug) and no instruction manuals whatsoever. I take it this is not right? Just double checking before I take it back and kick off a little!

All_eBayed_Out

GeorgeBee wrote: »

Ordered one and these and collected from instore today. Really excited about using it however there is no plug in the box (mains plug) and no instruction manuals whatsoever. I take it this is not right? Just double checking before I take it back and kick off a little!

No it sounds like your box has been raided. I would go back and get a replacement and check the contents of the box with a member of staff before you leave. So frustrating when that happens. I don't think these boxes have any tamper proof tape on them when you buy the product so you don't know if its been opened before.

GeorgeBee

All_eBayed_Out wrote: »

No it sounds like your box has been raided. I would go back and get a replacement and check the contents of the box with a member of staff before you leave. So frustrating when that happens. I don't think these boxes have any tamper proof tape on them when you buy the product so you don't know if its been opened before.

Thanks for confirming that! I don't think it's been raided per say, as it had cardboard wrapped round the box (which I had to tear to get off) and the zips on the case were cable-tied together (which were a struggle to get off!).

Plus a plug and instructions are an odd thing to nick lol! I'd steal the headset seeing as they cost a lot to replace!

I will be sure to check the next one I get before I leave the store. Thanks for the tip!

userdefinable

"the zips on the case were cable-tied together (which were a struggle to get off!)."

Ahh so I'm not the only one who struggled with that

Now I've reduced my treatments to once a month I've noticed the hair is growing back (albeit thinner) between treatments, grr. Not all of it, I guess it depends on the individual hair's growth cycle (as to whether the laser caught it or not?). Unfortately I don't have a day a week spare in my life to do this that often! so I will just stick to monthly treatments (tedious and time consuming as they are) and shave in between. I seem to have to let the thing cool down for 10 minutes for every 5 minutes of treatment time, shame there isn't a better cooling system built in to speed things up. They'll prob bring out a second version with that one day to try and get us to fork out again!

I've done 9 treatments so far over the last 4 months.

Littlesusie_2

userdefinable wrote: »

"the zips on the case were cable-tied together (which were a struggle to get off!)."

Ahh so I'm not the only one who struggled with that

Now I've reduced my treatments to once a month I've noticed the hair is growing back (albeit thinner) between treatments, grr. Not all of it, I guess it depends on the individual hair's growth cycle (as to whether the laser caught it or not?). Unfortately I don't have a day a week spare in my life to do this that often! so I will just stick to monthly treatments (tedious and time consuming as they are) and shave in between. I seem to have to let the thing cool down for 10 minutes for every 5 minutes of treatment time, shame there isn't a better cooling system built in to speed things up. They'll prob bring out a second version with that one day to try and get us to fork out again!

I've done 9 treatments so far over the last 4 months.

That seems a lot of cooling down time...I have to stop for it to cool around 3 or 4 times for when I do my lower legs, so 4 times in about 70 mins. It's ready to go again in a max of 5 mins. Is you're room really warm, might be worth opening a window or using a fan?