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

.Mia.

Thank you so much londonsurrey, your tips will be invaluable, I am sure! I dare to ask a TMI question though... when zapping the (ahemm) undercarriage.... I thought it wasn't indicated to use laser on mucous membranes. Do you just have to be very careful not to get too near such lady parts, or have you done it and had no adverse effects?

Having had a chat with my friend, we've both decided that salon sessions (even heavily discounted Groupon ones) are not worth our efforts - we'd both rather zap once a week whenever we find the time, than having to go to an appointment. The more I've thought about my original post, the more I wonder about which machine to buy... I know it isn't very MSE of me, but I would probably want to buy the £1300 machine (it is an E-One, which I've searched for online but the reviews are only a few and always positive - it makes me worry). Does anyone have an E-One? Their website doesn't specify anything about the joules, but the treatment head is 6sqcm. I am inclined to spend this money, but it is quite a lot and I have reservations. I would love the opinion of an MSEr, as I am not sure about trusting the online reviews I found to date...

londonsurrey

Hello Mia,

Well, it's all vaguely TMI territory, but it is the nature of this thread, so I suggest that the squeamish should find something else of pressing interest instead of reading on.

With regards to mucous membranes, I have been careful to avoid them. I have found by their very nature, (TMI bit) they're "folded in" anyhow. So I just make sure that the necessary bits are pressed close.

I suppose that everyone's a mite different, and if someone were having trouble doing that, white plaster/dressing tape can be used to hold skin together or to cover mucous membranes.


I use plaster tape to cover my lips when zapping the moustache area.


With regards to eye protection when zapping on the face area, I have been unable to locate a satisfactory solution on the web. I didn't like the bright light that seeps through.

I've tried sunbed goggles, welding goggles(you'd think they'd be good, but no!).

My current solution is to use the sunbed goggles, stuff a black sock(couldn't find any other thick black material) under each eye to cover all the cracks, and then zap. The light coming through to my eyes has been greatly reduced this way.

londonsurrey

If I were researching a machine to buy, I would prioritise its power per cm over its treatment head size.

Positive reviews are good. But we know how easy they are to generate.
It's an interesting statistic that people are more likely to write in to complain than to write in to praise. A total absence of any critiques, even if it's for just annoying niggles about a product rather that outright IT'S-RUBBISH-AND-DOESN'T-WORK, would make me very wary.

.Mia.

Wow, londonsurrey, thank you so much! I had expected to only be able to IPL myself on the bikinni line, but this is good news . My little area shouldn't need taping - I was worried about the light getting through the skin.

I agree with you entirely. Reading about the Boots system here gave me more confidence to try it out (even with the fake user stunt they pulled somewhere earlier on). I think my decision will be to keep the Tria for my friend, get the Boots PLUS for me (£900 total cost) and save myself £500 now (much more MSE of me). In a year or two, once our respective machines give out, the technology may move on and we can buy something better.

I plan on keeping a sort of log of the treatments, but don't necessarily want to spam this thread - is anyone here still curious, or shall I not bother posting my progress here?

---

Edit: OK, so we've unwrapped the Tria and put it to charge. Being the impatient little monkey I am, I was fiddling with it while reading the manual. After only ten minutes, all three lights went on, which signifies that the tria is fully charged, but this is meant to take three hours... Do I have a dud, or did I screw something up?

Also, I will be buying my own Boots PLUS this week - hope I don't buy it right before some kind of price reduction!!

londonsurrey

It could be a dud, or maybe they're charged up a before, and 3 hours is the maximum amount of time it's meant to take from totally flat?

I'd vote for updates as often as you like.

If I had access to both machines, I'd go as far as to use one machine on each side. The difference a year on ought to be really interesting.

londonsurrey

Talking about the Boots machine, did anyone else get a case for it?
I saw a white zip up case for the machine in the shop, but the one I got online didn't come with a case.

I feel a bit cross and cheated about that.

violetta

londonsurrey wrote: »

Talking about the Boots machine, did anyone else get a case for it?
I saw a white zip up case for the machine in the shop, but the one I got online didn't come with a case.

I feel a bit cross and cheated about that.

Hi londonsurrey - I bought mine from the shop and it came in the nice white zippy case with compartments to hold all the various bits.

I am quite pleased with the results I have had, but have found you do have to keep going with treatments every so often, even after 12 goes, or the dark hair seems to return! My armpits got the best results, with hardly any growth there now.

HanSpan

.Mia. wrote: »

I plan on keeping a sort of log of the treatments, but don't necessarily want to spam this thread - is anyone here still curious, or shall I not bother posting my progress here?

I may not have posted for ages (if at all can't remember!) on this thread but I read with interest so post away would be my vote!
It might even spur me on to have another go.

I have a boots original machine that sits in a cupboard making me feel guilty for the money I paid for it. I ought to try again - my main problem is a very low boredom threshold and a lack of patience. I did manage to get my bikinin line much better but didn't see much improvement on the face, and the armpits I found just too difficult not to zap and get reflected light from the mirror straight in my eyes!

curlygirl1971

.Mia. wrote: »

I plan on keeping a sort of log of the treatments, but don't necessarily want to spam this thread - is anyone here still curious, or shall I not bother posting my progress here?

I would appreciate knowing how you get on

Thanks (& Best of luck with it)

londonsurrey

This might sound like an odd question, but why on earth did Philips produce the Lumea, which only does temporary hair reduction, a wattage just below the recognised level to kill hairs?

Is it a licencing thing?
Is it cheaper to do it? (but the Lumea costs more than the Boots machine)
Do they think that women want to be tied to the machine?

Some other reason I haven't thought of?
Thank you.