One thing I have learnt from using lots of different home beauty devices over the years, is the need for planning, persistence and patience.
By their nature, home beauty devices are less powerful than their professional counterparts, and it’s going to take time for results to show. A good example of this is at home laser and IPL hair removal.
I have passed the 12-week mark of my trial of the Tria Beauty hair laser (part one here and part two here), and it’s only just now that I’m starting to see changes. The hairs on my arms, which is where I’m testing it, are growing back more sparsely and where there is re-growth the hair is finer.
The challenge at this juncture is keeping the treatments going: once you start seeing results there’s a risk of becoming a bit complacent and thinking you can get away with skipping the next few (doing so will only set you back).
Four Tips on Getting The Most Out of Your Device
So, how do you keep things going? Here’s a quick few tips:
- Plan your treatments. If Sunday is your least busy day, block out 30 minutes in your diary
- Set an alarm to remind you of the above!
- Take before and after photos (seeing results is motivating)
- If you’re finding the treatment boring, give yourself a small treat after every session
When I set out to review the Tria, one objective was to compare it to IPL hair removal and see which technology I preferred - I have previously used a Philips IPL device on my legs, with great success (review here).
At this 3-month point, there is very little to divide them. Both products work and the experiences are similar, as is their £300 entry price points (note: Philips has more models to choose from). One difference though is on the long-term claims – Tria says its device delivers ‘permanent’ hair removal, whereas Philips says ‘long-term’.
I can’t test that comparison just now, though I would consider the results I’ve had with my Philips machine to be pretty permanent - five years on from treatment I have just a few wispy hairs left on my legs.
The other question is lifespan.Tria says the laser has enough energy to treat all suitable areas on up to 1.5 people; Philips quotes 250,000 lamp flashes for the Lumea (mine is still alive and kicking).
In summary, at home hair removal as a concept works. If you’re fair skinned and dark haired, and fed up with shaving or waxing (and have the mindset I mentioned at the start) I’d say ‘go for it’. As to which technology, my decision at this stage would be swayed by any price promotion that the brands or retailers might be running.
You can buy the Tria Beauty Hair Removal Laser X4 here.
