An IPL Journey with the Remington i-LIGHT (Part 1 Review)

My sister surprised me with a Remington i-LIGHT Pro for Christmas. I haven't mention IPL to anyone since my British grad school days, so this was an extremely unexpected but delightful surprise.

The Remington i-LIGHT is similar to Boots Smooth Skin Hair Reduction System. Physically, both devices have a round 10 inch base with a corded handset that emits IPL pulses. The handset has a light that needs to be replaced after 15,000 flashes.

Both companies note that best results are for fair skinned types with dark hair. It does not work with fair skin and blonde or grey hair. Tanned skin tones are advised not to use the system due to the amount of heated light that their skin will absorb. People with tattoos are advised to be careful around their ink. I have read some horror stories about blistered tattoos and scarred tattoos after healing. Shaving is advised before beginning.

There are also some notable differences between the two systems. Remington advertizes being hair free for up to 6 months after use. Boots claims permanent hair removal. The i-LIGHT's handset is ready to go once you turn it on - handset on bare shaved skin. Smooth Skin requires a gel to be applied to shaved skin before using the handset. Boots states the gel minimizes discomfort and aids in seeing areas treated. There are 5 intensity settings for the i-LIGHT. Smooth Skin has 3.

Remington recommends the i-Light to be used every two weeks for the first 3 sessions. After that, touch ups whenever needed, but always with a two week rest period between each treatment. Boots recommends Smooth Skin to be used every week for 6-12 weeks. After that touch ups whenever needed.

The most notable difference is that Remington has "locked" the i-LIGHT with a skin sensor. Before each and every session, the treated area needs to be scanned by the i-LIGHT. The scanner determines if the skin can be treated or not. Fair skin tones can "unlock" the handheld with a green light. Skin tones determined to be too dark for treatment will cause the machine to remained "locked" with an orange light.

At the moment, I don't know if this is helpful or just annoying. I have very fair skin and should be able to treat all parts of my body, but I have had problems unlocking the machine. I have read reports of others with extremely fair skin having the same problem. The other problem is that the sensor is located on the base itself, not the detachable handheld. How anyone can contort their bodies to meet the scanner is beyond me. The back of my hand doesn't open the i-LIGHT, but the inside of my elbows do. After a little bit of bending and contorting, voila!

After opening my Remington, I read the booklet, watched the whole instructional DVD, and played with the machine to familiarize myself with it. I would be trying this machine out as soon as possible.

 All photos (c) Little Luxuries 2013.