Philips Lumea IPL Review (6 Months Results Update)

In December 2022, I shared my results using the Philips Lumea IPL hair removal device over ten weeks. The makers say it should reduce hair growth by 85% after three uses. But after ten weeks of using the device fortnightly, I can only say that my result was close to that.

But what’s my final verdict four months on and six months after starting treatment? What are the long-term results? Well, now, we are going to find out.

I will start this update by introducing what the Philips Lumea IPL device is for the sake of newcomers. After using this product for ten weeks, I have a first-hand experience of what you can expect if you purchase and use this product. You can check this link to find my result. The before and after pictures are below.

What is Philips Lumea IPL?

To summarize, Philips Lumea is a plugged-in Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) hair removal device with two detachable heads – one for your face and the other for your body. I bought mine from Amazon for 200 pounds, but I noticed it was an offer, and the original price was more than that.

It’s currently selling for 279 pounds on Amazon UK . However, confirming whether you can get a better deal directly from the seller or through Amazon is worth it. A similar product on Amazon US currently goes for 370 dollars.

With the device, there are five treatment settings. You line the head up over the area you want to treat and press down on the trigger to release the light. For treating a large area, you can just hold the trigger down and keep moving after each pulse to cover the area more quickly.

I mainly used setting three for comfort. When you use the device, you just feel a little pulse of heat, but on sensitive areas, it can feel quite hot. You will, however, get used to it after using it for a while. I can say this because I now largely use it on five – the highest setting.

The device uses light to target the pigment in your hair called melanin, which absorbs the light from the flash, sending the hair into a resting phase. It’s important to remember that, frustratingly, this doesn’t work on blonde or ginger hair or darker skin tones. It works on lighter skin and darker hair because it targets pigmentation.

Philips has produced a guide to the hair and skin types it’s best suited to, which you can find below.

Recap

After using the device every two weeks for ten weeks, I got a pretty good result, as seen in this picture. I then moved into maintenance mode (as recommended), where I continued to use the device every three weeks to a month to try and maintain the result.

Doing a whole leg takes at least ten minutes, so doing both legs, bikini lines, and underarm is time-consuming. So I’m just going to confess and say that although I’ve been using it at least monthly, I’ve not been methodically going over every area each time I do so.

Also Read: Philips Lumea 9000 vs. Prestige: Which IPL is Better for You?

How to Use Philips Lumea IPL

Before using the device, you must shave so the light doesn’t have to travel too far to get to your hair root. If I noticed a patch or patches of hair on my leg, I would shave them and go over that spot and maybe some of the surrounding areas simultaneously. I would always do my bikini and under arm full.

So, in doing that, where have I ended up six months on?

The good news is that the hair has almost completely gone on my underarms. That is also true of my bikini line. It’s most effective on darker, thicker bikinis and underarms hair, where you will likely get the best result. It’s the finer hair that is more difficult to target.

It is a slightly different story for my legs, though, particularly my knees. I took a picture ten days after shaving and using the device last weekend.

So, you can make out little patches of hair around the knee, and I then have very sparse hairs here and there over the rest of my legs. It’s a vast improvement, but it does mean I would still need to shave or wax before going on holiday or wearing shorts or a bikini. Removing that remaining hair would take about a minute if I wanted to go swimming right now.

Therefore, it is not a complete hair remover for me, but it is a solid result. It’s hard to say whether if I had continued to use the device every two weeks for a much longer period (although that was not what the instruction said), I could have completely got rid of the hair growth. The instruction was to use it for a few weeks apart and then move to monthly maintenance treatments, which I did and could do.

For me, it’s been money well-spent because I could have easily gone into a clinic and spent over 1000 pounds on a series of IPL treatments and still ended up with a little bit of hair. Instead, I spent 200 pounds and drastically reduced my hair growth.

A Couple of Additional Points

As with everything in life, this device will work better and last longer if you maintain it. That means cleaning the glass after each use. You must remove the head, take a lightly damp cloth, and wipe the glass down.

Little white spots can appear on the glass from smoke that comes off any hair on the surface of the leg that you might have missed while shaving. You have to clean that off for the best results.

It’s important to state that continuously using the device over large areas can cause overheating. You know this because the device stops working, and you can get a run of flashing lights rather than one constant. When it gets overheated, switch it off and allow it to cool for ten minutes before using it again.

After using it for six months, I’ve noticed it takes over twice as long to cool, suggesting that it has become less efficient over time.

Philips Lumea Advanced IPL Device: My Final Verdict

My final verdict on the Philips Lumea Advanced IPL device is that it has delivered a good result for me. My razor is hardly used – now I just run an electric shaver over straggly hairs. It’s so much easier and therefore has been a sound purchase.

I hope you’ve found this update helpful. I know a few of you have been asking how the IPL treatments have been going for a long time, and here you have the answers.

Also Read: Ulike IPL Hair Removal Device Review (6 Months Results Update)