Pros:
- Affordable
- Low pain
- Results appear quickly
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Not permanent or long-term
- Requires three months to get full results
We’ve all been there: You’re on a spontaneous beach day or decided to wear shorts, and hair gets in the way. Hair removal can be a hassle no matter which route you take. Shaving or waxing can be high-maintenance and time-consuming, and laser hair removal seems daunting and, not to mention, expensive. So when I had the opportunity to test an allegedly painless at-home hair removal device (sans ingrown hairs or razor bumps), I jumped at the chance.
Without getting too much into my relationship with body hair, shaving was (at least) a weekly ritual that I did not enjoy. Not to mention the occasional ingrown hair. I debated getting laser hair removal, but the timing never seemed right, and I was unsure about my pain tolerance. My only experience with laser hair removal was with electrolysis on small areas. Upon finding out that the SmoothSkin Pure Fit IPL device could mimic in-office results in as little as four weeks, I had to investigate and see exactly how the IPL process worked.
SmoothSkin Pure Fit IPL Hair Removal Device
How does IPL work?
IPL (intense pulsed light) emits multiple wavelengths of light, which is converted into heat, to destroy the hair follicle. What sets IPL apart from other hair removal lasers is that it uses multiple wavelengths—as opposed to other lasers that use a single wavelength—to select the pigment of the hair follicle only to minimize damage of the surrounding skin. "Since laser hair removal works by targeting the pigment of the hair follicle, dark hairs tend to respond the best to laser hair removal," Marisa Garshick, M.D., F.A.A.D. previously told BAZAAR.com.
Before diving into the full experience, I spot-tested the laser on one part of my leg to ensure I was sensitized to the laser. Before any SmoothSkin session, you have to remove the hair and create a clean canvas for the laser to work on. My preferred method is shaving, so I shaved my legs and underarms, which is where I tested the device.
Is the SmoothSkin Pure Fit easy to use?
Though the SmoothSkin Pure Fit IPL device comes with a smaller tip for precision areas like above the lip, I started with the bigger tip for my legs. It's very user-friendly: It will never zap light or heat without perfect skin contact (dots on the side light up white when there’s good contact and red when there is poor contact). I loved this feature, because no matter which direction I was going in, it took the guesswork out of trying to get the laser in the right spot to work. The only downside to the dot indicators was that it can be tricky to get skin contact in some areas (like the shins or knees). I found I had to rotate the laser vertically or horizontally in some spots to get the right contact. To use the device on my legs and underarm area, it took me about 20 minutes each time.
Is it painful?
At first, I was hesitant to start using the device, because I thought it would give a burning or painful sensation. But, much to my surprise, the multiple wavelengths made the pain level relatively low. You feel a warming sensation and a feeling similar to rubber bands snapping. The pain was so minimal that the heat felt nice. During my first use, my pain level was a two or three out of 10. Part of my legs hurt slightly more (near my shins or ankles where there’s more prevalent bone), and my underarm area hurt more than my legs overall.
SkinSmooth says that after three to four weeks, you start to see noticeable lack of regrowth, and that was definitely the case for me. I didn’t believe the technology would work that quickly, but after three weeks, hair started to grow back slower in some areas. By the fifth week, I went about nine days without needing to shave. In fact, I went to Europe for a week halfway through this eight-week trial, forgot a razor, and didn’t even need to make an emergency pharmacy run to get one.
After using the SmoothSkin device once a week for eight weeks, I had very minimal hair growth at all. The brand recommends continuing weekly sessions for 12 weeks, but I am amazed at the results 75 percent of the way in. Of course, there’s a catch: Due to the low pain level and affordable price compared to in-office laser treatments, touch-ups will have to be done every few weeks to keep the regrowth at bay.
As someone who spent 20 minutes a week lasering my hair off with the SmoothSkin, I picked up a few tricks. First, if you’re shaving, I recommend waiting about 10 minutes after showering to use the device since slightly damp skin makes the device hurt more. Also, just because it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean it’s not working; I occasionally went over areas more than once, and it didn’t add any value.
Final Rating: 5/5
I am still in awe of how this low-pain device zapped nearly all of my body hair. For the price and ease of use, I’m giving the device a perfect score. The only downside, I’ll say, is that it’s not as permanent as laser hair removal—but I never expected it to be, so I am very satisfied with these results.
SmoothSkin Pure Fit is on sale for $303 (regularly $379) online at currentbody.com.
