Philips Lumea IPL Hair Removal 7000 Series - Hair Removal Device With Satin Compact Pen Trimmer, 3 Attachments Body, Face, And Bikini, Corded Use (Model BRI923/00)

Product Information

The higher-end models also come equipped with a “SmartSkin” sensor, which recommends the most comfortable light intensity based on your skin tone, using Philips’ “SenseIQ” technology. With the Lumea Advanced, you have to set the light intensity manually by using a simple patch test and the skin tone and hair colour chart in the user manual. Say goodbye to ingrown hairs and stubbles****, thanks to slower re-growth and less frequent shaving. It’s important to note that I have dark brown hair and light skin, which means I’m the ideal subject for IPL hair removal. That’s because light colours reflect light and heat, whereas dark colours absorb it; the lighter your skin is and the darker your hair is, the better the intense light pulses will be at damaging the hair. Tailor your treatment: Choose from five light intensity settings for the most comfortable experience while the free Lumea coaching app takes you through your sessions step by step.

The Prestige is slightly more powerful than the Advanced. You must still complete the start-up stage and do top-ups with both devices. But the extra power with the Prestige means it’s sightly less effort. That’s because, if you have fair skin and can use the highest intensity levels, after you’ve finished your start-up treatments you’ll need fewer and less regular top-ups to maintain your smooth. The face attachment is important too, with the red filter and more precise size and shape for the uneven and smaller facial areas. And you can use this for smaller areas around your bikini line and underarms too where you may need more precision. To put this into perspective, the Lumea 9000 flashes once every 2 seconds – that’s nearly double the length of time between each flash with the Advanced model. When treating small areas of the body like the armpits, this won’t make a huge difference, however, it took me a whopping 27 minutes to treat one leg using the Lumea Advanced, compared with 18 minutes using the Lumea 9000. When you first open the app, it asks for the model number of your Lumea to give you specific advice for the device you’re using, which includes setup, preparation, treatment, scheduling and after care. It doesn’t connect to the device directly via Bluetooth, but having this information at your fingertips during treatment is incredibly useful. Also, if there’s something else you’re unsure of, there’s a handy archive of blogs from other Lumea users with extra information and guidance.

While IPL is generally known for being relatively pain-free, you could be forgiven for being reluctant to take this at face value, as some people say the same thing about epilating. Having tried both methods of hair removal, I can safely say the pain levels are worlds apart. Both these at-home IPL devices from Philips are top quality. However, the Prestige has several additional features and functions which make it easier, safer and faster to use. The Advanced is a decent choise for zapping your face and smaller body areas if you have fair skin. But for legs, torso or whole body sessions you’ll spevnd far less time zapping with the Lumea Prestige. There’s a slight warm sensation for settings one to four, but by five it’s hot with a bit of a pinch – but not so uncomfortable we had to stop at any point. For bigger areas like our legs, we held it down flat and glided the device over our skin, but for our underarms, we used a stamp-like motion to press, let it flash, lift off and place down on a different area. Again, this is where the patch test becomes more important. There’s no SmartSkin sensor to recommend an intensity level on the Lumea Advanced, which means you have to make that decision yourself to avoid slight discomfort. Effectiveness

Proven effectiveness: Lumea IPL prevents hair regrowth to enjoy 12 months of hair-free smooth skin*, and up to 85% hair reduction in as little as 3 treatments*** As IPL uses intense flashes of light and no bulb lasts forever, the flashes you can get out of each Lumea are limited. The Advanced reviewed here is rated at 250,000 flashes (as is the Prestige) and the Lumea 9000 lasts 450,000. While that is a big difference, we did the maths and you’d have to do 544 full leg treatments to get through 250,000 flashes, or 22 years’ worth, so don’t let this put you off. With the Lumea Prestige the flashes come every 2 seconds (used corded). On the highest intensity level, I can do a thorough full leg in around 10 mins, and my full body in under 40 mins.

How we tested

I score all at-home devices 5-stars for lamp lifetime when they give enough flashes for 15+years of monthly whole-body sessions. They get top marks because it’s many more flashes than you’ll ever need. So, although the 450,000 flashes Prestige sounds far better than the 250,000 flashes model, in reality you’ll never run out with either model. The Prestige is one of the lowest effort home IPL devices for large areas and whole-body sessions. The Advanced is much more effort for larger body areas, so it’s better suited to your face and smaller areas. Lumea Prestige vs Lumea Advanced summary For extra safety the integrated skin tone sensor measures the treated skin complexion at the beginning of each session and occasionally during the session. If it detects a skin tone that is too dark for this product it will automatically stop emitting pulses.

With the Lumea Advanced it flashes every 3.5 seconds. On the highest intensity level, I can do a thorough full leg in close to 20 minutes, and my full body takes over an hour. Yawn 🥱.

Recently Viewed

Both devices work in the same way. Place the window flush against your skin and press the flash button. After it flashes, move it the height of the flash window to the next spot and flash again. You can keep the flash button pressed for continuous flashes as you glide the window along your skin.