The Complete Remington I-Light Pro IPL Review

Product Name

Reviewed by

Paul McCarthy

Review date

Summary

The i-Light IPL hair removal kit comes complete with 5 power settings, strong safety features, 1500 flash cartridge, instruction manual, instruction DVD and spot head cleaner.

Rating

3.8 out of 5 Stars

Product Contents List

  • Base unit
  • Power chord
  • Lens cleaner
  • Instruction CD
  • Hand piece
  • 1 bulb included

Product Overview

The Remington i-Light is one of the latest products in the home IPL hair removal series designed to give long term hair reduction from the comfort of your own home as opposed to having professional laser hair removal done.  

The product comes with 5 power settings and is suitable for Fitzpatrick skin types from I - IV.   Here you can see an overview of the Fitzpatrick skin tone scale:-

Skin Type

Skin Colour

Hair Color (darkest)

Eye Colour

Description

1

White or very pale

Blonde

Blue, grey, green

Always burns, never tans

2

Pale white with beige tint

Chestnut or dark blond

Blue

Always burns, sometimes tans

3

Beige to light brown (olive)

Dark brown

Dark brown

Sometimes burns, always tans

4

Light to moderate brown

Black

Brown

Rarely Burns, always tans

5

Medium to Dark Brown

Black

Brownish black

Rarely burns, tans more than average

6

Dark brown to black

Black

Black

Never burns

The i-Light comes with one bulb that delivers 1500 flashes of light.  The device is suitable for large areas of the body but should not be used on the face.  

Product Components

Base Unit

The base unit connects directly to the power socket and had a docking station in which the hand unit sits:-

  • A - Power switch
  • B - Power inlet
  • C - Base Unit
  • D - Hand piece
  • E - Flash button
  • F - Energy level selection button
  • G - Cool down mode indicator
  • H - Cartridge status indicator display
  • I - Energy level selection display
  • J - Skin tone sensor
  • K - Hand piece cord

Hand Unit

  • D - Hand unit
  • L - Flash window
  • M - Skin contact sensors
  • N - Nose cone release buttons

IPL vs Diode Technology

The Remington i-Light uses IPL (Intense Pulsed Light)​ technology, which means it is not actually a laser.  There are two types of home hair removal products, some use IPL (Remington i-Light and Silk'n SensEpil) and others use a diode laser (Tria 4X).

So which is better - IPL or Diode?

In terms of results, there have been a number of studies comparing the efficacy of IPL vs diode for hair removal but all have been inconclusive. It seems that both IPL and diode get very similar results and neither is better than the other.

Given that IPL and laser hair removal are so similar, I'll refer to it as "laser hair removal" in this article.  If you'd like to know more about the differences between IPL and laser then read this article.​

​Does Home IPL Hair Removal Work?

Scientifically home laser hair removal kits have been shown to be effective to a certain degree.  There are a few points that you should be aware of:-

  • Home laser hair removal doesn't work for everyone - scientists don't yet know why some people respond and others don't.  Most people with light skin and dark hair respond well, but there are a minority of people that will get no results.
  • Not as powerful as professional laser hair removal - if you go to a clinic you'll receive laser hair removal from a more powerful laser that is likely to get you more longer term results
  • Best results are obtained from consistent use - this isn't a device that you can use for a few months and then continue to experience hair reduction.  Studies show that within three months of stopping home laser/IPL hair removal then you will likely experience complete hair regrowth.

For a complete guide to how well home laser hair removal works, you should see our article: The truth about home laser/ipl hair removal.

Safety

The Remington i-Light has been FDA approved as being safe for home use.  A couple of safety features have been included with the device in order to get this clearance:-

Skin Sensor

​The Remington i-Light comes with a skin sensor to detect the darkness of your skin.  If your skin is determined to be too dark then the device will remain in a locked state and you won't be able to use it.

This is to make sure that the device isn't used on people with skin tones that are darker than Fitzpatrick IV. ​ 

Surface Detector

There is a sensor that detects whether or not the laser is being held against a hard surface and the laser will only fire if this is the case.  This safety feature has been implemented to make sure that the laser isn't fired openly which can potentially cause optical damage.

How to Use the Remington i-Light

All home hair removal devices are easy to use, the Remington i-Light is no exception. Simply:-

  1. ​Turn on the device
  2. Place your hand on the skin sensor and press the button
  3. The device will now be unlocked for use
  4. On the base unit, choose the power setting that you want to use.  There are five power settings - you should choose the most powerful setting that is not painful during use.
  5. Take the hand unit and place the head against the treatment area so that it is perpendicular with the surface of your skin
  6. Press the button to fire the light
  7. Move the light window to the next part of the treatment area and wait a second or two until the device is ready to fire the next pulse of light.
  8. It's important that you don't do the same patch of skin twice.  Pulsing the same patch of skin twice doesn't make the treatment more effective but it can lead to more severe side effects.

The device recharges quickly after each pulse (it takes roughly a second) so there is only a limited delay before moving onto the next patch of skin to treat.

Before you use the i-Light on a treatment area, you should make sure that the area is fully shaved and wipe the skin clean and dry completely so as to not interfere with the absorption of the pulses of light.​

Remington recommend that you perform three treatments in your first month (once every two weeks) and thereafter you should continue your treatments only as-needed.​

Remington, the manufacturer, states that you shouldn't use the device more than once every two weeks.​

Refill Cartridge - How Long Does it Last?

The i-Light Pro comes with a 1500 flash cartridge.  This is enough for 2-3 full body treatments (lower legs, underarms, bikini/groin area).  A replacement cartridge can be bought for around $20.  

Treatment Pain and Side Effects

Most people describe the treatment discomfort as being like an elastic band constantly hitting against the surface of your skin.  They also describe the discomfort as being tolerable and mild.  

Mild redness, swelling, tingling and itching are common temporary side effects that usually disappear within an hour or two of treatment. 

Due to the low power of the laser, the treatment discomfort and side effects are not as severe as those that you would expect from professional laser hair removal.​

Technical Data

Here is a full list of technical data for the i-Light:-

Light energy produced

7.4 - 7.9 J/cm(2) - this is enough energy for hair reduction

Safety Features

Skin sensor, pressure switch

Wavelengths

650 - 1100 nm

Handpiece size

Small and light

Pulse duration

roughly 27.5 ms

Clinical data?

The instruction booklet refers to clinical data, but we haven't been able to find the study referenced.

Number of pulses per cartridge

1,500

Spot size?

2cm (2)

Measured rep rate

2.1 seconds

Time per cm(2)

1.05 secs

​Click on the images below to enlarge them:

In Conclusion

This is a solid product and at $200 makes it a direct competitor of the Silk'n SensEpil

The product has many positives: 5 power levels, good safety features with the skin sensor and pressure switch, ease of use, light and aesthetic hand set an​d instruction DVD.

​Our main issue with the product is the 2cm (2) spot size, which is 1/3 of the size of the Silk'n SensEpil.   The relatively small spot size makes treating larger areas a bit of a chore, with lower legs taking a full 20 minutes to treat.

To illustrate this further: If we take into account the time it takes for the i-Light to recharge (2.1 seconds) then the time required to treat per cm (2) is 1.05 seconds. By comparison it takes 0.68 seconds per cm(2) for the Silk'n SensEpil.  This is quite a significant difference for larger treatment areas.

Our second concern is that we haven't been able to find any clinical data relating to the effectiveness of the product.  Both the Tria 4X and Silk'n SensEpil have clinical data to prove the effectiveness of each respective product.  Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that the i-Light doesn't work, it's just a warning sign.

Similar to the Silk'n SensEpil, the i-Light bulb has to be replaced after 1500 flashes.  At face value it may seem that this makes both devices equal, however each flash of the Silk'n SensEpil covers three times the treatment area as the i-Light (as we discussed above). Therefore, in reality, the i-Light cartridges are substantially less durable than the Silk'n cartridges.

On the flip side, it's worth noting that the fluence of the Remington i-Light (7.9J/cm2) is higher than that of the Silk'n SensEpil (4.2 J/cm2).  Scientific studies have confirmed that the higher the fluence (power) the more effective the device is (as you would expect).   Given the data, you would expect the i-Light to produce better results, however this is purely speculation given that the i-Light doesn't appear to be backed up with any scientific studies.

As a final conclusion, the Remington i-Light is a solid product and will likely get you good results.  We believe, however, that the Silk'n SensEpil, on balance, is a slightly better product given that it's backed up with a scientific study and is more practical in terms of both treatment times and cartridge durability.

Things we Liked

  • It's cheap compared to visiting a salon -- Compared to the $12,000 or so you'd spend on total body laser hair removal, the $450 price tag on this device is cheap. For less than $500, you can remove your own hair at home.
  • 5 power levels - you can choose the power setting that suits you
  • Lightweight hand unit - A nice ergonomic, aesthetic and lightweight hand unit makes doing treatments easy
  • Strong safety features - a skin sensor and 2 pressure switches helps to ensure that the device is safe for home use
  • Clear instructions - An instruction manual and DVD are included.
  • Quick recharge between flashes - no hanging around in-between pulses waiting for the device to recharge

Things we didn't Like

  • Slow for large treatment areas-- Given the small head size, it can take quite a long time to treat larger treatment areas
  • Cartridge replacements - After 1500 flashes the cartridge needs to be replaced.  Given the small head size, the total treatment area is less than competitors before a replacement is needed.
  • No clinical studies - there doesn't appear to be any scientific studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the i-Light
Paul
 

I'm a computer science graduate, have a passion for self development and created this site as a side project due to the lack of complete, understandable, helpful and truthful information about hair removal available online.

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