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Full and Complete Philips Lumea Comfort IPL Review

Product Name

Reviewed by

Sue McCarthy

Review date

Summary

A mid-range product designed for use on both face and body. Unlike many other products on the market, Philips Lumea Comfort does not require any replacement parts.

Rating

3.6 out of 5 Stars

You may also want to take a look at our complete round up review of all home laser / IPL devices and our extensive cost comparison analysis.

Product Contents List

  • IPL Hair Removal Device with Wired Handset
  • 24v Adaptor
  • Quick Start Guide
  • User Manual

Product Overview

The Philips Lumea Comfort IPL Hair Removal System is light and compact and easy to use and includes an integrated safety system to prevent unintentional flashes.

Designed to be used on the body and face (chin, sideburns and upper lip only), it is a versatile device and is corded, so no necessity for recharging batteries.

Unlike many other product on the market, there are no replaceable parts so the up-front cost is all you will need to budget for.

The integrated UV filter protects the skin from UV light damage and the skin tone sensor prevents inadvertent misuse.

The product also features a slide & flash mode enabling a gliding motion as well as 5 adjustable power settings to suit skin type and area of body being treated.​

Features

  • Skin tone sensor - automatically detects your skin tone and locks if it detects a skin tone which is unsafe for use. It also sets the intensity level based on your skin tone.
  • Integrated UV filter
  • 5 light intensity settings to suit different skin types
  • Slide and flash mode - for continuous application so that you can glide over larger areas rapidly
  • Stamp Mode - for smaller areas like the face and bikini area, where more precision is required.
  • No replacement parts - more than 100,000 flashes - sufficient to last for 6 years of regular full body treatments
  • 60 day money back guarantee
  • 2 year warranty

How To Use Philips Lumea to Achieve Optimal Results

  • Shave the skin prior to  treatment.
  • Select  energy setting and place the skin contact surface on your skin.
  • The ready warning light will start blinking when positioned correctly.

The skin tone sensor will detect if the hair and skin tone are suitable and the device will not activate if IPL will work on your skin tone.

  • Press the flash button and use the slide and flash motion for continuous application.
  • Repeat every two weeks for the initial four to five treatments.
  • In between treatments, hair sheds naturally and growth is inhibited.
  • Repeat the treatment as rerquired (time between treatments may vary based on your individual hair regrowth).

Who Will it Work For?

The Philips Lumea Comfort IPL hair removal system is suitable for use on those with light to medium skin tones with dark blond, brown or black hair. 

The chart below illustrates suitable skin tones and hair colour:​

IPL is not suitable for those with dark skin or light, grey, white or red hair.

How Does it Work?

Philips Lumea uses IPL (intense pulsed light) technology.

Basically, this means that it uses pulses of light at varying wavelengths to target dark pigment at the base of the hair follicle.

This produces heat, which causes damage to the hair follicle, the hair sheds after 1 - 2 weeks and regrowth is inhibited.

Hair grows in 3 stages - and hairs all over the body are at varying stages at any given time.

IPL is only effective on hair that is in the actively growing stage, which is why continual regular use of the device will be necessary to achieve permanent hair reduction

How Long Does it Take?

The time taken for each treatment will vary dependant on the area being treated.  An indication is shown below (as per Philips website):

Body Part

Time (Mins)

Lower Leg

11

Underarm

1.5

Bikini Line

1.5

Face Areas

2.5

Is It Effective?

According to the manufacturers website, clinical studies have been carried out to prove efficacy and safety in more than 2,000 women.

They further claim that "clinical studies have shown up to 75% hair reduction after only four treatments (when used bi-weekly on lower legs)."

​However, the details of these clinical trials are not published in full on the website and so it would be difficult to comment on the accuracy of the claims.

It is possible, though, to get an idea from reviews and consumer feedback, which is generally quite good.

The Amazon star rating of 3.6 out of 5 is averaged from 105 reviews.  Of these reviews 26% gave the product 5 stars and 35% gave the product 4 stars.​

In Conclusion…

Things we Liked

  • Easy to Use
  • Relatively Inexpensive - at around $200
  • No Replacement Parts - initial outlay only
  • Durable - lasts for over 100,000 flashes, equivalent to 6 years of treatments, before the light needs replacing
  • Safety Features - including UV filter & skin sensor
  • Mains Powered - no recharging of batteries
  • 5 Adjustable Settings

Things we didn't Like

  • Lack of Available Clinical Evidence - while the manufacturer claims that the product is backed up by scientific data, it is not readily available for viewing.  
  • Corded - less convenient than cordless, although negating the need to recharge batteries

You may also want to take a look at our complete round up review of all home laser / IPL devices and our extensive cost comparison analysis.

Sue
 

For the past 12 months, I have been testing and playing with all sorts of hair removal products for Hair Free Life. My goal is to provide the most accurate and up-to-date hair removal consumer information on the internet. When I'm not photographing, reviewing and researching hair removal products I play the drums in a samba band and am a volunteer for the Swindon Lions! Got any questions? Write to us below:

  • Avatar Yilin Li says:

    DON’T USE IT BECAUSE IT IS DANGEROUS! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I bought it on Amazon in the end of October and used it in the beginning of November.

    This product burned my skin and caused severe injury to legs and arms even though I fallowed the instruction. I am an Asian woman with brown to fair skin. My skin became red after I used it, according to the instruction it is normal, after a couple of days the redness went away and I saw very thin scars on the areas that I used the products I did not pay attention since it did not hurt to much, however, the depigmentation gradually occurred a couple of weeks after the first use of product. NOW, I AM MISERABLE BECAUSE I need to see dermatologist every week for the treatments. It has been A YEAR ALREADY, my hypo pigmentation hasn’t self heal at all. I have marks on my skin even though I only used the product once in the different areas. It sucks and there is no medication for my remorse for using it!

    It has been a whole year since I bought, Philips didn’t solve my problem at all. I have white marks on my legs still. A YEAR NOW!

    • Avatar paul says:

      Hello Yilin, sorry to hear about your situation. What colour is your skin on the FitzPatrick scale from 1 – 6?

    • Avatar Paul McCarthy says:

      Hello Yilin, sorry to hear about your situation. What number is your skin colour on the FitzPatrick scale (from 1 – 6)?

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