Home IPL (intense pulsed light) machines offer a quick and pain-free way to permanently remove unwanted hair from any part of your body. Here we give you some easy-to-understand buying advice and list the best home IPL hair removal machines you can buy right now.
Jump to: How do home IPL hair removal machines work?
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12 BEST IPL Hair Removal Devices 2018
1. Philips Lumea Prestige BRI956/00 IPL Hair Removal Device
RRP: £575.00
- Cordless and Corded Use: Yes
- Attachments: Body/Face/Bikini/Underarms
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 250,000 flashes
The look and feel of the Prestige show how far the home IPL industry has come. And in a relatively short space of time. It works with or without a cord, and has more than enough battery to cover your entire body. Tests suggest the BRI956/00 will last for 150+ flashes on the device’s highest intensity. More than enough to zap your entire body. However, should the battery drain mid-use, all you need to do is plug in the mains cord and you can continue to use.
Its design and (lack of) weight makes it easy to use and target difficult body areas. The Philips Lumea Prestige BRI956/00 is the best home IPL hair removal device you can buy. If you have the correct skin tone and the right hair colour, this device will achieve results after only two sessions.
The device comes packaged with four nozzle attachments to aid your treatments. These include a 4.1 cm² curved body attachment; 3 cm² flat facial attachment; 3 cm² curved bikini attachment; 3cm² underarm attachment; and a 2m charging cable.
Click here to read our full Philips Lumea Prestige review (BRI956/00) review.
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2. SmoothSkin Muse
RRP: £399
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: None
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: Unlimited
The SmoothSkin Muse is one of the best Home IPL devices you can buy. It’s easy to use, intelligent, and powerful – delivering 6J/cm2 of energy per flash. It also comes with a lamp that promises unlimited flashes, a feature that separates it from its cheaper rivals. Customers will also enjoy the auto skin tone sensor that ensures the flash intensity is optimised before every single flash. A great product.
Click here to read our full SmoothSkin Muse review.
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3. Philips Lumea Prestige SC2009/00 IPL Hair Removal Device
RRP: £575.00
- Cordless and Corded Use: Cordless only
- Attachments: Body/Face/Bikini
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 250,000 flashes
The difference between this Philips Lumea Prestige SC2009/00 and the BRI956/00 featured above is minimal. The benefit you’re getting with the BRI956/00 is its underarm attachment. If you can live without that, you can save yourself hundreds. We suggest keeping a close eye on Amazon’s sale prices for these two IPL devices and then make a decision based purely on cost. Or your need for an underarm attachment (other attachments will still be effective for treating the underarm).
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4. DEESS iLight 3
RRP: £229.99
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: Replaceable lamps
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 350,000 flashes
The DEESS iLight 3 is a solid IPL device that works well and is easy to use. It also has one major trump card – its replaceable lamps. This extends the device past its 350,000 flash lifespan – enough for 8-9 individual’s permanent hair removal. The £30 removable lamps also allow DEESS capitalise on new research that shows IPL can help with common skin complaints (acne, pimples, oily skin, etc) and signs of ageing.
At £299 (and often hugely discounted on Amazon) the DEES iLight 3 is really competitively priced.
Click here to read our full DEESS iLight 3 review.
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5. Philips Lumea Essential BRI861/00 IPL Hair Removal Device
RRP: £220
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 200,000 flashes
The Philips Lumea Essential BRI861/00 IPL hair removal device is largely in the same class as its two siblings features above. The difference is that this machine is in a less sophisticated, and arguably less ergonomic, shell. A great device at a fantastic price.
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6. Remington IPL6500 iLight Pro Hair Removal Device
RRP: £299
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded
- Attachments: Face/Body
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: Infinity bulb
The Remington IPL6500 iLight Pro Hair Removal Device is designed for use on the body and face (female facial use only), iLIGHT is clinically proven to safely and effectively remove and reduces unwanted hair. The Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) targets hair directly at the roots, resulting in permanently hair-free, super-smooth skin.
One quirk with this IPL device is its design. It looks bulky. However, it’s been designed to move the technology and weight away from the gun, and into the dock instead. We advise users to keep a close eye on Amazon’s price for the Remington IPL6500 iLight Pro, if there’s a big sale on, then it’s an IPL device that delivers good results.
Click here to read our full Remington IPL6500 iLight Pro review.
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7. Braun Silk-expert IPL BD5009 Permanent Visible Hair Removal
RRP: £299
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 300,000 flashes
The Braun Silk-expert is an excellent IPL hair removal machine that achieves permanent hair reductional in just a few treatments. Like all IPL devices, it works beneath the skin’s surface by targeting the melanin in the hair follicle, which helps to break the cycle of hair regrowth. Use this device as needed to prevent unwanted hair from reaching the skin surface.
Note that the Braun Silk-expert IPL BD5009 and the BD5001 are identical devices. The only difference is the free gift that comes packaged with the IPL machine. The 5009 is bundled with an electric exfoliator, while the 5001 comes with a Gillette Venus razor. Both products are featured on the carousel below, so we suggest making your buying decision purely on price. As an exfoliator will make no difference to the performance of your IPL device.
Click here to read our full Braun Silk-Expert IPL BD5009 review (with free Sonic Body Exfoliator).
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8. SmoothSkin Gold IPL Hair Removal System
RRP: £299
- Cordless and Corded Use: Yes
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 120,000 flashes
The SmoothSkin Gold IPL is an excellent domestic beauty device designed to treat unwanted hair at home. The SmoothSkin Gold IPL system comes in three models. The 120, 200 and 300. What these model numbers mean is simple. The 120 model means it has a lamp life of 120,00 flashes. The 200 has a lamp life of 200,000. And yep. The 300 has a lamp life of 300,000 flashed. That’s it. The machines are identical apart from the bulb lifespans. The one major feature this device lacks is wireless operation, but if you can put up with a wire you can save yourself £100-£200 pounds. A great all-around home IPL hair removal device.
Click here to read our full SmoothSkin Gold IPL Hair Removal System review.
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9. Panasonic ES-WH90 Cordless IPL Hair Removal System
RRP: £399
- Cordless and Corded Use: Cordless only
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: N/A
The Panasonic ES-WH90 lets you treat persistent, unwanted hair without that hassle of a cord. Like any IPL machine, the more you use it, the smoother and more hair free your skin becomes. New facial attachment allows for hair removal from both body and face. A solid IPL hair removal device.
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10. SmoothSkin Bare Ultrafast IPL Hair Removal System
RRP: £199
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: N/A
This product is purposely placed at the budget end of the market. This doesn’t mean you’re getting IPL or the treatment won’t work as well. But it does mean that you’re not getting the ease of use of a more expensive IPL Hair Removal device. That said, the SmoothSkin Bare Ultrafast IPL Hair Removal System is an easy-to-use and effective product that delivers results. It’s affordable and will remove up to 90% of unwanted hair within a month.
Read our full SmoothSkin Bare Ultrafast IPL Hair Removal System review.
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11. Braun Silk-Expert IPL BD3001
RRP: £299
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: Yes
- Lamp life: 250,000
The technology in the Braun Silk-Expert IPL BD3001 is the what the BD5009 and BD5001 (featured above) was built upon. Its differences can be broken down into three key areas. 1. The time between flashes is a whole second slower than the BD5009 and BD5001, which will be frustrating for obvious reasons. 2. It has a flash lamp life of 250,000 compared to 300,000. 3. Finally, it only has three energy settings, whereas the BD5009 and BD5001 have 10. That said, the Braun Silk-Expert IPL BD3001 remains a good IPL hair removal device. And most important of all, it works.
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12. Life Basis IPL
RRP: £159
- Cordless and Corded Use: Corded only
- Attachments: N/A
- Slide and flash: No
- Lamp life: 300,000
The Life Basis IPL is a great example of what can be achieved on a budget. It strips home IPL hair removal devices back to the bare necessities and leaves you with a low-cost device that utilises a proven technology to (permanently) remove unwanted hair. It’s lacking some of the more polished features of high-end devices such as cordless use, slide and flash, dedicated attachments for specific body parts and a fast flash rate. In short, if you’re willing to be patient you save a lot of money on the Life Basis IPL and still achieve similar results.
Click here to read our full Life Basis IPL review.
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How Do Home IPL Hair Removal Machines Work?
Home IPL hair removal devices work in the same way as salon IPL machines. Technology has just advanced enough to enable domestic-sized devices to be manufactured at scale.
IPL works by emitting intense pulsed light (high-output flashlight). The light is absorbed by the hair’s melanin (the pigment that gives hair its colour). The IPL is designed to injure the hair follicle during its growth phase. This is why it’s recommended you perform IPL treatment at weekly intervals for seven to ten weeks (the lifecycle of hair growth), to ensure you injure follicles at the most effective phase.
Note that IPL hair removes is most effective on people with fair skin and dark hair.
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Video: How IPL works
This YouTube video from Remington (promoting its iLight range) does a good job of explaining how IPL technology can be used to treat unwanted hair.
IPL Hair Removal vs Laser Hair Removal
There is a lot of confusion between IPL and laser hair removal. While they’re similar, they’re actually two separate technologies. IPL devices emit a wide wavelength of noncoherent light, whereas a laser emits a single wavelength of coherent light.
This makes laser hair removal treatments better at targetting specific skin tone and hair colour combinations. Laser treatments also higher energy levels to heat and injure hair follicles. This means the treatment area is also smaller than an IPL device’s, which leads to the need for lengthier treatment times.
The way IPL and laser hair removal devices is the same. Both technologies aim to heat and injure the hair follicles during the growth phase. This means the number of treatments needed is also similar.
Do Home IPL Hair Removal Machines Work?
Yes, providing you follow the advised treatment timetable and prepare the treatment area as advised by manufacturers. IPL users should notice a reduction of hair within two to three treatments and total removal of hair after eight to ten sessions. This may vary depending on your skin tone, hair colour and how coarse the hair is.
Do Home IPL Hair Removal Machines Hurt?
IPL hair removal devices are advertised as a pain-free way to remove hair. They work by targeting and heating hair follicles with intense pulsed light. Some users have explained that areas, where hair follicles are dense, can cause the treatment to feel like an elastic band being flicked against the skin. Users unanimously agree that IPL hair removal treatment is much less painful than waxing.
How Long Do Home IPL Hair Removal Machines Take?
This depends on which IPL hair removal device you use. The bigger the nozzle, the less time you have to spend per session. Manufacturers of high-end home IPL devices suggest that you can treat both legs in eight minutes.
It is recommended that IPL devices should be used weekly for 8-10 weeks for the best results.
What To Look Out For When Buying A Home IPL Hair Removal Machine
How big is the nozzle? This is common sense really. The bigger the nozzle, the bigger area you can cover with one flash. This will speed up treatment times.
Look for devices that don’t require gels or creams for use. Older models might require use with a cooling gel. Newer models don’t require this, making the session easier to conduct.
Slide and flash. Look for a model that lets you keep your finger pressed down, allowing you to slide the device quickly across treatment areas quickly.
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