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

Both devices have 5 intensity levels to choose from depending on your skin tone. 1 is low and 5 is high. Press the power button to cycle through the levels. And I do rather like the idea of the extra specialist windows, with filters and flashes to better treat stubborn bikini spider-legs and underarm hairs. And it’s a clever marketing strategy by Philips because models with these extra windows tend to be more expensive. But in reality, the Prestige works equally well without them and you’ll still get excellent results. So, the cheaper BRI950, BRI945 and BRI944 models with just the body and face flash windows give you everything you need to treat your full body for excellent results. The essentials: Large curved-in body & the small flat precision window (with all models) It’s designed to be used every two weeks for the first four weeks and, if we’re being honest, the big gaps make it easier to forget when you last treated limbs, so we found it helpful to set a reminder in our calendar.

And the IPL lamps last ages too. The Advanced gives 250,000 flashes, as do the earlier Prestige models. The later 9000 series Prestige models give a whopping 450,000 flashes. But note, ALL these models give many more flashes than you’ll ever need. READ NEXT: The best hair removal creams you can buy Philips Lumea IPL Advanced review: How does it work? 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.

Both the Prestige and Advanced are very comfortable to hold because of their distinctive gun-shapes. Their intuitive, no-strain grip is easy to manoeuvre and precise to position. The trigger flash button is perfectly placed for a comfortable, secure grip. And the simple controls are easy to see on top. The Prestige is slightly larger and heavier than the Advanced. Prestige (left) weighs 560g, the Advanced (right) weighs 370g. It’s a good selection but the attachments on the Lumea Advanced aren’t as easy to use as they are on the more expensive Lumea 9000 and Prestige models. Not only are the treatment windows on the face attachment significantly smaller, measuring 9 x 19mm on the Lumea Advanced compared to 8 x 26mm on the 9000, but they’re also completely flat. That’s an issue because the window needs to be pressed flush against the skin for the Lumea to flash, which means bonier areas of the body are more difficult to treat. 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 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.

Use the Prestige for 4 or 5 sessions, 1 every 2 weeks (taking up to 8 weeks) to get smooth skin. A whole-body session takes around 40 minutes. 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 🥱. 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. There’s a big difference. Although the Prestige is not the fastest at-home IPL you can buy, it’s not too far behind. The speed matches the device shape and design, and it’s controlled and consistent. So, it’s easy to get into a good rhythm for accurate coverage. Therefore, it’s an excellent choice for face, small bits and large body areas, and especially whole-body hair removal. 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.The star of the show for me is the large body flash window. Coupled with the comfy gun-shape, it really makes all the difference vs rivals on legs and tummy. That’s because it hugs your curves, is large yet precise and makes it super-easy to get a flash. It also does a good job on underarms and bikini line. I love the curved in body flash window for easy and precise leg zapping! To see longer-term hair removal in these areas, I’ll likely have to continue with fortnightly treatments for a while longer. That’s good enough for me, though, as the armpit treatments only take around two minutes, so it’s much easier to fit into a busy schedule. 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. Firstly, this model is very lightweight and has been designed to sit comfortably in your hand. It comes with a more extensive accessory kit than the other IPL devices we’ve tried, with two extra heads: one for the face and the other for your bikini line.