Beauty Editor Claire is aiming for smooth, hair-free legs this summer. We're checking in on her progress on the SmoothSkin challenge.
SmoothSkin Gold is the most powerful IPL home-use hair removal device currently on the market. Follow Claire’s progress as she aims for smooth, hair-free legs this summer. Read more about her SmoothSkin challenge here.So it's been 1 month since I began my SmoothSkin challenge, which means I've just done treatment number 4 of my weekly treatments. And so far, so good! Let's dig into what I thought of my first treatment, and what I've learned so far:
SmoothSkin Challenge - My First Treatment
First things first, the quick start guide told me to shave my legs and moisturise them. That might seem odd, but actually the less hair you have, the less hair the light needs to travel down to get to the root. So actually hair that's only under the skin is completely ok. I gave them a quick de-fuzz and slathered on my favourite body cream by La Roche-Posay. However SmoothSkin advise that you don't use the machine directly after applying moisturiser as it may cause irritation. The machine doesn't need any time to warm up (bonus points!), you just switch on and go, and the lead is nice and long (extra bonus points).
In the interests of comfort, I sat on the bed with legs out in front of me and began on the right leg, zapping from the ankle. The machine has 2 modes: 'stamp and flash' where you > position it > fire the flash > lift it off > reposition > repeat. And a 'glide' mode where you leave your finger on the button and it keeps firing at around 1 second intervals. 'Glide' clearly wins the speed battle, so I used this mode. The trick was working out how fast to move the device so you a) don't overlap the sectionsand b) don't skip any hairs. I think I judged the pace pretty well, but I reckon you could use some fancy maths to divide your leg length by the device window. If each leg is 20 windows long, you know you need to get from ankle to knee in 20 seconds :) But don't sweat it because nothing bad happens to you if you go too slow.
Now to repeat for the rest of the leg and do the other. SmoothSkin say it takes around 10 minutes for both lower legs, but I think that depends on a) how big your legs are and b) how experienced you are. It took me around 7 mins for each leg, and that was totally ok. If you were doing this watching tv, you wouldn't even notice.
How Does A SmoothSkin Treatment Feel?
Like all IPL it's completely comfortable. There's a microsecond hot flash and that's it. My skin didn't even look pink afterwards and absolutely no discomfort. The machine has a cooling fan so it does make a whirring sound, although probably not audible in the next room. And the flash is pretty bright. You don't have to protect your eyes but I did pop on a pair of shades for comfort because I have sensitive eyes. It's also worth mentioning: during treatment, there was a faint smell of burning hair. THIS IS A GOOD THING!! It means the treatment is working, so if you smell it, it's all good.
SmoothSkin Challenge - Improving The Method
So after a couple of treatments with legs out flat going up and down the legs in strips, I wondered if that was the best method. And were there any hacks I could use? TOP of my hacks is a white eye pencil. You can use it to mark your starting points and where you're up to if you need to stop. And although the flash is 100% safe, you can use it to cover any freckles in case of discomfort (remember the light is drawn to dark colour). This led me to....
My SmoothSkin Challenge Genius Leg Method
The trickiest part of doing the legs is the back. If you're fairly bendy you'll be ok, but it does involve a lot of twisting and looking over your shoulder. So armed with a white eyeliner pencil, I came up with this method.
- Put your leg on a chair or stool with the sole of your foot facing up
- Now draw 2 lines where you can comfortably reach with the pencil
- Vertically zap the back - this should be around 2 strips wide
- Sit down and, beginning at the ankle, zap horizontally across the leg from white line to white line
- Repeat across the front of the leg up to the knee
- Done!
Here's a visual explaining what I mean, I've honestly found this a quicker, easier method.
So 4 Treatments In, Any Progress?
Treatment is 12 sessions in total, so we're still early days. But happy to report I have noticeable gaps!! My legs are actually looking threadbare - yes!! Stay tuned for another update when we reach the halfway mark, when I'll do some more shots to show you progress :)
We’re using the SmoothSkin Gold 200 but you can shop the full range of SmoothSkin right here at allbeauty. Check back soon for a progress report on Claire’s results using SmoothSkin, or you can follow on any of our social channels.
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