It’s 9pm on a Sunday and for the past 20 minutes I’ve been sitting with my back against the wall, with a jet of moist, hot air directed at my face. No, this is not some new form of water torture but rather Dr Dennis Gross’s Steamer Solutions ($125, currently only available in the US), a DIY skincare device that promises to open my pores and restore brightness to my dull skin. It is also an example of a growing beauty trend.
From teeth whitening to lipo-massage and facial toning, it seems there is now an at-home gadget to fix almost all your physical flaws. Beauty store Sephora offers more than 15 devices on its website, ranging from the $500 portable laser hair removal system by Silk’n SensEpil to a Clarisonic Mia Skin Cleansing System for $119. And it is just one of a growing number of beauty emporiums and stores selling such products.
“Consumers are fascinated with the idea of fixing themselves, ” says Dr Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in the dermatology department at Mount Sinai hospital in New York. “These devices are the next generation on from at-home chemical peels.”
The question is: is this a great leap forward for skincare, or a dangerous step down the slippery slope of amateur treatments?
The physical changes this DIY sector promises are alluring, as are some of their endorsements. Some devices, such as Dr Dennis Gross’s, are created by dermatologists. Others, such as JeNu ($249) – a handheld device that uses ultrasound wave technology to create “an unprecedented reduction in wrinkles, crow’s feet, puffiness and dark circles” – come with impressive clinical claims: an increase in hydration around the eye area by up to 75 per cent in seven days, and up to 95 per cent in 28 days. Others offer the same technology as your dermatologist, such as the PaloVia Skin Renewing Laser, which uses “fractional photothermolysis” to combat acne.
“Lots of people don’t want to pay the price, or have the time, for laser treatments, ” says Dr Howard Sobel, director of the New York Institute of Aesthetic Dermatology and Laser Surgery. At-home devices cost a lot less than the equivalent treatment at a clinic. Three 30-minute skin-tightening treatments in Sobel’s office cost $3, 000, for example, while NuFACE’s Trinity microcurrent device claims to improve your facial contour, tone skin and reduce fine lines and wrinkles for $325.
Four to six of Sobel’s hair-removal sessions can run to $2, 200, while Remington’s i-Light Pro, an intense pulsed light device that extricates hair from your body (and has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in the US), costs ￡249.99.
But what about safety? Many of the devices will turn themselves off if necessary but there is a risk that at-home users may be using their devices in the wrong way, or not understand the instructions. As Sobel acknowledges, there isn't a great monitoring system once someone takes a product home.
“All lasers emit a beam of light in a specific wavelength that is selectively absorbed by a target pigment in the skin or hair, ” says Zeichner. “These at-home devices work at a much lower energy, making them safe to use at home.”
I tried the Tria Blue Light Therapy for acne (￡229), even though the warnings that accompanied the device had made me a little anxious.
Time is also an issue for at-home devices; as Zeicher notes, permanent hair removal is possible but you “can only remove a small amount at a time. What a doctor can do in 30 minutes might take you hours.”
Then there is the pain. A friend who tried the Tria Hair Removal Laser 4X (￡375) loved the hairlessness on her lip and bikini area but said she wouldn't use it again, as some spots were tremendously painful.
Personally, after trying three devices for two weeks, my favourite was the steamer. I didn’t need to read a booklet, call the company to get a pass code or test the product first on a patch of skin. And I intend to keep at it – although I can’t help wishing it came with an aesthetician to do extractions. But that would mean booking an appointment and leaving the house.
