If you are a man and want to remove facial hair the most common method would be to use a razor.  However, after years of using a razor the skin becomes leathery and aged.  Many men turn to electric razors as their skin has become uneven over the years.

Women Facial Hair Removal: Do not Shave!

If you are a woman that needs to remove facial hair do not under any circumstances use a razor.  Although this may seem the quickest method of hair removal the hair grows back quicker and stubble can soon be felt a day or so later.  Whether you are removing hair in between your eyebrows, lip, chin or sideburn area you should consider a more gentle method for removing hair from your face.

Women should use Tweezers

A very common method is using tweezers to pull out the hair from the root.  This is a very easy process when you are removing only a small amount such as eye brow hair.  For larger areas using a depilation cream or waxing can be very effective at removing hair.  However the hair ALWAYS grows back.  Using a depilation cream or having the area waxed is not a permanent solution for removing hair.

Threading

What is Threading?

Threading is a method of using cotton or similar that is twisted and rolled over hair. This twisted cotton and rolling action pulls hairs out from the root. The method is quite difficult to master but is becoming an increasingly popular method for removing facial hair. It is not very effective at removing hair which is a bit thicker such as bikini hair.

What about Permanent Hair Removal?

For a more permanent solution you may want to consider electrolysis or laser hair removal.  Electrolysis targets an individual hair.  This can be compared to using tweezers but with a more permanent result.  In some cases electrolysis can be used for eliminating those occasional hairs that erupt out of a facial mole.  If you are considering electrolysis for removing the hair from facial moles I would recommend speaking to your local salon prior to treatment.  If your mole has changed shape or color recently you need to seek advice from your GP.

Facial Moles and Hair

Do not under any circumstances use laser hair removal units on facial moles!  Even if you use sunblock on the mole prior to treatment you must never use laser hair removal units on facial moles.  This is because the laser will have an adverse affect on the pigmentation of the mole.  All home laser hair removal units come with this warning.

What Permanent Hair Removal Units can I use at home on my face?

For permanent hair removal results in the comfort of your own home, therefore avoiding salon fees and embarrassing salon visits you could use the Rio x20, Rio X60 or the Tria. All of these laser hair removal units can be used on the face, however the Tria has been recommended for the lower half of the face only.  I am not sure whether this is because the laser in the Tria is too strong to be that close to the eye area, however the warning is in place for the Tria only to be used on the lower half of the face.

The Silk’n is not suitable for the face because of its larger treatment area.  The larger treatment area in the Silk’n prevents the unit being flat against the skin on the face.  As a safety precaution the Silk’n will only emit a laser pulse if it is pressed securely against the area.  This is not possible when treating the face.

Therefore the BEST laser hair removal units that to be used on the face would be one of the Rio units, either the Rio x20 or the Rio x60 or the Tria.  Both the Rio units can change the treatment mode which enables you to treat one individual hair if necessary or 60 hairs at once!

All units are available from our main website:  www.so-smooth.co.uk

New Tria

On our so-smooth main website we have included for your information a table with comparison criteria for four of the major home hair removal units.

We have compared the No No, Tria, Silk’n and Rio Units.

Click here to read more …..

Silk'n actual cost per shot

In buying a home laser hair removal product you are choosing to save money on expensive salon fees. However be careful which home laser hair removal product you buy because not all of them will actually save you money!!

A brand new Tria can be purchased for £675, a Silk’n for around £415 and a Rio x60 for £295.95. I have used these valuations for the following calculations.

The new Tria (February 2009) emits 90,000 shots in total. After 90,000 shots it can no longer be used. This is a cost of 0.75 pence per shot. If it takes 50 shots to treat an area 3cm x 3cm it would therefore cost 37 ½ pence to treat an area of this size (3cm x 3cm) with a Tria laser.

The Silk’n IPL laser emits 750 shots per bulb and is sold with two bulbs.  Therefore you get 1500 shots with your Silk’n IPL laser purchase. Each shot therefore costs around 28 pence. If one shot treats an area 2.4cm x 2.4cm it would take just over one shot (1.23 shots) to treat an area the same as discussed above with the Tria (3cm x 3cm). The cost when using a Silk’n laser is therefore around 34 pence for each 3cm x 3cm block.

In summary to treat an area 3cm x 3cm with the new Tria (February 2009) it would cost approximately 37 ½ pence and with a Silk’n laser a little less at 35 pence.  However, what also needs to be considered is the different time taken to treat each area.  It takes a Tria 50 shots and a Silk’n 1.23 shots to treat an area 3cm x 3cm. So it would take a Tria far longer to treat a 3cm block whereas it would be very quick with a Silk’n.  To read more on the comparison of time taken for each treatment click here.

However once the Tria has emitted all its laser shots it can no longer be used. The Silk’n replacement bulb costs a mere £45.00. This is another 750 shots for only £45.00. This works out at ONLY 6 pence per shot, or around 7 ½ pence per area 3cm x 3cm.

When you consider that the Tria costs around £250 more than a Silk’n it seems more sensible to choose Silk’n as the preferred choice for a home hair removal unit.

Meladine finishes off the little ones!

As I mentioned, Meladine is fairly simplistic.  It is a product which you spray onto the area you want to treat.  It just increases the amount of melanin in the hair so Laser Hair treatments are more effective and blondes and other non-pigmented haired patients can receive treatment.

In addition to allowing people with blonde, grey, and white hair receive laser treatment, Meladine is also useful in the treatment of the finer and lighter “laser-resistant” hairs that commonly remain after the fourth or fifth treatment.  Some laser centers have reported as much as a 30% increase in their patient base since they have made Meladine available to their patients.   More information will be added shortly about Meladine.  Meladine is available from www.so-smooth.co.uk.

Silk'n is a bit famous already!

Silk’n hasn’t been in this country for very long. Many of you will not have seen a UK TV advert or have read any UK based articles on the Silk’n. We know there is a lot of interest in the Silk’n so here at So-Smooth we have gathered a definitive list of the most popular Silk’n reviews from America. We will add all UK based reviews when they appear in the media, until then we hope the American viewpoint will suffice.

Many articles have been written about the Silk’n. We have listed six very popular articles in the following list. We have uploaded the articles for your information so please feel free to click on the links to view the full article:-

June 2008: Dematology Times “Light-Powered Device for Hair Removal”

May/June 2008: Allure Magazine “Fuzz Zappers!

September/October 2008: MedEsthetics “Silk’n Home-Use Hair Removal”

2008: Instyle Magazine “Pulse Light (IPL) Hair Removal Intense”

Skin and Allergy News: “Pulsed-Light Device Allows for Home Hair Removal”

W Magazine: “I really do think the future is light and electricity”"

Silk’n has regularly appeared on television programmes in the states. Three TV features of note are as follows:

Firstly Silk’n appeared on City News:

Secondly Silk’n appeared on The Today Show:-

And Thirdly Silk’n appeared on Good Morning America:

More reviews will be added to this blog when they appear.  If you hear of any articles that you think we would like to see please add the URL’s to the comments section.  If you would like to purchase a Silk’n you can do so from our main website, www.so-smooth.co.uk.

No! No! comes in three colors

The No! No! hair removal device is a new concept of permanent hair removal. It claims to permanently reduce hair density without the use of a laser. Unlike other laser hair removal products the No! No! can also be used on lighter coloured or grey hair. The No! No! can also be used on darker skin.

The No! No! is based on Thermocon technology. Thermocon technology is a new method of permanent hair removal that has been designed by Radiancy.

The No! No! has a patented thermodynamic wire that generates and transmits a gentle pulse of heat energy to the hair follicle. When the thermodynamic wire touches the hair the heat is transferred from the wire to the hair. The hair is removed at the point of contact. This is very similar to shaving but it is the thermodynamic wire that cuts the hair rather than a razor. Although this sounds as if it wouldn’t remove hair permanently it has been shown that consistent use of the No! No! does reduce hair density. It is thought that this is due to the No! No! process disrupting the hair follicle cell communication, which in turn delays the re-growth of that hair follicle.

Although removal of the hair happens immediately it can actually be broken down into three processes:-

• Firstly when the thermodynamic wire comes into contact with the hair the thermo signal is at it’s strongest and the thermodynamic wire separates the hair at the point of contact.

• Secondly the hair crystallises at the point of contact and can leave the area feeling bumpy. However this is expected and can be smoothed when using the No! No! buffer as advised after each No! No! treatment.

• Thirdly the cell communication is disrupted which causes a reduction in hair growth.

These three process all contribute to the overall desired result of permanent hair removal.

The No! No comes with a user manual, hot blades (one for short hair and one for long hair), a cleaning brush, a buffer (to smooth the skin after treatment) and a storage bag. You can buy the No! No! direct from www.So-Smooth.co.uk (The Home of Hair Removal).

Setting up the Silk’n took a matter of seconds. All I did was plug it in, wait for the beep and then started zapping. There’s a 3.5 second wait in between pulses, which was about the right time for me to move the wand from one area to the other. I managed to do my left leg (from the knees down) in about 15 minutes. This was some 4 weeks ago. My lower left leg has now has slightly finer hairs than my right leg, however there is no huge difference as yet.

After the first session I felt no discomfort and carried on with what I had to do. I didn’t see any hairs fall out, but maybe they just came out in the shower without noticing. Although Silk’n state that no eye protection is needed when using the Silk’n I did find that I had to look away when the laser pulse was being emitted.

All I did to prepare my leg before treatment was shave. I did this the night before so that the hair follicles are in their growth phase as recommended by the instructions.

This was the first time that I used the silk’n and I was impressed at how quickly I was able to treat an area and that there is no charging required before use. The first 50 laser pulses are emitted on the lowest setting (number 1), the next 200 pulses are emitted on level 3. Once the device has emitted over 250 pulses you can set the level to number 5. This is what I did. Forthcoming reviews will detail how I get on with more Silk’n sessions.

It must be remembered that permanent hair reduction is a time consuming process that involves treating the same area approximately six times before there is a significant reduction in hair growth. This is due to the hair growth cycle which is covered in another article. As such before investing between £250 and £675 on a home laser hair removal product such as the Rio x60, Tria or Silk’n you should also consider how much area can be treated during their lifetime. You wouldn’t want to be midway through treating your legs to find that you have to buy another hair removal unit to continue your treatment.As discussed in the previous article the area each device can treat with each laser pulse differs with each unit. Both the Rio x60 and the Tria treat a smaller area during each laser pulse and require each shot to be overlapped. The Silk’n can treat an area 2cm x 3cm in one shot without the need to overlap. So when comparing these three unit’s total treatment area it gets complicated as these additional considerations need to be included when working out a comparable figure.

The current Tria battery lasts for 250 shots per charge and there are a total of 250 charges during a Tria’s lifetime. This is a total of 62500 Shots before the item becomes obsolete. To calculate this in terms of total treatment area I have looked at the instruction manual guidelines which can be downloaded in PDF format here (pending link). According the instruction manual it is recommended that it would take approximately 50 shots per 3cm x 3cm area. There are a total of 250 pulses per charge, so you would be able to treat 5 blocks of this size before needing a recharge.

Five blocks of 3cm x 3cm is an area 3cm x 15cm, which is about the size of a small ruler, or a square area of approximately 6.7cm x 6.7cm. To calculate the total is slightly more complicated. For each charge, (250 pulses) the Tria can treat an area 6.7cm x 6.7cm. A Tria has 250 charges during its lifetime or 62500 shots. In total it can treat an area 6.7cm x (6.7cm x 250 charges). This is an area approximately 106cm x 106cm.

If you are serious about purchasing a Tria you need to consider whether this is a sufficient area to perform repeated treatments as recommend for permanent hair reduction.

The Rio x60 total treatment area figure is unknown as there is no information with the Rio 60 about needing to replace a bulb or battery. As it is mains connected and does not require any recharging, I would assume that its lifetime is endless and thus so is the area that it is able to treat. However one must weigh up the additional time each shot takes, for example on the highest setting a single shot can take up to 75 seconds compared to the extremely fast Tria and Silk’n.

Because the Silk’n requires no overlapping each shot covers an area 2cm x 3cm (2.44cm squared). If each bulb can administer 750 shots then the total area that can be treated is calculated by 2.44cm x (2.44cm x 750 shots) = 4,465.2cm which is about 67cm x 67cm. As you get two bulbs with each purchase you would get to treat two blocks of 67cm x 67cm. Once both the bulbs with your purchase have run out you can easily buy additional bulbs for around £45.00. As you have already purchased the product you would then be able to continue treatment in an extremely cost effective method.

In summary it seems that the Rio x60 is the most cost effective method, however using the Rio x60 takes a far greater length of time than its competitors. The Silk’n, despite treating a smaller total area during a single bulbs lifetime does come with two bulbs and the option to purchase additional bulbs whereas the Tria becomes obsolete once it has emitted 62500 shots.

I hope these comparisons have helped to give some clarity surrounding these three products. Future articles will detail the individual cost for each shot and how much it costs per device to treat identical areas.

Tria Laser Hair

When comparing the Tria, Rio x60 and Silk’n the cheapest home laser hair removal unit is the Rio x 60 . It averages between £250 to £300, the Tria costs around £675 depending on what offers are available and the silk’n is selling at around £425. The silk’n is a relatively new device and as such hasn’t been subject to many price reviews.

I have recently compared the intense laser pulse (IPL) that is emitted from each unit. The current Tria lasts for 250 pulses before needing to be charged and it will charge 250 times. So it has a total of 62500 light pulses before it reaches the end of its lifetime. The new Tria provides slightly more pulses with 300 shots being delivered in one charge and 300 charging cycles. Between each charging cycle the tria takes up to 3 hours to be recharged. However the 3 hours is with the fan on, if you want the Tria recharged quietly you can do so without the fan but this takes up to 8 hours. In the new Tria’s lifetime there are a total of 90,000 light pulses emitted. The Tria needs to be disposed of according to electrical equipment disposal regulations, or sent to Tria for recycling. A future article will cover how much area a Tria can treat during its lifetime.

The Rio x60 seems to be the best home laser hair removal unit with an endless lifetime. There is no information of a replacement battery or bulb, which makes it a very affordable and value for money home laser hair removal product. This is also the cheapest home laser hair removal product on the market.

The Silk’n has a lifetime according to its bulb. Each bulb lasts for approximately 750 shots. There are two bulbs with each silkn unit which gives you a total of 1500 shots before needing to buy a replacement bulb. The replacement bulbs are very affordable at around £45.00. In theory the unit will continue to work provided replacement bulbs are readily available. Although the total number of shots provided by a Silk’n is significantly lower than the Tria, one must remember that the Silk’n can treat an area 2cm x 3cm with one laser pulse, whereas it would take a Tria between 30 and 50 shots. A future article will cover how much area a Tria and Silk’n can treat during their lifetimes.

The findings from this review would indicate that either the Rio x60 or the Silk’n would be the vest value for money home laser hair removal unit. This is mainly because the Rio x60 and the Silk’n do not need to be thrown away after a certain amount of laser pulses.

Silk'n Laser Hair | Simply flash the hair away

Before deciding on which home laser hair removal unit you should buy out of the three main competitors, i.e. the Tria, Silk’n and Rio x 60 laser hair removal units you need to compare the area each device can treat and how many shots (or laser beams) it would take to treat a certain area. Here at so-smooth we want you to be well informed and happy with your purchase and as such we are hoping to provide you with as much information as possible before you decide which home laser home removal unit is best suited to your needs.

Over the past few weeks we have scrutinised our products and as such are able to provide you with accurate non biased informative article. The Tria’s treatment area is about 1cm x 1cm, the Rio x60 treatment area is just less than 1cm squared (0.85cm x 0.5cm) and the Silk’n boasts a massive 2cm x 3cm treatment area.

With the Tria you need to overlap each shot by around 4mm to obtain the maximum benefit from the product. In the Tria instruction leaflet we are told that it takes about 50 shots to treat each 3cm x 3cm area. They go on to say that this would take about 90 seconds. Although the laser beam emits at a fantastically fast speed the time it takes time to move the Tria from one area to the next, and there is a small amount of time between each laser pulse. The Rio laser x60 also requires a certain amount of overlapping to achieve maximum hair reduction. The Rio x60 advises an overlap of around 3mm. The Rio x60 device has a very helpful attachment which makes an indentation on your skin so that you can see which area has been treated and how much needs to be overlapped before moving and administering a second shot. The Rio x60 booklet suggests that to treat an area of around 3cm x 3cm you would require approximately 10 shots.

The Silk’n requires no overlapping at all, in fact the instruction manual advises against any overlapping. The silk’n with its very large treatment area can treat an area 2cm x 3cm in one single shot. If this calculation was made comparable to the Trio and Rio x 60 the Silk’n would only need approximately 1.23 shots for the same area that the Tria takes 50 shots doing and the Rio x 60 takes approximately 10 shots to do.

We have prepared a YouTube video comparing the Silk’n and Tria treatment areas for you to see in more detail the different treatment areas on each device. The video demonstrates with a five pence piece how different each models treatment area is. We have also prepared a Rio x 60 YouTube video for your information. We hope this information helps you make a more informed decision when buying a home laser hair removal unit. In following articles we will be looking at how long each device lasts, what area can be treated during their lifetime and real time costs for both the short and long term.