Rio IPL Intense Pulsed Light Hair Removal System

Rio Intense Pulse Light (IPL) Hair Remover

I have had this product since April 2010 and felt that I couldn't give a proper review of it until I had owned and used it for at least three months.

What is it?

After opening the box, I was pleased to see that the machine came with a DVD as well as a booklet explaining everything in detail. I opted for the book first as I prefer to make my own judgements before looking at overly smiley people looking like they would be better suited to The Price Is Right.

This machine uses the latest technology to remove hair on the body. It uses an Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) that is sent directly to your hair follicles to destroy the root, effectively giving you permanent hair removal. The book itself covers a number of sections including how to use, frequently asked questions and aftercare. The book isn't too big which is a bonus but gives you a constant source of reference for any questions you may have. All I had left to do after reading the book (I decided to skip the DVD option) was to road test it.

Important Information

I know this review may seem lengthy but when you see the price tag you may agree that a lot of information is required to make a good buying decision.
The first thing you must be aware of is that not every skin type is suitable for IPL treatment. This IPL machine is not suitable for tanned or dark skin tones, for example, those of Afro-Caribbean, black African, Indian or Pakistani decent. The company Rio even goes as far as saying that even if your skin tone appears to be suitable on the skin tone chart, to not use if close relations (parents/grandparents) have skin tones as described above. It is also not suitable for red, light blonde, grey or white hair.
Initially it may seem like the machine is very limited and to a degree you would be right. I am guessing that hair type is different for different skin tones and maybe the treatment is not as effective (although that is me hazarding a guess). However if you are blessed with very fair, fair or olive skin you can certainly try this method of hair removal. You also need to make sure you are aware that this particular model is NOT to be used on the face. It can however be used on the body for legs, arms, underarms, bikini line, back and chest.
Sun exposure or deep tanning should be avoided after treatment for at least 48 hours. You also need to ensure that natural or fake tans have completely faded before further treatments. If the skin are you have treated is exposed make sure you use a sunscreen. You should also avoid using abrasive cleansers or skin peeling treatments as well as swimming in chlorinated water or using a hot tub for 48 hours. The chlorine in the water can result in itchiness.
Hair growth
I wanted to put a little in my review on hair growth just so that people fully understand that this machine is not a miracle worker and there are some facts about hair growth that help explain. IPL treatment must be administered over a long period of time for it to work on a semi permanent/permanent basis.
Everybody's hair grows differently depending on age, weight, metabolism etc. But all hair goes through certain phases. All of your hair will be in one of three phases, either the active growth phase which accounts for 83% of your hair, the degradation phase which accounts for 3-4% of our body hair and which is where the hair stops growing. The last phase is the resting phase which can last for several months during which time the hair falls out and a new one starts to grow.
IPL treatment is only effective when hair is in the active growth phase and even then you cannot guarantee that every single hair will be treated. That is why it is recommended that you plan a minimum of six treatments over six months for this treatment to work effectively.
My Husband...the guinea pig!

I decided that in the event of research (clearly only that reason) I would make my husband undergo the first treatment. I figured that way I would get a good idea of using the machine and if I made any mistakes I wouldn't feel any pain! (I know, I know I am a bad wife).

First off when you get the machine plugged in and switched on there is a process to go through which involves turning the key and pressing certain buttons in sequence to `power up' the machine. The booklet will give you the correct sequence and this is a very handy feature for those with little inquisitive kiddies around. You need to shave the area you are treating (they provide a little razor) to prevent the actual hair burning when you use the treatment laser. In the hubby's case I was testing it on the tops of his shoulders. You must perform a 24 hour reaction test which I did and the following day when there was no reaction on the skin I could go ahead and give him the `full treatment'.

The Full on treatment

The wand (see picture) is attached to the machine via a cord, but the cord seemed long enough for me to have it placed on the table next to Mr E. At the end of the wand is an area measuring 35mm x 14mm and is covered by glass but housed inside the unit with the laser light behind the glass (if that makes sense). At the end of the wand there are 4 sensors on the 4 corners of the wand. The most important thing to do is when you place the wand over the area of skin to be treated that each of the four corners is touching the skin. You will not be able to use the wand if one of them isn't in full contact. Obviously this can make some areas tricky but with a bit of manoeuvring it is usually fixable. Once the wand is placed on the skin area you get a light saying it is okay to use, you press the button and a `flash' will be emitted from the wand. The machine will then produce a self-check and then signal when it is ready for use again. You then move to the next area and repeat the process.

Obviously the wand area is not huge, but having said that it is not tiny, you will just need to have a little patience. To do my husbands shoulders and the top of his chest (I got a bit carried away) it took me around 25 minutes for one full treatment. I know this may seem a long time but if you think of the long term results, it's worth the time and effort. Mr E reported (and I can confirm having used it myself since) that it is NOT painful and all you will feel is your skin getting slightly warm.

Once you have finished using the machine you switch off with the key and when you come to use it again you will need to go through the same security procedure with the key sequence.

Does it work?

As I have said everybody is different so this may not work as well over the same treatment time as some others. Following 4 treatments on Mr E over three months the hair hasn't disappeared completely. However, what his hair has been replaced with is very fine and very soft hairs, almost like the hair young children have. Some hairs have stopped growing completely and I am confident that permanent hair removal is not that far away.

I have since begun treatment on myself and can tell you that after three treatments for the bottom of my legs, my hair has had the same reaction as the hubby. Not only has some hair stopped growing, but others are so fine that my leg shaving days are numbered. I now only shave my legs every fourth day, which is great considering I was doing them every other day to ensure I had silky smooth legs.

I think that with another two to three treatments the hair will be practically non existent so from my perspective this product most definitely worked.

Any negatives?

The biggest negative is the price. Some people will baulk at the price but you need to think outside of the initial price. If it means you will save on costly salon treatments then this is a very cheap alternative (bearing in mind a salon charges approx. £70 for half a leg). Other than that I can think of none, although it isn't a short and quick process.

Overall

My husband is unfortunate and has very dark and coarse hair making shaving on his face the bane of his life. The amount of money we spend on the replacement blades and oil for his shaving and what not is ridiculous. I have therefore gone out and paid the money myself for the upgraded model which allows you to laser facial hair. My husband is ecstatic and is very happy to lay there for half an hour every month if it means that this time in a year shaving will be a thing of the past. Testing this IPL machine was well worth the time and effort. I would advise that it is worth buying but you MUST be patient. It's good, but it's not an overnight miracle.

The Rio is one of the newer type of laser hair removal systems, using IPL to remove the hairs at the root. The machine is a fairly bulky plastic shape and the wand is kept on the side but makes up a fair amount of the space itself. It contains a bulb which emits a strong light when pressed against the skin to remove the follicle of the hair gradually over time.

I've used this for 3 weeks now on my own skin as my wife thought I was an ideal guinea pig for the treatment! Using it on my underarms is awkward due to the shape of the wand and the only way to see what area you've done is in a mirror (the wand leaves a mark on your skin when you press it down so you can see where you've just done but it fades a bit quickly). In the end I ended up getting my wife to use it on me, always helps when you have a partner who is willing to do the work for you! (don't worry, I always help her out in return).

You do need to shave the hair first though, something like a ladyshave or non-epilator device is fine (an epilator pulls the root out so the machine won't work if this has been done recently), so be prepared to shave your legs/arms etc.

The treatment is painless if a little hot once the bulb has been in use a bit and it's not too slow to get an area like under one arm done. With legs, though, be prepared for a couple of hours work.

Initially I couldn't see any difference. My hair grows at an extraordinary rate, so it was a good test, but after a couple of treatments I can see the difference in hair growth, it has slowed down and even stopped in some places. However, it is patchy and I can see this being and issue for legs while you're a few months in to the treatment. If you're already shaving then the patches won't be that noticable anyway and I can see this working well over 6 months.

There is a security code to prevent unauthorised use (great if you have children) and a DVD which highlights the dangers and use of the machine (possibly scaring you a little in the process!) but the main thing to note is that the machine should only be used by those with certain skin colours, much like some of the salon treatments.

Overall I think that many will find differing results with this hair removal system, but for me I could notice some small changes in just 2 weeks so a full treatment would actually work well.

Edit: Having now used this for a few months I'm really surprised by the result. My underarm hair growth has really slowed down and there is virtually nothing there now. If this works in the same way for the rest of the body then it looks like a very good alternative to salon treatments. The olny issue is that the bulbs are so expensive, with the cheapest online price being £70 for one bulb! Plus it's hard to find places that actually sell the bulbs (though you can get the direct from Rio)

This is the first time I have ordered anything other than a book from the Amazon Vine programme. I am aware that anything NOT a book tends to be snapped up very quickly by other Vine participants but I was fortunate enough to get one of these.

Initially I was shocked by the size of the box as I thought the item would be smaller but it arrived and I opened it to be faced with a well packaged and boxed item.

As a sufferer of polycystic ovarian syndrome I am unfortunate enough to become Yeti woman unless I have regular contact with a razor (tempted yet you guys out there;-) )? So finding this was a home treatment I could use to gradually reduce and stop hair growth was a boon. I hate all the hair removal creams and shaving my legs is a necessary chore so to have an item which could potentially do away with all this was lovely. As for those epilator things - torture devices in my humble opinion.

"How much are they to buy" asked my husband. "Hmm! Not sure - probably about £50 I reckon" was my confident reply until I searched here and dicovered the real price. Ignoring my husband's exhortations to "get it straight on e-bay" (need one of those eye rolling emoticons here) I couldn't wait to use it.

As it is a gradual process I have held off from reviewing it because I wanted to use it for a period of time first.

The product is well packaged and comes with a DVD to explain how to use the system safely as well as written instructions. This product is only suitable for use of white skin but there is a colour chart to show if it is suitable for you. They really DO mean white skin as well because apparently it's not suitable even if you have parents or grandparents with non-white skin.
I found it easy to use and the safety features (to prevent little ones getting busy with it) are very good - to be precise the system will not work without the operator readying it with a set code.

It advised a "patch test" 24 hours prior to the first treatment which I duly carried out - I got it up to the top setting (5 bars) for treatment but the patch test determined "4 bars" was the optimum treatment level for my skin. If it is used on too high a setting it will leave a sunburn type feeling and although redness is expected it should not hurt.

I have now been using it for nearly 2 months and it's working - certainly the regrowth rate of hair has slowed down considerably on my legs and I am having to shave far less (mostly for doing the treatments only at present). The system estimates that after six months or so the hair growth will no longer occur (ooh can't wait for that).

It is suitable for large areas such as legs, underarms, and arms etc but not suitable for the face. So far I have concentrated on my legs bnut will progress to underarms in the future. It is an upgrade from a previous model which treated up to 60 hairs a time - this one does 180 hairs a time.

So my review is overwhelmingly positive for this product and I would certainly recommend it to other PCOS sufferers. I will certainly NOT be "e-baying it" - well not until I no longer need it at any rate which might be some time yet. I appreciate that this review is very personal to me but I really think other PCOS sufferers would get alot of positive use from this product. No more waxing, epilator torturing, smelly hair removal creams and no more shaving rash! Lovely.

Thank you so much Amazon Vine for sending this product to me gratis... it is being much appreciated.

Update February 2011. I am still using the product and hair growth on my legs is now sparse and slower growing.