Written by Elaine Frieman
There are two brand-new skincare devices as part of the Tria Beauty repertoire this holiday season: our Hair Removal IPL-S with Ice Cool Technology and our Hair Removal Device IPL. These lasers use Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology and are a simple and effective way to remove hair from the comfort of your own home.
How do the IPL devices differ from the Tria 4X?
Our iconic Tria 4X Laser is a diode laser. This laser has a more concentrated beam than an IPL device; however, it comes with a heftier price tag. Our IPL devices are the answer to everyone's budget plus they have a larger treatment window, saving you both time and money.
Tria is a trusted home beauty brand with over 20 years of experience. All our light-based devices are FDA-cleared (unlike many out there). You can trust that when we create a skincare solution, it works.
IPL technology significantly slows and reduces hair growth – without the salon appointments or the price tag.
What are the IPL features?
The Tria IPL and the Tria IPL-S with the Ice Cool technology both come with a full instruction guide and protective eyewear as well as a power cable and a universal plug (USA/EU/UK), which makes traveling with your device a convenience.
The IPL-S comes with an in-built cooling device for a more comfortable experience as well as a lens cover for treating smaller areas like the face (women).
Both IPL options have two modes: manual or auto. With the Tria 4X device, the pulses are automatic upon skin contact, but with the IPL device, you have a choice whether to push the device's button manually or for the pulses to complete automatically – in essence, it's easy-peasy with less to operate!
The IPL devices have 5 intensity levels, they're ergonomically designed, and come in-built with a skin sensor.
With these IPL devices, you can treat a larger area as the treatment window is much larger than on our 4X diode laser device, which will cut down treatment time significantly. You can easily treat your arms, legs, and back in a shorter time.
The ergonomic design means you can treat smaller, curvier places like underarms, the face (women), and the bikini line easier too.
Plus, you can keep this device plugged in. There's no pre-charging and no interruption in treatment. You plug in, power on, and pulse away!
When using the auto mode, you can speedily treat large areas like your legs. Just glide the IPL device over your legs whilst listening to your favorite audiobook or watching Married at First Sight or Selling Sunset. It's an easy, yet effective way to remove unwanted hair.
Five intensity settings mean you can personalize the intensity. Lower settings get your skin used to the sensation but move the setting to the highest level for best results, whatever feels comfortable for your skin.
How long does it take to complete my first treatment regimen?
Your first treatment cycle will last 3 months so that your unwanted hair will be pulsed during each stage of cycle growth. For effective hair removal with any device, it's not a once-and-done solution (unfortunately). You have to ensure that your hair is in the "anagen" stage of growth which is the first stage of the hair growth cycle.
In this cycle, the hair is attached to the follicle. Ever tweezed a hair and seen the white "plug" on the end of it? You've plucked a hair in the anagen stage. This is the active growth phase. Whilst the anagen phase for your head means you can grow up to 6 inches of hair per year, for your arms, legs, eyebrows, etc, this stage lasts 30-45 days (head hair lasts 3-7 years). But not every hair on your body will be in the anagen stage during your treatment cycle, so you'll have to treat for 3 months (sometimes longer) to make sure you're zapping all those pesky unwanted hairs at the right time.
The IPL cannot remove hair that is not in this first stage of the growth cycle. Once your hair reaches the second stage in the cycle, it's getting ready to shed and regrow.
When you complete treatments during a recommended schedule, you're ensuring that the hair can be damaged effectively at this first juncture and then that the follicle is getting damaged further during the transition and resting phases (catagen and telogen phases).
This means you will enjoy hair-free results year-round with the occasional top-up needed for any hair follicles that have repaired themselves (as our bodies are excellent at repairing damage to cells). Please see below for how often Tria recommends using IPL.
How does IPL work and should I patch test?
Generally, IPL concentrates a beam of light onto hair follicles, heats them up to damage them, and stunts regrowth. The light is broad spectrum (which differs from the diode laser light) which means that the treatment window can be larger, the IPL can be plugged in to be used longer, and the treatment is generally faster.
Make sure you do a patch test on an area of skin 24 hours before your first treatment. In rarer cases, the light can cause adverse skin reactions, but if you have waited 24 hours and noticed no visible reactions, it's safe to treat the areas.
How often should I do an IPL treatment and where can I use the laser?
You should treat the area every 2 weeks for 3 months and then complete occasional touch-ups when required. It's a pain-free process and you'll feel a warm or slight stinging sensation. Use the level of laser intensity that works for you. It can be adjusted.
You can use the laser on your legs, arms, back, stomach, fingers, bikini line, face (women) and underarms to achieve smooth skin. It's not recommended to use in areas of dense hair such as a man's beard or mustache. Avoid using on the eye area and eyebrows to prevent eye injury (use your included protective eyewear for the duration of your treatment).
Why does my kit include safety eyewear?
It's recommended to use safety eyewear to prevent eye injury. Tria includes safety eyewear as an extra precaution as we advocate safety. That does not mean our IPL light is more harmful than other IPL brands but the diode laser emits a more concentrated light and the IPL has a broad-spectrum light, so it's recommended to use shade 5 protective eyewear when using the Tria IPL devices.
How do I prep before treatment?
Just as when using a diode laser, before using the Tria IPL, you need to shave and remove any visible hairs above the skin's surface. That way, the laser light can be absorbed by the hair follicles beneath the skin and the skin is prevented from overheating during treatment.
Avoid sun exposure before your treatments and stop waxing or plucking two weeks before your IPL treatment (as the hair needs to be in the first growth cycle). Your skin should be clean, product-free (i.e. no creams until after treatment), and without self-tanner if possible.
Use once every two weeks for three months and touch up as required.
How do I activate manual versus automatic mode?
When you power on your Tria IPL device, you'll see two constant green lights on the side. For manual mode, put the lens against your skin, making good contact, and then press the flash button to treat the area. The laser will not flash and treat the area unless it detects good contact with your skin.
For automatic mode, press and hold the flash button for 2 seconds. The constant lights will change to flashing green lights on the side. You can now raise or glide the laser across your skin for continuous pulses.
Turn off manual mode by pressing and holding the flash button again for 2 seconds.
Power off by pressing and holding down the power button. The lights will turn off 30 seconds before the fan powers off.
The takeaways
You asked and we listened! These two exciting new Tria IPL devices meet the window size and affordability factors our customers have been asking for. Even though Tria is known for its skin-transforming, results-getting Tria 4X diode device, we know you'll love these effective, affordable IPL devices. Let us know on Tria’s social media accounts which device you can’t wait to try.
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