So, you may be tempted to choose a model with the most flashes because you don’t want to run out, right?

To see longer-term hair removal in these areas, I’ll likely have to continue with fortnightly treatments for a while longer. That’s good enough for me, though, as the armpit treatments only take around two minutes, so it’s much easier to fit into a busy schedule. There’s a big difference. Although the Prestige is not the fastest at-home IPL you can buy, it’s not too far behind. The speed matches the device shape and design, and it’s controlled and consistent. So, it’s easy to get into a good rhythm for accurate coverage. Therefore, it’s an excellent choice for face, small bits and large body areas, and especially whole-body hair removal.READ NEXT: Our roundup of the best epilators you can buy Philips Lumea IPL Advanced review: Should you buy it? The star of the show for me is the large body flash window. Coupled with the comfy gun-shape, it really makes all the difference vs rivals on legs and tummy. That’s because it hugs your curves, is large yet precise and makes it super-easy to get a flash. It also does a good job on underarms and bikini line. I love the curved in body flash window for easy and precise leg zapping! Treat both lower legs in just 15 minutes, bikini area in 4 minutes and facial area in only 2 minutes! The Philips Lumea Prestige and Lumea Advanced IPL use intense pulsed light energy (IPL) to damage and disable your hair follicles, slowing and then stopping hair regrowth. Periodic top-up treatments keep your skin smooth. Learn more about how home IPL works here.

Proven effectiveness: Lumea IPL prevents hair regrowth to enjoy 12 months of hair-free smooth skin*, and up to 85% hair reduction in as little as 3 treatments*** IPL is an effective, long-term hair removal method you can do from the comfort of your home. After years of having to save up for laser hair removal, products like the Philips Lumea IPL Advanced have now brought this treatment to the consumer market. It’s designed to be used every two weeks for the first four weeks and, if we’re being honest, the big gaps make it easier to forget when you last treated limbs, so we found it helpful to set a reminder in our calendar.Say goodbye to ingrown hairs and stubbles****, thanks to slower re-growth and less frequent shaving. It’s a good selection but the attachments on the Lumea Advanced aren’t as easy to use as they are on the more expensive Lumea 9000 and Prestige models. Not only are the treatment windows on the face attachment significantly smaller, measuring 9 x 19mm on the Lumea Advanced compared to 8 x 26mm on the 9000, but they’re also completely flat. That’s an issue because the window needs to be pressed flush against the skin for the Lumea to flash, which means bonier areas of the body are more difficult to treat. READ NEXT: The best hair removal creams you can buy Philips Lumea IPL Advanced review: How does it work? If you’re looking to get effective, comfortable IPL hair removal on a budget, the Lumea Advanced is a great option, especially if you’re only treating smaller areas of your body. I say this because larger areas of the body take a long time to treat; two full legs take almost an hour, which is a huge amount of time to spend. This is a neat feature if you have varied tones across body areas. It removes any guesswork. And on more sensitive areas you can still manually lower it a notch or two. Specialist flash windows

Fast Treatment: Treat only every two weeks for the first 6 weeks (vs. weekly of other brands), then touch up monthly to maintain the results.

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That’s understandable. However, bear in mind ALL the Prestige models come with more than enough flashes for decades of use, even with the 250,000 flash bulb. This gives you enough flashes for over 15 years of monthly whole-body zappings. But for most people, you won’t need them that frequently. That’s because once you’ve done a year of maintenance top-ups, your skin stays smooth for several months at a time, and even up to one year. So, it’s more probable you’ll need top-ups just a couple of times per year. Therefore, it’s very unlikely you’ll use up all those flashes! All Prestige and Advanced models have the large body and a small face flash window. Some Advanced models also have the precision window for bikini and underarms. And some Prestige models have either a seperate bikini and underarms window, or the dual bikini and underarms precision window. Philips Lumea 7000 Series BRI923/00 is designed for corded use - just plug the device into the mains and start your treatment. Use the Prestige for 4 or 5 sessions, 1 every 2 weeks (taking up to 8 weeks) to get smooth skin. A whole-body session takes around 40 minutes. There’s a slight warm sensation for settings one to four, but by five it’s hot with a bit of a pinch – but not so uncomfortable we had to stop at any point. For bigger areas like our legs, we held it down flat and glided the device over our skin, but for our underarms, we used a stamp-like motion to press, let it flash, lift off and place down on a different area.