Best at-home IPL and laser hair removal machines for effortlessly smooth skin

One of the best-known at-home LED devices, the 9900 is sleek, comfortable to hold and easy to manoeuvre around different areas of the body. It has a clever ‘smartskin’ sensor, which is a real standout feature: it works by automatically adjusting the intensity of the light based on your skin tone, which essentially means you should get a safe and effective treatment every time.

The versatility of the device is also seriously impressive. It comes with four different attachments that are individually designed for the face, body, bikini line and underarms, with one tailored to fit the contours of those specific areas. Plus, there’s an option to use it both corded and cordless, which is a small but hugely appreciated feature that adds convenience, especially when treating hard-to-reach areas.

I was also a big fan of the app, which is more user-friendly than some of the others I tried, and I liked that it was able to keep track of treatment schedules as well as helping to ensure proper, effective usage.

Of course, there’s no denying this device is expensive, and the initial setup was a little bit confusing, because of all the attachments and various features, but I soon managed to get the hang of it.

There’s a reason the 9900 is one of the most popular at-home IPL devices on the market – it delivers on its promises, providing a convenient and effective at-home hair removal solution.

This device was easy to set up. I was immediately impressed with the app, which creates a custom treatment plan based on skin tone and hair type. It even sends reminders to help me stay on track. The device itself is sleek and easy to handle, but it is a shame it’s not cordless for the price.

The device comes with a sleek, suede-esque case and attachments to help me treat different areas of the body. The smaller head was great for using on the underarms, while the bigger attachment was good for larger areas, such as the legs. Braun’s IPL machine was also quick and convenient to use – a full-body session took me about 15–20 minutes.

Though I liked the app, it isn’t perfect. I found that it lagged a few times, and the Bluetooth connection was occasionally a bit hit or miss. While the machine is relatively painless, I noticed a little redness when I used it on a higher setting – nothing that didn’t subside relatively quickly, though.

I was impressed with the speed of this tool: it has a super speedy flash rate, so I found that I could treat both legs and underarms in less than 20 minutes. Plus, CurrentBody’s device uses an 810nm diode laser, which penetrates deeper into the hair follicle than IPL devices. It felt painless to use, and it has a built-in cooling system that ensures skin feels comfortable throughout each session.

However, I found CurrenBody’s device quite bulky, and it isn’t suitable for the darkest or lightest of skin tones, so ensure you check your own compatibility before purchasing this beauty tool. It has a cord, too, so you might find it a little inconvenient. If it is suitable for you, I think its overall effectiveness, the technology and speed of use make it a worthwhile investment, but it’s very expensive.

One of the major standout plus points of this device is the fact that the head rotates. It’s a simple feature, but it makes it much easier to treat those hard-to-reach areas. It includes three different treatment heads, and they cater well to different body parts. I would also note that the device feels intuitive to use, and I found the treatments relatively painless.

The Silk’n 7 IPL device has a cord, and though it’s fairly long, you will still need to be near a socket as you use it. However, it does come with a variety of different plugs, so you could potentially travel with it, if needed. Overall, this is an effective solution, but perhaps not a convenient one. Swapping all of the heads around could be pretty fiddly, and it takes a while to see the effect. It certainly works, but not quickly.

Like CurrentBody’s device, Tria’s uses laser technology instead of IPL for a more targeted treatment. This is one of the few cordless devices I tested, and I found it was quite easy to manoeuvre and hold, making it great for smaller areas, such as the chin and lip. There’s also a really useful digital screen that guides me through treatments, and I relied on it a lot when I first started using this device.

The most important thing to be aware of, though, is just how small the treatment window is. It’s not ideal at all for treating large areas, such as the legs, and even the underarms might take a while. It takes time and patience, but it works well for targeting fine female facial and upper lip hair, although it’s a big investment for such a small area. The powerful laser means this is much more painful than IPL – using the Tria can sting a little bit, and I can expect my skin to go red.

However, if I’m looking for precise, effective results where regrowth is most annoying – for me, that’s the upper lip and chin – this powerful tool will work wonders, but it’s only suitable for light to medium skin tones and darker hair.

The most affordable of all the devices I tested, this one is simple but effective. It’s literally just a case of plugging it in, and you’re good to go. It was also the only tool that came with safety glasses (which just look – and feel – like a pair of cheap sunglasses), plus it’s lightweight, comfortable to hold thanks to its ergonomic design. It doesn’t have any interchangeable heads like some of the devices I tried, but in some ways, that just helps to simplify the usage process.

It has eight intensity levels, so you can power up or down depending on skin sensitivity – I suggest starting lower and then working your way upwards, but note that there are only two buttons so it can take some time to find your chosen level, and it takes a few seconds between flashes for it to be ready to go again. You can also have it in auto mode or in manual mode based on your preferences.

It’s important to note that this device isn’t recommended for darker skin tones or very light hair – something I realised when I tried to use it on my facial hair without much luck, but I did find it to be effective on larger areas, like legs and underarms.

While this tool isn’t a standout favourite, for the price point, ease of use, the results and ergonomic design, it’s an investment worth considering.

A device that sits on the slightly more affordable end of the price scale, Foreo is a brand that I’m already familiar with, having used (and loved) one of its facial cleansing tools.

The tool itself has a large treatment window and flashes up to 120 times per minute, which means that full-body sessions were easy to achieve. I also liked that I could choose either Stamp Mode or Glide Mode depending on which area of the body I was using it on. However, after a couple of uses I did notice that it tended to overheat after just a few minutes of use – which meant it would then need a couple of minutes to cool itself down. I found this meant my treatment times were delayed and took much longer than they ought to have done, so I keep that in mind and ensure I’m building in more time than I think I’ll need.

It’s also worth noting that I did need to download an app to activate the Peach 2, but I didn’t notice that there was much use for it beyond that.

Overall, the Peach 2 isn’t a bad tool but annoyingly, it does have its downfalls. Still, with consistent use and patience, I do see an effective hair reduction.