Iluminage Skin Smoothing Laser - Same as Reaura or Tria?
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free skin care · Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:37 pm

Anyone else still using this? Seems like it was product that didnt take off really. Tria seems to be only company able to really release an at home laser product and sell. Again I think the 2 year projected life of the Illuminage is crazy for the cost. But it seems like a well designed product and I've read decent reviews online. I'm not in the market for one anyways as I have already a few laser devices, but I was just curious about this.

Mon Apr 04, 2016 5:04 am

I have the Iluminage which I have only used 4 times owing to the fact that I already use the Reaura. I purchased the Iluminage thinking that as it was specifically intended for around the eyes and lips that it might add something to what The Reaura could do, mistakenly as it turns out! I, stupidly used the Reaura as normal ( twice weekly ) but I then used the Iluminage on the off days!! (ouch). My eye and lip areas were very, very red which lasted about 2 days. I do think, however that this is a very good, effective product if the redness and stinging are anything to go by, it felt and looked exactly like the after effects of Reaura ( only worse because of my doubling up on treatments). The other reason I bought the Iluminage was that you can charge the battery from your computer which, for me, as a very frequent traveller would have been a godsend! I am at present at the end of a 3 month trip and on my return to the UK on 9th April I am intending to put the Iluminage on EBay, however, if anyone on EDS is interested, please contact me. All packaging etc is in pristine condition. Anyone interested please PM me.

Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:04 am

Thanks for the update, Anne. Is anyone else still using this? How were the results overall? TIA!

Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:47 am

I have only used this a few times as I quickly realised that I was duplicating treatment that I was doing with the Reaura. On these times I was confident that the treatment was as strong as the Reaura, hence my decision not to continue using this. Hope this helps.

free skin care · Wed Aug 31, 2016 9:30 pm

Picked up one of these puppies on eBay, got it two weeks ago, found it for $275. I scoured eBay looking for a second hand one. There were a few, around $325, and a few that were overseas but luckily I found one in the US for $275, including tax and ship! Considering these are $595 (495 at Sephora I think) plus the cost of tax and shipping elsewhere, I had to pick this up.

Anyone who knows me on here knows I have an array of at home laser products. I own a ReAura, a Palovia, a Tria ADL, Tria Eye Laser, and now the Iluminage Skin Smoothing Laser. Phew. Luckily I found half of these second hand and have saved literally hundreds of dollars. And I am selling my Tria ADL to a friend.

Anyways, on to the device. Mine is, again, second hand but visibly near flawless, besides a few superficial scratches on the white plastic rim around the laser window. I even took a damp cloth with mild dish soap and cleaned the device and the charging base, really got lucky with how well the person who owned this took care of it. Again, looks near brand new.

Comes with the laser, charging base, cute little carrying case, and the charging cord plus another cord that you can use to plug into your computer and track progress. I don't think I plan on doing that but neat feature. I love how the laser sits in the charging base. At first I wondered how it sat there, but it has a really strong magnet that holds onto it securely in its base.

This device is like a hybrid of the ReAura and the Palovia. It doesn't involve messy serums or gels, etc. You wash your face, turn it on, it greets you with a cute "HELLO" and then you choose your power level, low or high. This device is the simplest laser device I have ever used, and as you can see I have experience with most of them. This thing is really just a piece of cake. And treatment takes minutes.

You simply place the laser head down on the area you want to treat and hold it for about 2 seconds, a white light glows and it makes a noise letting you know it was a successful zap. If at any point during those 2 seconds, you let the laser break contact with the skin, it lets off a warning sound letting you know you're moving too quick. They recommend slightly overlapping each time, but not too much obviously.

The digital display shows 00 initially, and counts up each time until you reach 200 zaps. At 200 it shuts off and locks you out for 4 hours. Manual says it can take up to 40 zaps each eye, depending on the size of the area you're treating. I was able to only use about 80-90 zaps TOTAL in 1 session and treated each eye, down my laugh lines and across my forehead lines. I think 40 is crazy for each eye! Unless I am not overlapping enough. We will see.

Pain: It's actually different than any laser sensation I have felt. I want to say it's not as painful as the Palovia, but more so than the ReAura. But it's hard to compare this to the ReAura because this is a press hold and move/repeat, rather than gliding across continuously. It definitely packs a punch though.

The areas I treated however don't look as bad as when I use the Palovia. There is redness and a little warmth to the skin, but it doesn't look like welts, just redness. I applied Tria's after laser serum at the end and that helped soothe.

All in all, 2 thumbs up on my initial thoughts about this product. Sorry for the long write up, I always love sharing my 2 cents about products, especially ones I love!

I will keep up with this one I think, its really the easiest one I have ever used.

free skin care · Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:15 pm

Update: so I DEFINITELY didn't overlap enough. After treating, the redness was in splotches, missed a whole bunch of areas lol. So I did another maybe 10 zaps each eye, on areas I missed. Again, I definitely need to overlap a lot more. I am guessing I will get the hang of it as I treat more and more. The laser window is pretty small on this, in comparison to the Palovia.

The skin I lasered was still pretty red today. I put a little Dermablend on to conceal, but by the early evening the redness was gone. Even though you're supposed to treat daily (5 days/week), I tend to actually use lasers different and just go by how my skin is reacting. I skipped tonight and will probably just use this a few nights a week if that. I tend not to overdo it with lasers, I've never been able to treat daily as the redness can last.

I had heard this only lasts 2 years, so I emailed Iluminage directly and asked. Within 12 hours or so I got an email back. A nice woman from the company explained that the laser, when used according to the manual, should last about 3 years, given the fact that it's a lithium ion battery and batteries deteriorate, it makes sense. But it doesnt mean its just going to go kaput. I am guessing overtime the battery will start to hold less and less of a charge until it simply unusable. Three years is fine with me considering I paid less than half the retail price for this.

As I said, I am pretty sure this is my FAVORITE laser to use. This blows the Palovia out of the water simply because the pain is more bearable, the redness is more bearable and the Palovia was always sort of awkward with the push button to zap, this involves no buttons. Just press, hold, move.

Surprised no one really talks about this product more. Initially I thought it was too expensive and not necessary given that my closet is full of lasers, but I am SO GLAD I bought this. I plan on getting another when it dies, although I am sure within a few years more and more at home laser products will emerge.

free skin care · Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:28 pm

Mine died after less than a year.

free skin care · Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:57 pm

denisiel wrote:

Mine died after less than a year.

Really? Wow I am sorry to hear that. Sad

And of course it only has a year warranty.

So it just suddenly stopped working? I'll cross my fingers and hope to get more than a year!

If I paid the full price of 595$ I'd be pissed!

free skin care · Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:18 pm

EC413 wrote:

So it just suddenly stopped working? I'll cross my fingers and hope to get more than a year!

If I paid the full price of 595$ I'd be pissed!

It died over a couple of weeks. A few times before it died, it flashed "ER" and kept beeping after about a 100 pulses. Then it just wouldn't turn on. Luckily I purchased it from Nordstrom and repurchased a replacement one. I am OK with paying the full price to get that type of service and I also feel secure knowing the laser is not faulty.

free skin care · Sat Sep 03, 2016 8:18 am

denisiel wrote:

EC413 wrote:

So it just suddenly stopped working? I'll cross my fingers and hope to get more than a year!

If I paid the full price of 595$ I'd be pissed!

It died over a couple of weeks. A few times before it died, it flashed "ER" and kept beeping after about a 100 pulses. Then it just wouldn't turn on. Luckily I purchased it from Nordstrom and repurchased a replacement one. I am OK with paying the full price to get that type of service and I also feel secure knowing the laser is not faulty.

Oh I see, so you definitely got a dud with the first one. I am glad you got a free replacement!

I will keep a look out for the "ER" (error) on the display, so far so good.

Yes. Most people pay full price because it does give you peace of mind that you're buying it not only new, but with a warranty. I do take a pretty big risk buying electronic devices second hand.

I also tend to buy refurbished items over new ones, such as my tablet and tvs for a fraction of the price. I bought my Palovia laser second hand and the Iluminage. I got lucky because they both work flawlessly.

Even though I will get my use out of it, I do think the Iluminage 2-3 year life span is a little short. It is true that lithium ion batteries degrade over time but the Palovia that I own is 6 years old and still holds a full charge and has lots of juice left in it.

That 2-3 year life span is based on using it as directed, and since I don't use it full time, and usually rotate between lasers, I may get 5-6 years out of the Iluminage, who knows. It's all based on how often you're using it.

I think what's exciting is picturing all the laser devices that will most likely be coming out in the coming years. I think at home laser treatments are one of the best DIY skin treatments you can do, that and microneedling. A derminator is still on my wishlist.

free skin care · Fri Oct 07, 2016 5:44 am

EC413, I don't use my Iluminage full time either. Do you think that just leaving it on the charging base can reduce the battery life? Or is it actually using it that wears out the battery?

Also, I used it early yesterday and I still look like I've got chicken pox. What's a good after laser treatment to reduce welts? Think

free skin care · Fri Oct 07, 2016 7:06 am

piscesgirlrenee wrote:

EC413, I don't use my Iluminage full time either. Do you think that just leaving it on the charging base can reduce the battery life? Or is it actually using it that wears out the battery?

Also, I used it early yesterday and I still look like I've got chicken pox. What's a good after laser treatment to reduce welts? Think

I don't think it will be necessarily harmful because lithium ion batteries (at least most) are designed to stop charging once the battery is full, however I do NOT keep mine on the charging base at all times. It makes me nervous to think if it doesn't stop charging and just keeps juice constantly running toward it, because that WOULD be harmful. My old backup laptop battery went bad years back because I had a bad habit of keeping it plugged in, and it ruined the battery, so now it runs only when its plugged in, the battery is completely shot.

Through some online research I learned the best way to keep a lithium ion battery healthy and last longer is to stay away from the full discharges, meaning when you use it a few times, go ahead and charge it up to full again, don't let it go down to 0% and then fully charge. It is good however to do a full drain and fill once in a while to keep the batteries memory in shape.

Also, any sort of heat is bad for lithium ion batteries, and for most batteries. So try to keep the laser stored in a cooler environment, obviously away from sunlight, etc. Also if you know youre going to be letting it sit for a while, say you're taking a few months off of it, make sure you don't let it store with no juice in it, give it a charge before letting it sit.

With all of these tips, and since we both don't use the Iluminage full time, we should no doubt get much more life out of it. At least double the expected life that they're predicting. They say 2-3 years based on using it as directed, and I don't use it nearly as often as directed. I only use maybe 1-2x per week, not even. And sometimes I go weeks and prolonged periods without even using it.

The Iluminage has become my favorite laser, besides the ReAura. With the Iluminage, my eye area looks super red right after (I use at night) but by morning, the redness really calms down and it's barely noticeable. With the Palovia, I would have red marks for what seemed like days. I still do use the Palovia however.

For after care, I use Lucas' Paw Paw Ointment. I saw a member here suggest it, and it seems to do a good job of keeping the area moist and reducing redness. It's Vaseline like in it's consistency and it's very cheap on Amazon.

Also, any sort of rich super moisturizing under eye cream should do the trick. I like using Kiehl's overnight recovery eye cream. It's loaded with essential oils and really soothes the area. Also, a lot of people are more susceptible to a lot of redness after lasers, so don't be alarmed. Your skin should eventually adjust and if it doesn't, you're just simply more prone to redness.

free skin care · Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:58 am

I'm sorry I meant Lucas' Papaw Ointment, not Paw Paw.

free skin care · Sun Oct 09, 2016 3:46 am

EC413, thank you so much for the detailed info! Because the Iluminage looks SO cool, I have left it on the charger and plugged in for a year while using it only sporadically. Rolling Eyes

I sure hope I haven't reduced the life of the device to only one remaining year...

I'm definitely going to try the ointment; aloe vera just isn't doing much to reduce the redness for me. I think that's why I never stuck to the protocol when I first bought the Iluminage

free skin care · Sun Oct 09, 2016 5:14 am

My skin gets very red after a session but the redness goes away by the next morning if I follow with the Baby Quasar (red LED).

free skin care · Sun Oct 09, 2016 5:32 am

Yes, good idea! I'll try LED after, then the ointment or emu oil, or maybe calendula oil...

My welts are very red and last for days. I take natural anti-inflammatories, but the effects are short-lived. I kinda gave up, but for $600 + tax, I'm happy to have a new game plan. Thanks y'all!

Sun Oct 09, 2016 7:49 am

It's now 10/2016 and I am having the same problem you had over a yr ago. I'm glad I found your post because, I figured macy's would think I was crazy...I wish they would have fixed this!

piscesgirlrenee wrote:

I posted this on the Tria Precision eye laser thread, and I thought I would post here, also. I just wanted to advise anyone purchasing an iluminage laser soon to definitely keep your receipt. I have purchased 3 different ones from Nordstrom and they have all been dysfunctional. While setting on the charger they beep loudly and show an error message (which iluminage customer service did not recognize), then play three tones, and then the cycle begins again. And this has been straight out of the box for 2 of them, after the initial charge up. One also seemed to be missing the magnet in the handpiece that kept it completely upright on the charger. I received one more (a 4th) from iluminage as a replacement, and that one also malfunctions by not firing repeatedly even when there is full skin contact. It either times out after 30 seconds of not firing (though it is clearly in full contact with the skin), or I have to turn it off and then on again for it to work. For $652 (with tax), I was hoping for a better product. When it works, it does work well. That is why I have ordered another one (yes, I am a full-fledged device junkie) from a salesman at a Nordstrom in Scottsdale, and he checked the lot number to make sure it was different from the dysfunctional ones. I'll get it this week and hopefully this one will work Rolling Eyes

. Also, buy from Nordstrom if you can because their return policy is awesome, and their customer service has been great throughout my recent and puzzling ordeal.

free skin care · Sun Oct 09, 2016 8:44 am

Yes, that was a real pain! I found it interesting that the customer service representatives at Iluminage had never heard of the issue before, nor did they recognize the error code, even when I called back regarding each consecutive device. Seems like they should have had a team meeting regarding the malfunctioning units; I can't have been the only customer with the issues. I finally purchased one from a Nordstrom in a different state that got their shipments from a different warehouse. Well, I had the same problems with that first one from Scottsdale. I sent it back and finally, the sixth unit I received worked properly. Pray

I hope Macy's has a good return policy; try to get a replacement with a different lot number on the bottom of the handpiece than the one you have now. Good luck!

free skin care · Sun Oct 09, 2016 9:03 am

piscesgirlrenee wrote:

I posted this on the Tria Precision eye laser thread, and I thought I would post here, also. I just wanted to advise anyone purchasing an iluminage laser soon to definitely keep your receipt. I have purchased 3 different ones from Nordstrom and they have all been dysfunctional. While setting on the charger they beep loudly and show an error message (which iluminage customer service did not recognize), then play three tones, and then the cycle begins again. And this has been straight out of the box for 2 of them, after the initial charge up. One also seemed to be missing the magnet in the handpiece that kept it completely upright on the charger. I received one more (a 4th) from iluminage as a replacement, and that one also malfunctions by not firing repeatedly even when there is full skin contact. It either times out after 30 seconds of not firing (though it is clearly in full contact with the skin), or I have to turn it off and then on again for it to work. For $652 (with tax), I was hoping for a better product. When it works, it does work well. That is why I have ordered another one (yes, I am a full-fledged device junkie) from a salesman at a Nordstrom in Scottsdale, and he checked the lot number to make sure it was different from the dysfunctional ones. I'll get it this week and hopefully this one will work Rolling Eyes

. Also, buy from Nordstrom if you can because their return policy is awesome, and their customer service has been great throughout my recent and puzzling ordeal.

My second one broke after just two weeks. This time it works for 40-90 pulses and then the blue light and the beep sound still works but no laser pulse occurs.

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