The Remington IPL LUXE 8500 is a fairly pricey home IPL hair removal machine. It may cost over £100 more than Remington’s ESSENTIALS model, but adds further mode settings and a Precision head attachment.
Where to Buy
Pros
Power, Express and Sensitive Modes
Precision head attachment
Decent size 3cm squared flash window on regular attachment
300,000 flash lifespan
Cons
Quite expensive
Not cordless
The IPL LUXE 8500 from Remington is available to buy from Amazon, though we’ve spotted it’s no longer stocked in Currys or Boots. It’s a pricier home IPL machine, compared to Remington’s good value ESSENTIALS device, and adds some further settings and features.
Our main concern is that for a device that’s the better part of £300, it isn’t cordless – a bonus you can get by spending just a little more.
Breaking Down the Manufacturer Claims
The IPL LUXE 8500 is an IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) device, which isn’t quite the same as laser hair removal. In fact, most devices sold as “laser hair removal” for home use are, in fact, IPL.
IPL can indeed help you achieve effective permanent hair removal at home. Plus, it’s a faster process to perform IPL treatments on large areas such as your legs, compared to doing so with a true home laser device (which have much smaller heads).
Remington claims with this device (and its cheaper sister model, the I-Light ESSENTIAL) you can get permanent results with just three treatments. The claim is based on a study by Remington that found an average of 66% hair removal following a course of three treatments, with results holding even 12 months on.
That’s encouraging, but the likely results you’ll see yourself will depend greatly on the colour of your skin and hair, the body area you are targeting, and how coarse the hair is there. In short, you may find you need more than three treatments to see successful results.
Is Laser Hair Removal Permanent? See our full explainer guide
Also, we’d caution that such results may not be enjoyed if you more frequently use the faster (but less powerful) Express mode offered by this device. Speaking of which...
Features and Extras
One of the main points of difference between this model and the cheaper Remington ESSENTIALS is that the IPL LUXE 8500 offers various “modes” for more powerful and less powerful (but faster) treatment settings. The Power mode should, according to Remington, help you achieve a full body treatment in just 43 minutes, while the Express Mode lets you do a full body treatment in under 15 minutes.
While that sounds welcome, Remington warns that the Express mode won’t help you get permanent hair removal results as quickly, due to the lower power settings. It may be better suited for top-ups down the line, after you’ve followed the recommended course of treatments in the higher power settings.
The flash window is a decent size at 3cm squared, though this is smaller than the 4cm squared ones you’ll find on the Philips Lumea devices. The IPL LUXE 8500 also offers a Precision head, which has a smaller window, and is better suited to fiddly areas.
Remington says the device will last for 300,000 flashes – double what you’ll get from the cheaper ESSENTIALS model. While that sounds like plenty, keep in mind that the bulb can’t be changed – once it’s done, the device is done. The Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 is in a similar price range, and that offers 400,000 flashes.
The IPL LUXE 8500 isn’t cordless, which is a little disappointing at this higher price point. To be fair, you’ll need to go over £300 to get a cordless home IPL machine.
Skin and Hair Type Suitability
As with all home IPL devices, the LUXE is ideal for those with light skin and dark hair. Remington warns it will be less effective on dark skin, and on white, grey, red or light blonde hair.
Verdict - Should You Buy It?
With a 300,000 flash lifespan, Precision head attachment and range of power and speed modes, the IPL LUXE 8500 has plenty going in its favour. It’s not the cheapest model around, and we’d recommend also considering the Philips Lumea range if you’re spending at this price point.
Where to Buy
Remington IPL LUXE 8500 Review
Amazon
