What happens when a Weekly Obsession becomes much more? Well, one of our weekly obsession’s from back in the Spring of 2013 was the mē smooth and I’m still in love with it, but now it has even more to entice you into purchasing one. This amazing device by Syneron Beauty Inc., a subsidiary of Syneron Medical Ltd., is an at-home hair removal system system powered by patented elōs technology, which combines Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radio Frequency (RF) energies to selectively target hair follicles and deliver heat deep into the dermis of the skin (FYI: the connective tissue layer of the skin located below the epidermis, containing nerve endings, sweat and sebaceous glands, and blood and lymph vessels). By doing this, it inhibits hair growth. Legs can be treated in as little as ten minutes, your bikini zone in two minutes, and your armpits in just 60 seconds! The treatments are fast and easy, and most importantly, effective and safe on all skin tones from fair to dark. At the editor’s event, a lot of emphasis was put on the fact that people with deep skin tones have had issues with pulsed light in the past, because some devices have caused de-pigmentation of the skin deeper skin. The mē smooth could really be a boon for this particular population, because it is the first at-home device to be FDA cleared as safe and effective to treat all skin tones —and in just 7 weeks! ,
For those with light skin and hair, the treatment is actually more challenging, but my personal experience with the product was a good one. I did see a reduction in hair growth and in how fast it grew back as long as I continued to use it regularly, but like most things, I got distracted, traveled a lot, and simply stopped using it. That is not the fault of the machine, of course. When I received the new attachments, which I’ll be telling you about in literally, seconds, I fired up the machine again, and once again, was surprised and delighted with the results.
I have been chatting up this incredible device ever since I saw it demonstrated months ago. Some technology is really magical. Me smooth is simply amazing!
At the time I wrote my initial review in May 2013 (read the original advicesisters review for detailed information about Me Smooth) , the device hadn’t been cleared for use on the face. But in the last couple of months, there have been exciting new developments! The device is now clinically proven effective on the widest range of hair colors and has been approved for use on the face. And now, there are some attachments including a precision applicator that let you to treat small, targeted areas, and there’s also an epilator to optimize treatment on light hair.
For women who have to wax, pluck or pull annoying facial hairs, the news that the same effective device that they can use on the rest of their body can also be used to reduce and remove facial hair, is welcome use. Clinical investigator, Dr. Jerome M. Garden, MD, Professor of Clinical Dermatology at Northwestern University and Director of Physicians, Laser & Dermatology Institute in Chicago states: “During the clinical trials, the mē smooth hair removal device demonstrated a high safety and efficacy profile for facial treatments. There was no increased risk with use of the device on the face compared to other body sites. Hair reduction was very favorable with completion of the treatment protocol, demonstrating a real value in using of the mē device for facial hair removal on all skin types.” A new Precision Adaptor accessory for the system allows for targeted treatments, enabling consumers to easily spot treat small areas on their face around moles and lips as well as any hard to treat areas on the body.
Another improvement to the mē smooth system has to do with the preparation of the skin. Previously, you had to remove the hair from the area you were planning to treat (e.g. by shaving it) before using the mē smooth to ensure that the device had the closest connection to the skin as possible. Now, there are two new attachments, a shaver and a mē Epilator, that enable you to remove the hair from the surface of the skin you want to treat, as you are treating it. The new attachments slip on and off with ease, and are activated with a button on the top panel of the device itself called “epilator/shaver.” The precision adaptor accessory doesn’t have any moving parts, it just has a smaller window to concentrate the light pulses and works just like the original mē smooth head does. All are quite fabulous.
Alas, the Shaver is designed to prepare the skin for dark haired users, while the device’s new Epilator attachment prepares the skin for fair-haired people to help optimize their results. Since I have fair skin and hair, I had to opt for the epilator, and I’m not a big fan of these. Most of them are quite painful, and while I’ve reported on plenty of them for advicesisters.net all of them irritate my sensitive skin and my low threshold for pain. However, there are plenty of other women for whom epilation is almost painless or completely painless, so the epilator might be a boon for you. I tried it on various areas of my body, and on my legs it wasn’t a problem, but on my under-arms and other areas where there is less “padding” I would personally use the mē smooth without this new attachment and just continue to remove the hair in that area, first. But I really did like the convenience of the all in one hair removal/treatment option that makes the entire process faster and more convenient. Why did the fair skinned/hair people have to be the ones that need to use the epilator?!
Accessories for the device include:
- NEW Precision Adaptor Accessory ($50): Makes it easy to treat small areas or areas that require precise targeting
- NEW Epilator Accessory ($50): Recommended for fair-haired individuals to prepare their skin and optimize treatments
- Shaver Accessory ($50): Recommended for medium to dark-haired individuals to prepare their skin for treatment
The cost of the actual mē smooth device retails is $395.00 and an elōs Replacement Cartridge is available separately for $50.00. Each of the elos cartridges give you up to 6,000 pulses, which seems like a lot, until you realize how much area you have to cover on body parts like legs, to get results. But in-salon hair removal is a lot more, and you don’t get to do it in the privacy, convenience and comfort of your own home. Also, you can share the unit (just get different elos heads for your friends/family) so that brings the cost down. And, of course, you get to keep it. The mē smooth is one of those “modern miracles” that if you can afford it, can really make life easier. Now, with the new features, it’s even better.
mē smooth is available at prestige beauty retailers including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus, Space NK and Ulta Stores. You can also visit www.mePower.com and QVC
ABOUT SYNERON BEAUTY; Syneron Beauty is a pioneer in the design, development and distribution of energy-based consumer aesthetic products. The Company’s products are based on clinically proven technologies derived from the professional medical aesthetic device market, enabling patients to achieve professional-like results in an at-home setting. Syneron Beauty currently markets the me™ brand of home-use hair removal systems, the Pearl™ family of teeth whitening products and the Tanda™ family of home-use light therapy products. Syneron Beauty is based in New York and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ: ELOS).
