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Maybe you’ve thought, “Should I just invest in one of those at-home laser hair removal devices and be done with shaving”? I surely did when struggling with stubble appearing over night and random chin hairs popping up at inconvenient times – thank hormones. But I didn’t want glossy before-and-afters from an advert, I figured you’d need to see real results before committing to buy.

 

 

So, I used the €700 Currentbody Laser Hair Removal Device on only one side of my body for six months, keeping the other untouched. Same skin, same hair, same hormones — just one difference: the device. And the results… see for yourself.

 

 

What the Currentbody Laser Hair Removal Device claims

At-home laser hair removal for long-lasting results.

• At-home laser hair removal technology, suitable for use across all key areas
• Reduce hair count by 82% in 8 weeks
• 93% of users noticed slower hair growth after just 4 weeks
• Large treatment area lets you treat key concern areas in under 2 minutes
• Ice Cooling Technology for painless hair removal

 

Facts about the Currentbody Laser Hair Removal Device

Prize and size

One device (the box contains the device, a power cord and the user manual) is available for 699,99 € on the website here.

 

 

What is the difference between Laser Hair Removal and IPL?

While IPL is often referred to as “at home laser hair removal”, there is a distinct difference between laser and IPL. The reason this matters: if you’ve tried IPL before and been underwhelmed, laser might give you better results… though there’s an important limitation for at-home use.

Laser uses a single wavelength, in this case 810 nm, that delivers a targeted beam, whereas IPL uses different wavelengths and targets a larger area.

The basic principle of how they work is the same though: The melanin in the hair follicle absorbs the energy of the light impulse, heating up and damaging the follicle, sending the hair in the resting phase. The benefit of doing that with a laser means you get more heat in the follicle because it is targeted, the downside is that you don’t get as many hairs simultaneously with one flash because again, more targeted.

Lasers can also be adapted in their wavelength to carter to deeper skin tones.

When looking online you’ll often see the claim that „laser is more effective, permanently destroying the follicle”, but here’s the catch: while professional lasers can destroy follicles permanently, at-home devices — even lasers — are dialled down for safety, and that means… yes, less power, and usually less dramatic results.

 

 

How to use the Currentbody Laser Hair Removal Device

Before treating the area you intend to use – any body part is possible, it will work in your groin as well as on your legs, your back or your chin – you need to shave it. Not my favourite task, but it’s essential… and no, you can’t skip it or swap in waxing. The shaving process ensures that the hair is cut right at the surface, so when the laser hits it, it will direct the energy right into the follicle and not on to the surrounding tissue like it would happen with longer hairs lying on the surface of the skin. For the same reason waxing, epilating and plucking won’t work – if you pull the whole hair out, there is no melanin structure left guiding energy to the follicle. Currentbody recommends to stop waxing or plucking at least six weeks beforehand to ensure sufficient regrowth.

After shaving you plug in the device and push the button on the back. This one button controls everything – you turn on and off with it, but you also set the intensity that is visualised by six different lights on the back here. Pushing it once will prompt the device to start, which you can hear, and the lights on the back to flash. Once they are settled and only one is left on, you press the button again to amp up the intensity – six is the maximum you can go – and then double click the button to start the process. The light at the front will change to blue and all you have to do now is press the device down on the area you want to treat. There is a skin sensor making sure it only flashes when it is in close contact with skin that is appropriate for being treated with it. At least according to Currentbody, I haven’t tried it on really deep skin to see if it would flash anyway. You can both see the flash and hear the beep that indicates it was successful, it starts once in contact with the skin without the need to press a button again.

If you want to, you can keep dragging the device over the area you plan to treat, but I personally preferred lifting it off in kind of a stamping technique. I just felt I had more control over where I treated. The slender head makes it easy to wield even on trickier body parts, but the flat treatment area works best on flat surfaces. Anywhere you need to follow curves and gentle folds, it can get a little tricky to get the head to close in completely. If you’ve ever tried getting perfect contact on the knee or bikini line, you’ll know it’s… let’s just say, a little dance with the device.

Now, if you’re worried about it feeling hot, it does warm up — but never to the point of discomfort for me. I treated exclusively my left arm pit so I could compare hair growth to my untreated right one and my bikini area, and while one arm pit was done in around 2 minutes, the bikini area took longer to cover. I am not sure what exactly they mean by “let’s you treat key concern areas in under 2 minutes”, but would assume that should you treat larger areas like legs or back, you’d need around ten minutes for each of them.

When starting the device, three session per week are recommended, once you hit week four you can reduce that to once a week, which is recommended you keep up for twelve weeks in total. After that upkeep depends on the results you had. While the claim is “permanent full-body hair removal” on the website, the actual results reported can vary. I will touch on the possible reasons for that in a bit.

 

 

Technical details of the Currentbody Laser Hair Removal Device

Here’s where we see why home devices often give more modest results: The laser has a wavelength of 810 nm, which is what is commonly used for laser hair removal.

According to the manufacturer it has a maximum energy output of up to 7 J/cm². That paired with the treatment area of 30 mm x10 mm comes to a maximum energy of 21 J.

With Diode lasers used in professional settings like a doctors office, the Fluence or the J/cm² are for Fitzpatrick Type 1-2 between 25 to 40 J/cm², gradually reducing in intensity for deeper skin tone. But even for Fitzpatrick V-VI it would be 10-25 J/cm².

Compared to that, the 7 J/cm² are quite low, especially when used on light skin.

Which makes perfect sense: I know I am repeating myself here, but at home devices are always designed with safety as main concern. You need to make sure that even if they don’t stick to the instructions, the risk of customers harming themselves is negligible, which of course goes at the expense of effectiveness.

 

 

What can I expect when using any light based at home hair removal device?

We already established that we need the energy applied to heat up the melanin in the hair follicle, either destroying it or putting it in the resting phase, the phase where it sits dormant in the follicle. So over time hair growth will slow, get less dense and ideally halt altogether, leaving you with smooth and stubble free skin for prolonged periods, with only an occasional touchup needed. The frequency of these touchups generally speaking seems to be reduced when using laser as opposed to when using IPL. But if you’re imagining six months later tossing your razor in the bin forever — that’s… probably not the reality for most of us.

How good the results are that you as individual get depends on how well you are suited to this kind of treatment, meaning how high the contrast between your hair and your skin is. Pale skin with thick, dark hair works best, while darker skin and light hair will not see the same results.

Now because I – and probably you as well – are at the age where due to hormonal changes random hairs start to grow in weird places, I had a look at the effect of laser hair removal on growth caused by hormonal imbalances, usually Polycyctic Overian Syndrom. The effectiveness here largely depends on the contrast as well, but is also heavily influenced by the treatment of the underlying hormonal changes. As long as they persist, the hair growth will most likely only be partially reduced, not stopped altogether. And if you’re post-menopause and wondering if this will deal with those wiry chin hairs that seem to appear overnight… I have to be honest, the science isn’t on our side, especially as those often lack the meaning to absorb the energy.

I personally am not the ideal candidate because my skin is pale, but the hair on my body isn’t black, but more of a brown. Or increasingly grey.

But within individual differences a realistic experience would be a noticeable reduction in hair loss and an increased time span between necessary hair removal sessions. Currentbody claims up to 82% of reduction in hair growth within the first 8 weeks.

 

 

My six months results

So, six months of consistent use later… was it worth the money?

I only treated my left arm pit to be able to compare even minor changes in hair growth to the right one. In the beginning, for around the first eight weeks, I kept up the 3 times a week frequency and afterwards reduced to once, occasionally twice a week, taking only one break when we went on holiday to Mallorca in June.

The pictures I am showing you here are taken six months apart, each time after stopping to shave for two weeks. As you can see, there are a few patches where hair growth is substantially reduced and other areas where it remains unchanged. In total hair growth is also slower than it is on the opposite arm pit, but not in a drastic way – I can go about two days longer without feeling the need to shave, not weeks.

So what are possible explanations for these mixed results.

First: The technical build of the device. Had I opted for a higher energy device in a doctors office, the results would most likely have been better. Although even there, 100% satisfaction can’t be guaranteed.

Second: My hair and skin type. While my skin is ideal in paleness, my hair isn’t as dark as it used to be. Some hairs are grey, on these the device won’t really work, and some are more of a brownish color. If my hair was darker, it would most likely have been more effective.

B: As you can see I have a birthmark in my left arm pit, and around that one hair growth is less affected than it is on the upper part. That is because you shouldn’t use the device on birthmarks or other more melanated parts of your skin, meaning I had to be extra careful and probably wasn’t able to get all the hairs I would otherwise have.

If you have very pale skin and very dark hair, this could be a good investment — but for most of us, especially with lighter or greying hair, the results will likely be modest.

So are these results worth the money and effort? Seeing the results after six months, I am not sure if I would have spent the money. While I do see improvement, it isn’t the breathtaking transformation I had hoped for. As the process is absolutely painless and doesn’t require more effort than shaving (what I’d do anyway) and plugging in the device, I will for sure keep using it.

How would you feel?

 

 

Shop Currentbody Devices here

 

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