Lumea 8000 Series IPL Hair Removal Device - Laser Hair Removal Alternative, SenseIQ Technology, 4 Attachments for Body, Face, Bikini and Underarms, Satin Compact Pen Trimmer, Model BRI949/00

I have been using this for a few months and have had great results. Before I would have to shave my legs every couple of days but now even after 2 weeks there is hardly any growth. I have dark hair and pale skin so it works well for me. For other areas like underarms and bikini line it has also reduced the hair growth a lot but there are some patches that have not yet gone completely. I find the device easy to use and it is not painful compared to other methods of hair removal. I looked at a few different options before purchasing and I am very happy with my choice.

After years of shaving, my wife and I decided to invest in the Philips Lumea Series 8000. My wife has very little body hair, so I'll be sharing this review from my own perspective. To be honest, I was initially sceptical about how effective an IPL device could be, especially compared to professional treatments. However, after consistent use over the past 4 months, I can confidently say it has surpassed my expectations. I began by treating my back (4 months ago) and expanded to my chest and stomach (about 2 months ago). The manufacturer recommends using the device every 2 weeks for the first few sessions, then switching to monthly maintenance. I followed this guidance quite closely. Effectiveness The results have been impressive. I have fair skin and dark hair, which is considered an ideal combination for IPL treatments, so that likely worked in my favour. Even after the very first session, I noticed a visible reduction in hair density. Of course, don’t expect miracles after just one session — it takes persistence. After completing the recommended initial sessions, I’d estimate that the amount of hair on both my chest and back has been reduced to roughly 20% of what it was originally. Some hairs remain stubborn, which might be due to either the nature of the hair follicles or the difficulty in targeting certain spots — the device has a relatively small treatment window, making it tricky to cover every area perfectly, especially on the back. Since you need to shave before each session, it’s also hard to visually track which patches still have hair, which could affect targeting. Usability & Comfort Each session for the back or chest/stomach takes me about 30 minutes per area. The treatment itself can sting a bit on the highest intensity setting, particularly in more sensitive spots, but it's tolerable and varies by personal pain threshold. The flash is bright, similar to a old school camera flash, but not bothersome if you’re mindful. Maintenance & Long-Term Use It’s important to understand that IPL isn’t a permanent hair removal solution — and neither is professional laser treatment. You’ll still need top-up sessions every few months to maintain results. The manufacturer suggests touch-ups every 6 months, but I might opt for every 3 months to stay on top of regrowth. Additional Details The product is ready to use out of the box: plug it in and go. It includes 4 specialized attachments for different body areas, a carry pouch (though we just keep it in the box), and the power adapter has a long enough cord to avoid any awkward pulling while using it. Price-wise, it’s certainly an investment, but I’d recommend watching for Black Friday or Prime Day sales — the discounts can make it far more affordable. Final Thoughts Overall, I’m very pleased (as is my wife) with the Philips Lumea Series 8000. It’s convenient, effective (especially if you’re a good candidate with fair skin and dark hair), and much more cost-effective than ongoing salon treatments. Just keep in mind it requires patience and maintenance — but the significant reduction in hair and smoother skin is well worth the effort.

I am a male buyer and I've noticed that there aren't many previews out there for the male audience! I have got a hairy chest and a slightly hairy back. I got tired of it and I wanted to get rid of that hair, thus I decided to give this machine a go. I was rather annoyed to see that the instructions and the app are always referring to the female audience, something that I find a bit outdated nowadays, as I'm pretty sure there are lots of men out there who try this product too. It's been a month since I started the treatment and I can already notice the difference. The hair grows a lot slower and my skin is becoming a lot smoother. At the moment, I can still see patches of hair in different areas of my chest, which grow a lot quicker than the rest, but the treatment isn't over yet. The machine is definitely a bit pricey, but it's worth its money. It's made of strong materials, it looks sturdy and of great quality. It performs great and the intervals between flashes are pretty quick, getting the job done quicker. Is it painful?! It can be! It really depends on what area you're treating, the intensity you use and, of course, your pain tolerance! It arrives with a nice carry on bag, so you can store it and take it with you when you travel. Keep in mind, whenever you go through airport security, you might need to remove it from your bag, because the airport security might need to perform some extra checks on the item. After all, it is a nice product and any men or women are thinking of buying this product, I'd recommend to give it a go!

I had bought an IPL machine twice before from Braun and never really stuck with using them. I found it a faff with all the gels, how long it took to do an area, how hard it was sometimes to get the right contact with the skin so the flash would actually go off, etc. so I got frustrated with the unit and gave up. I was keen to try a different brand and Philips makes good products so I thought I'd give this a go and I also liked that no gels were needed with this. I went for the corded version as anything with a battery in it has a limited lifespan dependent on the battery (ultimately this does too but it will run out when the flashes run out instead of when the battery has gone through all of its possible charge-recharge cycles). Although I did go for corded, it was easier to wield than the Braun ones as I just have to move the actual head instead of having a base unit as well which it's wired into. The different attachments work well. I didn't quite understand why I needed them so wasn't willing to pay more for them but I read this was to get optimal contact in the areas they are meant to treat and ensure the flash goes off and I can say they definitely do their job well. I haven't had anywhere near the kind of nightmare I had with Braun devices not flashing because it wasn't happy with the contact with the skin. I am a wuss when it comes to pain so I want something as pain free as possible (otherwise I'd just wax or something). This doesn't really hurt on most areas e.g. arm, face, etc. but it does hurt a bit where hair is thicker e.g. armpit/bikini. The pain is bearable and just like a snap with a rubber band and a quick flash of warmth, it's a lot more comfortable than the Braun IPL so I prefer it; but, ideally I want zero pain. This time I decided rather than focusing on an entire limb, to focus on small areas I knew I could stick to and keep up with the every 2-4 week routine so e.g. do half an arm instead of a whole one, don't attempt arms and legs at the same time, don't attempt the entire bikini region at the same time as it hurts a bit. This approach has worked well and I've stuck to the routine and now am hair free in many of the areas treated. Note that armpit and bikini areas will take a lot more treatments to become hair free because hair is thicker. Another feature that helps is the slide and flash for quick and easy treatment of larger areas. Overall whilst this is expensive, this is a great product that works well and is worth the time and effort to be hair free and the freedom and confidence that comes with that. It's also a product where a lot more thought has gone into the design and features than Braun so I'd happily buy another Philips IPL machine if this one runs out of flashes before I'm finished with my treatments.

UPDATE 01/2026 I’ve added a video. You can see where I don’t IPL vs where I do with better regrowth than my picture. I did IPL 2 weeks prior to this video on my legs and have not waxed, tweezed or shaved between, this is just how good of a response I’ve had with IPL). Armpits don’t grow anymore after 2nd treatment, unwanted hair has literally gone from face and body, my scars from ingrowns are healing 🥹. It’s changed my life and body routine. Can’t wait to go on anbroad, IPL before I go and not have to care about regrowth!!! All I will say, is each leg takes a good 15-20 minutes and I do have to let it cool down a bit between, but I have chunky muscly legs and big thighs, so prep for a “self care” session when you’re doing bigger areas. My inner thigh is also more sensitive so I turn it down from 4-3. Original post: I have very dark thick fast growing body hair and pretty pale (but do tan well in summer) and struggle with ingrown hairs on inner thighs, back of legs. I started waxing 2 years ago, which helped but even with waxing I have hairs come back 3-4 days later on legs, about same for arm pits and face (under chin, chin, moustache). Problem with waxing is the amount of growth between waxes, and the hair gets thinner, weaker and ingrown hairs become worse as they can’t break the skin, or need heavy exfoliating treatments. (Or at least this is my personal experience). Doctor recommended IPL after I asked what they could assist with and I purchased it Black Friday. What an absolute game changer. I had my last professional wax, and the next day I started IPL treatment. My armpit hair has responded incredibly- 2 weeks and only 3 hairs came back (which was on the outsides where I probably missed). Legs, I can show you a few patches because I have tattoos where I can’t use IPL (do not IPL your tattoos or dark spots!!!). Once the hairs grown a bit more over 2 weeks I’ll try to put up a better picture to show treated vs untreated area. I will also admit that I have hair around my nipples which I find awful. IPL has completely removed the sporadic hairs I used to have to keep plucking. 2 weeks hair free so far around that area. Thats a 100% improvement to pulling a hair every 3-4th day. I was worried about pain, but on strength 4 I only feel warmth. If the device gets quite hot after prolonged use, you can get an occasional sharper warmth but it really is nothing. I simply turn the unit off, to make a drink, and come back. Takes a bit to get used to & learn how much to move the device, but the app has plenty of tips that really helped me. I use my finger to mark and slide up my legs. The app has a schedule in, with full instructions regarding pre care and after care, and reminders for logging your IPL treatment. Every 2 weeks for first 3, then monthly after that. This is due to hair cycle growth and whether you capture all the areas on your flash. It would cost me around £600 a year to get waxed, and I would have growth within 7 days and fight with ingrown, mental health also being a ‘slip n slide’. The 8000 unit cost me £320 on Black Friday and it is the best Doctor recommendation I have ever had. It takes me about 30 minutes to do legs, 10 to do armpits, 2 minutes for face, 2 mins other body parts (ladder, nipples). I don’t have sensitive skin and have had 0 reactions or red marks. I’ve just finished my 2nd treatment and the results are way better than I thought possible. I went for the wired edition, as didn’t want to faff with a charging battery or risk it running out half way. My hair growth was affecting me mentally, and also made me uncomfortable with my partner due to looking like a bear between waxing. No more! New found confidence for less than an hour of my time every 2 weeks.

I hesitated for a while before buying this product, and reading the reviews helped me decide, so here’s mine. Background: I have light skin and black hair. I’ve been using this product for 8 months now and I’m very happy with the results: - Underarms: Hair is almost completely gone. The treatment is quick and easy in this area. - Legs: You need to be very thorough to cover the entire area, and my legs are quite tanned, which I think affects the results slightly. Even so, I’ve seen noticeable improvement, even if the hair isn’t completely gone yet. I don’t find the process too time-consuming: underarms are fast, and legs take longer, but once you get the hang of it, it goes more quickly. The device can get slightly warm after extended use, so I prefer to treat different zones on different days. Overall, I’m very happy with the purchase and would recommend it.

For the price point I was expecting a premium product which just wasn’t the case. The function of it works really well, it zaps hair and it doesn’t grow back for the most part. The problem is that the item is made of the cheapest flimsy plastic. I had to send it off for repair after a couple of months as one of the attachments had a crack in the plastic which was swiftly replaced - that process was easy and efficient to Amazon’s credit. A few months later the same attachment got yet another crack. After the first repair I had been keeping the item in the original box and packaging to try and look after it as carefully as possible, so this was unacceptable. The storage case is an incredibly cheap basic pouch that barely fits everything in. For the money, this simply isn’t good enough. I couldn’t have been more careful and yet it was still getting damaged. I returned the item for a full refund and am now giving the Braun equivalent a go. Don’t waste your money on this brand.

I have been using this for 6 months and I felt that was a good amount of time to wait before leaving a review. I've had good results on my underarms, arms, bikini line and stomach (photos attached of my underarms after not shaving for 1 week and arm of 4 weeks not shaving) - on my stomach it's stopped growing completely, the other places it's mostly gone and doesn't bother me to the point that I shave every fortnight or less. The manual does say that you shouldn't remove hair between laser treatments once you are in the top-up phase, I've found that a fortnight is fine, but more often than that the hair growth increases. It's worked pretty well on my legs, but the hair growth hasn't really stopped on my knees and some random spots. I can still leave it a fortnight between shaves though. It hasn't worked on my face really but I didn't have a lot of hair there anyway. I'm persevering with my chin but a few stubborn hairs are still coming through. Overall I'm glad I invested in this - I don't need to shave as often as I used to and I'm not concious of it being seen. I bought a Used - Like New condition one as well which was £50 cheaper and it's been absolutely fine.