olivetalks

Yesterday I received the Rio Salon Laser Scanning Hair Remover (LAHS). I have not tried it yet. Before deciding to buy it I checked out Amazon pages and other places where people commented on the machine. I found lots of mixed reviews. Although some users said they would share their experiences with the device, I could not find any entries for long-term use of the Rio machine. So I have decided to make a log of how often do I use it, any results (or not) that I see, etc, over a 6 month period. Maybe with this log-blog, I will help other people interested in it decide if it’s worth the money or not (including my siblings and my mother!). Now, I intend to log it for 6 months, for two reasons: 1. they do say in the instructions it takes a few months/applications to see “real” results; 2. that’s how long I have before I’ll be going to the beach to suntan

So, shall we start with day 1?

Things you might need to know, to be able to see if my results could apply to you:

1. According to the skin types and recommendations of the machine, I would say I am… between two skin types. It says:
   • Type III: Fair to light olive: burns mildly, tans slowly
   • Type IV: Olive to brown: rarely burns, tans with ease

   hmmm… now Type III, says maximum power level 5, while Type IV says up to power level 3. Just to start on the safe side, I will use Power Level 3 today.

2. I am going to start with two areas of about 8×8 cm².
3. Amount of hair… about 2 hairs per square centimeter, which might not sound like much, but man they’re black! (ok, a bit embarrassed here, so I reeeeeally hope someone finds this log-blog useful!).
4. The hairs will have to be trimmed to 2-3 mm as the instructions say, before I can start.

And I think that’s it at the moment! I’m going to publish this blog and will add my first impressions after the session.

First impressions:

I have just finished the first session. I have lasted around 15 minutes. As I said, I have used Power Level 3. Note for people who don’t read the instructions fully before using a new “toy” (like me): there is a code to be entered in the machine before it will work, and it’s not in the quick instructions page, but the “Information Guide”. First impressions then:

• I shaved quickly before using the laser machine with one of those B’kini razors which I don’t think was such a good idea. Basically either the hairs remaining were too short or too long. So next time I will shave with one of those creams 3 or 4 days before the day I intend to use the laser machine again, so by “day 2″ of this log-blog, I will have 3 mm-long hairs.
• I found it hard to know were had I been already. Next time, I will try to be less all over the place and follow a regular pattern. I mean, the actual laser area is 7 mm x 5 mm… now that’s small, and it’s in the middle of a larger plastic handle which does not allow to aim that well. As I said, though, it would help to follow a more regular pattern than what I did: now here, now there, now…
• Although at some point it did smell a bit of burnt skin, I did not have any burning sensation. I did notice, though, the “pin prick”, almost every time. Just startled me a bit, but not really painful.

Overall, not difficult to use, but unsure if I used it correctly, due to it’s small laser area. I think I will try again next week, depending on if I see any skin redness or not (none so far). I might even increase the test area! See you next week!

PS. ZoltarStark was kind enough to offer 3 hairs (yes, THREE) to complement this log-blog’s study of the effectiveness of the Rio Laser Machine. As he is a lot whiter than me, we used Power Level 5. After trimming the hairs to 2mm in length, I applied the Laser in Scanning Mode to the areas (2 hairs on the left arm, 1 on the right arm). Notes on the small-scale test:

• ZoltarStark did not feel the “pin prick”.
• With the Laser in Scan Mode, I once aimed completely at the wrong place. No way I would be able to use the Laser in Single-hair mode. I wonder if the DVD that comes with the box explains how can you aim exactly where you want to.

“Rio Laser Hair Remover” does it work? - continue reading >>