So, I waited a few weeks to give my opinion on the I-Expert IPL, and although I am not at the end of my treatment, I think I have enough experience to give you a good idea of the pros and cons of this IPL.First off, when you get the IPL, it will come in a nice box and is really well packaged… It’s almost like unboxing an iPhone. It comes with the laser unit, 4 heads, the Venus razor and body, and a really nice leather travel case.After unboxing it, it will have you download the Braun IPL app, you will make an account, fill in some information about yourself, then it will have you test your skin color by flashing the laser at a part of your body and having you wait ten minutes to ensure your skin is not hypersensitive and it is actually compatible. You will also set up where you want treatment done and the current hair density.One side note about the IPL, which I thought was a little absurd, is that it has to connect to your phone via Bluetooth AND your internet. If you don’t have internet, it does not work off your cellular connection.Anyway, after getting all set up, it is time to shave. I did treatment on my entire body with the exception of my back (purely because I can’t reach back there and I don’t have a boyfriend to do it for me. Anyway, so I did treatment on my feet, legs, pubic area, glutes, chest, arms, and face, and it took a little while to shave everything (I used to do wax strips, but that doesn’t work for IPL, so it was all new to me). After you have shaved, it’s good to wait 6-12 hours just to let your skin heal and recover before you laser areas you may have damaged from shaving (I have somewhat sensitive skin, so it was critical for me, but not for everyone).Once you are ready for IPL, it is pretty easy; it is just clicking the body parts on your phone, and it will tell you what head to use and what power setting to use. There are three power settings that will affect the power of the laser. I would recommend using level 3 for all general areas, from legs to chest to arms, then use level 2 for your pubic area and face, as it can hurt if you use level 3 on those sensitive areas. This ensures that your treatment is as fast as possible, and it will preserve flashes (I will talk about that later). The only drawback is that you may get Folliculitis (red spots) because you're hitting it with so much.hDuring each section, it will tell you what percentage you are through with that section or the number of flashes used. Once you are done with each section, it will ask you how it felt, etc. In later treatments, it will ask you before each section what the current hair density is to check progress and adjust laser light levels accordingly (this is the Smart IPL feature). During treatment, it will smell like burnt hair; it is burning leftover hair follicles off your body, and it’s okay.After you are all done, you will wait until next week for your next session, and the app will remind you if you have set up notifications, which is pretty cool.The feeling after IPL is really nice. After a day, though, you might feel like your hair is growing back. Don’t worry, though; it actually isn’t… the hair follicles are falling out, which means it is working.After a few days, some of your hair follicles that were dormant will grow back, and this is normal. It takes 6 - 12 weeks to get rid of all of these, but they will be very faint and fine.One of my biggest grievances when using the Braun IPL is that it will tell you multiple times not to overlap flashes. This is sometimes unavoidable to ensure that you're actually hitting all of the spots on your body. The other annoyance is that it tells you very explicitly not to overlap flashes, which is unrealistic, and you will have to get every spot. My last thing that really irritated me is that each device has 400,000 flashes total. Once you reach the flash limit, the device no longer works, and you have to buy a new one. Although 400,000 flashes will get you 5-6 years hair-free, I still think it is ridiculous that the software will no longer let you use it, even if it is fine. They should just have you sign an agreement at the beginning that you cannot sue them if you use it incorrectly.Overall, I LOVE this IPL. I looked at buying it for 2 years, and I finally bit the bullet and bought it… and I have no regrets. It is amazing, I personally would not buy it for $600 full price, as I think it is a bit much. I got it for $480, and I think it is worth it.
