A salon IPL course costs £200 to £500 per body area. Handsets run from about £60 to £400. Most of the difference is marketing. Here’s what actually decides whether it works for you.
It only works if the light can find the hair
IPL sends a short pulse of light into the skin. The pigment in the hair absorbs it and the follicle takes the heat. That’s the whole mechanism, so contrast matters: darker hair on lighter skin is the easy case. Very light blonde, grey and red hair give the light little to grab. Very dark skin tones absorb too much of it, which is why a decent handset has a skin-tone sensor that refuses to flash when it isn’t safe. Tattoos are out for the same reason. If that’s you, don’t buy one, from us or anyone.
It’s a routine, not a one-off
Hair grows in cycles and a flash only reaches the hairs that are growing that week. That’s why every handset on the market asks for weekly sessions over roughly 2 months before you judge it. If you know you won’t sit down once a week, save your money. If you will, one leg fits in an ad break.
What it actually feels like
A warm snap, not a sting. Gentler than waxing. Start on the lowest level and move up only when you’re comfortable. Our handset has 5 levels and the sensor, so the setting stays in your hands. Safety glasses come in the box and you should wear them.
£10 off applied at checkout. 8-week results guarantee. Free GB delivery.
The 2 modes matter more than the flash count
Handsets love to advertise flash counts in the hundreds of thousands. What you’ll notice day to day is whether it has an auto-flash mode for big areas like legs and a manual mode for edges like the face, underarms and bikini line. Ours has both. It’s mains powered too, 22W through a UK three-pin adapter, so there’s no battery to charge or lose halfway through a session. It weighs 161g.
What the research says, and what it doesn’t
Home-use IPL has been studied in peer-reviewed journals for over 15 years. The results below are for the devices in those studies, not for Clarty, and we’d rather you read them than take our word for it.
- Town G, et al. “Hair removal with a novel, low fluence, home-use intense pulsed light device.” Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1080/14764170902792199
- Haedersdal M, et al. “A systematic review of light-based home-use devices for hair removal and considerations on human safety.” Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3083.2011.04353.x
- Town G, et al. “Guidelines on the safety of light-based home-use hair removal devices from the European Society for Laser Dermatology.” Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3083.2011.04406.x
Always read the user manual before first use.
Read the guarantee before the price
Any handset can promise results on the box. Ask what happens if it doesn’t work for you. Ours is simple: use Clarty once a week for 8 weeks and if your regrowth isn’t slower, email us with your order number and send it back, used, for a full refund. That sits on top of 14-day change-of-mind returns and your statutory rights.
Delivery is free across Great Britain. We dispatch in 1 to 3 working days and delivery takes 5 to 10 working days, so this isn’t a next-day purchase. Plan for it.
One handset, no course fees
Clarty is £129.99, with £10 off applied automatically at checkout, so you pay £119.99. In the box: the handset, safety glasses, skin scraper, UK power adapter and an English user manual. It was started by Jane, a beautician from Surrey, after years of watching clients pay salon prices for the same light.
£10 off applied at checkout. 8-week results guarantee. Free GB delivery.