TRIED&TESTED | Philips Lumea for the hair down there

This week, fearless Ali Taylor tries at-home laser hair removal for the pages of beautywoome.com. Find out if you can fry your follicles while having a cuppa in your kitchen or if, indeed, it's best done under a doctor's supervision!

SO, PHILIPS LUMEA is a home laser hair removal device. I tested it over an eight-week period – one session per fortnight - under the supervision of the lovely Philips people. The way it works? Well, it’s startlingly simple. There is a screen – like a mini TV screen - which houses the Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology at the end of the curvaceous L-shaped hand-held. You press the screen against your skin and work your way through the affected area bit by bit, zapping as you go.  It feels a little hot, or like the feeling of an elastic band pinging against your skin, but not what you’d call painful. And let’s face it, when it comes to hair removal; no pain no gain, eh?

We were instructed to shave before the first session so that you can apply the laser to a clean area. I wasn’t too happy about this – through bitter experience I’m a waxer when it comes to the bikini area; shaving is rash central for me. I went ahead though and was excited to see the results. It took less than ten minutes to do my bikini line. You pick a setting according to your skin and hair colour (there are five settings) and can adjust them as you go depending on how sensitive the area is. You literally press ONE button before moving onto the next bit. It’s unbelievably easy and, of course, mess free.

I inspected the area closely over the next week and sure enough the hair started to grow back pretty much as normal but this is usual, apparently. Between session two and three, though, there was a massive difference. I had very patchy re-growth and nowhere near the discomfort you usually experience from shaving ‘down there’. It was amazing – I was excited... Is that sad?

By the last session, week four, there was virtually no re-growth and I used my final fling to really give that sucker a good going over. It’s not stayed completely hair free in the past four weeks but the re-growth has been minimal and not an, erm, patch on what it would normally be like. I reckon two more sessions would see the back of it for good. Now that is really something – and just in time for holiday season.

Hair removal nirvana, needless to say, doesn’t come cheap. It’ll set you back £399 (buy at Boots, John Lewis or Amazon) but compare this to the amount spent on waxing over the years and how much it would cost for a similar treatment in a salon, it’s not bad at all.

For more info on how it stops the hair from growing, see British Beauty Blogger's review in The Telegraph here.

I will be investing.

5 WAYS TO | Dry shampoo

1 | Oscar Blandi has a powder, non-aerosol version that smells of fresh lemons. The powder ingredient is rice starch instead of the traditional talc so it's finer, doesn't cake on the scalp and is better for you. Rub a bit between your fingers, rub your fingers through your roots and you're set.

2 | Psssssst! is a throwback from the 70s. An original and it's back in circulation, being sold in pocket-sized containers at checkout in drugstores in the US. We can't guarantee an ingredient list as crunchy and wholesome as some of the others on the list but if you're in a pinch, it'll do the trick.

3 | Batiste is probably the cheapest of the lot along with the resuscitated Psssssst! brand. Works a treat in an aerosol can and reminds most women of younger days. They've recently created a colour dry shampoo range that would give Bb dry shampoo a run for its money. I loved the brown one although it smelled a bit like the Ojon dry shampoo (which smells way too much like Thierry Mugler's strangler of a scent, Angel).

4 | Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo is aerosol like Bb and Batiste but feels lighter than both. It leaves your hair softer and a bit less matte than the others. Good if you're not looking for a ton of volume (which dry shampoos handsomely provide).

5 | Lulu Organics has an ingredient list that reads like a shopping list for a baking experiment. It's pretty straight forward and, as the brand implies, organic. You could probably eat it if you wanted to: organic corn starch, white clay, baking soda, organic rice powder, organic horsetail powder, organic essential oils. And it's talc free.

Others we use: Bb dry shampoo can be good if you want to brighten up your hair or hide roots because of the coloured powder. However, don't wear it if you're going to be sweating or you'll have streaks down your forehead.