Post-Lumea care | Philips (2024)

Which area have you treated?

Skin type

How would you describe the skin type of that area?

Skin type

How would you describe the skin type of that area?

Skin type

How would you describe the skin type of that area?

Skin reactions

Did you experience any of the following aspects?

Skin reactions

Did you experience any of the following aspects?

Skin reactions

Did you experience any of the following aspects?

Residual

Did you noticed any dirt or hair residuals on the device after use?

Residual

Did you noticed any dirt or hair residuals on the device after use?

Residual

Did you noticed any dirt or hair residuals on the device after use?

Device heating

Did your device felt hot after your treatment?

Device heating

Did your device felt hot after your treatment?

Device heating

Did your device felt hot after your treatment?

After care

After using Lumea, your skin may appear slightly red and/or may prickle. This reaction usually disappear quickly. Some women describe the IPL treatment as creating a warm, tingly or prickly sensation. In most cases these sensations disappear within a few minutes. You may notice more discomfort and sensitivity after applying an IPL treatment in delicate areas. The skin of the underarms or intimate areas is generally thinner and less taut compared to the legs.

In the first 24-48 hours after applying an IPL treatment, you should avoid sunbathing, very hot baths, and perfumed body lotions and crèmes as the skin can become easily irritated.

If you experience rare side effects such as excessive redness, skin discoloration or blistering - please consult the user manual. Please note that a Lumea treatment should never be painful. If you experience discomfort, reduce the light intensity setting of your Lumea to make the treatment more comfortable. Additionally, we recommend you also do a skin test before your next treatment.

Applying lotions

If you experience skin irritation or skin redness after your IPL treatment, we advise you to wait until these subside before applying any products to your skin.

When the skin feels normal, you can apply your favorite lotion, moisturizer or cosmetic to the treated areas. There is no harm in moisturizing your skin. Deodorant can normally used on your treated skin. However, you should be careful with aggressive deodorants, as your skin might be a little more sensitive to perfumes or other ingredients in the deodorant.

Some products might contain perfumes or other irritating ingredients. In case you experience skin irritation after applying a specific product to your skin, wash it off with water. To prevent irritation, you may plan your Lumea treatment in the evening. In this way, your skin can rest a full night before you go out and apply your lovely cosmetics.

Even when you follow all instructions, it is still possible that you get a skin reaction. In this case, we advise you to stop using the device and contact the consumer care center.

Sunbathing

Philips Lumea can be used throughout the whole year, including the summer months. It is perfectly fine to have some sunlight on your skin from being outside after you have applied a Lumea treatment. There are however, precautions to be taken before and after tanning. These recommendations are for both natural sunlight and artificial light (such as tanning bed). Occasional and indirect sun exposure does not qualify as tanning.

Sun bathing after using Lumea

Directly after using Philips Lumea, your skin will be more sensitive. Therefore, we recommend you to wait at least 24 hours or until all redness has disappeared before exposing treated areas to the sun.

In the first 48 hours after your Lumea treatment, we suggest to cover treated areas when you go out into the sun or to use a sunblock of SPF 50 or higher. As your skin is more sensitive to sunlight, be careful not to get any sunburns. For two weeks after your Lumea treatment, we recommend to use a sunblock of SPF 30 or higher when sun bathing.

Using Lumea after sun bathing

Make sure you never use Lumea on sunburned skin for as long as the sunburn persists.

As tanning influences the sensitivity and color of your skin, we advise you to wait at least 2 weeks after tanning before using Lumea. When your skin has been exposed to the sun significantly, a skin test can help you determine which setting is most suitable for your current skin conditions. Even a slight tan can cause your skin to react differently to a Lumea treatment. When doing a skin test, select the highest setting that still feels comfortable, and that did not show any skin reactions after 24 hours. For detailed instructions, consult the chapter 'Skin test‘ in your user manual.

Moisturizing

A dry skin is a skin type that produces less sebum than a normal skin. Very dry skin occurs when the natural process in which skin cells are created, sloughed away and replaced in the top layer of your skin is disturbed.

Many people experience dry skin, which can be amplified by harsh weather conditions, when you use harsh soaps, frequent showering or bathing, or certain medical conditions. Moisturizers can help to rehydrate the top layer of your skin cells and seal them. Did you know that most moisturizers do not actually add moisture to the skin? They actually seal in existing water so it does not evaporate. Do not accept rough or itchy skin, as moisturizers can help you to protect the outermost layer of your skin from external factors. When you have a very dry skin, we recommend moisturizing your skin two or three times a day.

If you want to pamper your skin after your Lumea treatment, please do so. You may use your favorite lotion, cream or cosmetic. Moisturizers come in many forms, depending on the lipid to water ratio. For people with dry or sensitive skin we advise to use a cream or ointment that has a slightly ‘thicker’ structure and feels a bit greasier. You could even consider a body butter that penetrates deeper into your skin than a lotion and therefore intensively cares for and hydrates your dry skin.

If your skin is sensitive, choose a soft, scent-free cream or ointment as chemically added scents may irritate sensitive skin. Be careful with products that contain perfumes in general. In case you experience any irritation after applying a specific product to your skin, wash it off with water to calm down the skin. Let your skin rest, and wait a couple of hours before you apply any other cosmetics to your skin.
The heat that is generated by the light flashes of Lumea can sometimes cause skin to feel extra dry and itchy. If you already have a dry skin type, the heat generated by the Lumea treatment can amplify the dryness, and induce redness. To avoid further intensifying this effect you should also try to avoid sunbathing, hot and/or very long baths, synthetic clothing, and perfumed creams. The pre-treatment method you use might also have an effect the (de)hydration of your skin.

If you experience severe dryness or itchiness after your Lumea treatment, you can cool the area after your treatment with an ice pack or a wet face cloth. Alternatively, store your moisturizer or Aloe Vera in the fridge to give a soothing cooling sensation while moisturizing your dry skin after a Lumea treatment. This help the skin to calm down quickly. You can also consider buying a mild balm especially for more delicate areas, which contains soothing ingredients such as Aloe Vera.

Prevent any skin reactions

DiscomfortA Lumea treatment should never be painful. If you experience any discomfort, change the way you are using your Lumea device. Below we give a few tips:

If you are not using your Lumea in the correct way, pain may be experienced during or after treatment. Examples of incorrect usage include: Flashing the same area repeatedly, using Lumea on open wounds, inflammations, infections, tattoos, sun burned skin, etc., or using Lumea at a light intensity that is too high for your skin tone. To make sure that you know how your skin reacts, perform a skin test on each area to be treated. This skin test is necessary to check your skin's reaction to the IPL treatment and to determine the preferable light intensity setting for each body area separately.

Over the course of applying a Lumea treatment, you might notice the treatment window on your Lumea getting warm, which can create an unpleasant sensation of extra heat on the skin. As skin sensitivity varies quite a bit between different body parts, we advise you to start your Lumea treatment on the most sensitive areas (e.g. bikini or underarm) while the device is relatively cooler, and save the larger body areas until last. As the skin in some areas is much more sensitive, you can imagine that the sensation of extra heat can be unpleasant in these areas.

SensitivityThe sensation of a Lumea treatment on your skin might vary greatly between different body areas. This is due to varying skin thickness and coarseness of hairs in different body areas.

There are certain times when your skin might feel more sensitive than usual during your Lumea treatment, for example, when weather conditions change of when the color of your skin changes due to sun exposure. If you experience any discomfort using the device, the light intensity setting you are using might be too high. Check that you are using a light intensity setting that still feels comfortable on your skin. If necessary, select a lower setting.

Please also make sure that you are not using the device on areas, which the device is not intended to be used. Never use the device on the inner labia, anus, nipples, areolas, lips, moles, freckles, tattoos, piercings, inside the nostrils and ears, around the eyes and near the eyebrows. Men must not use it on the face and neck including the beard area to avoid a painful experience.

Clean & hair-free skin

In case a flash hurts in a very specific place, make sure you have removed all hairs on the surface of your skin in the areas to be treated. It is necessary to pretreat your skin before you use Lumea, as any residual hairs can cause a painful experience. This is because all the energy from the light pulse will be absorbed by the residual hairs on the surface of the skin, which can create a very hot or even burning sensation on that surface of the skin. Moreover, removing all superficial hairs allows the energy to be absorbed by the hair root, which ensures a more effective treatment. You can either shave, epilate or wax. Do not use depilatory creams, as chemicals may cause skin reactions.

Side effects

If you use your Lumea according to instructions, you should not experience any serious side effects. However, you might experience some minor skin reactions like redness or warmth. This is normal and should disappear quickly. During your Lumea treatment, your skin may feel warm, itchy, or you may experience a burning or tingling sensation. Again, this is normal the sensation disappears shortly after treatment. Please read in the chapter on moisturizing how to take care of your skin when you experience dryness, itchiness or redness. In case you experience any other side effect, please read the user manual carefully and follow the instructions.

Cleaning and storage

Cooling the device

When you have finished your Lumea treatment, the device might have become very warm. Simply: the longer you use your Lumea, the hotter it gets. Due to the large amount of energy that is required to produce the light flash, the device heats up internally. In some cases, especially when the external temperature is already a bit warmer, you will hear the fan of the device, that is running overtime to keep all the components cool and up and running.

Apart from the bright flash, which feels already warm to your skin, you might also notice extra heat coming from the treatment window. If the heat feels unpleasantly warm, you can decide to pause the treatment and let the device cool down before continuing. Start your treatment with the most delicate areas to ensure the most comfortable treatment experience.

Cleaning the device

Ensure that the device - especially the treatment window - is completely cooled down before cleaning and storage. Do not touch the treatment window right after you have finished your treatment, as it can become very hot!

Cleaning can be done with the soft cloth that is supplied with the device. Any other soft cloth can also be used, if you prefer to use your own. Moisten the cloth with a few drops of water. An alternative is to use pre-moistened cleaning wipes with or without a disinfectant. Any residual dirt can cause little burns inside the attachments. In order to properly clean the treatment window, you will first need to remove the attachment. In this way, you can easily reach all the corners.

In case you see any remaining hairs on the attachment and/or treatment window before starting your treatment this should be a trigger for you to clean the device again to ensure there are no remaining dirt. Any hairs that are still present can cause an unpleasant sensation and can lead to a burnt smell during treatment. Most importantly, these little spots can also negatively impact the efficacy of your treatment!

Storage

Once all surfaces of your device are clean, let all parts air dry thoroughly before storage.

You can use either the box or the pouch that is delivered with your Lumea device to store the device neatly between treatments. Did you know the box is specially designed to be solid enough to prevent any damage during transport to the warehouses? If you struggle with the box as being a nice storage solution, we advise you to use the pouch. To get the device into the pouch, make sure that you rotate the device in a way that the device lies in horizontal direction in your pouch, with the treatment window facing the zipper. The attachments can be nicely stored in the little sachets and the adapter can be added at last.

Wherever you decide to store your device, make sure you store the device in a dust-free place that is room temperature, with normal humidity. This will prevent your device from getting damaged and makes sure it will reach the end of its intended life-time.

Charging

The high-end models of Lumea Prestige (BRI95x) offer the possibility to use it both corded and cordless. If you have one of those devices and you prefer to use your Lumea Prestige cordless, make sure you fully charge the batteries before storing the device. Fully charging the batteries takes up to 1 hour and 40 minutes. The charging light will flash white to indicate that the appliance is charging and will light up continuously when the device is fully charged. It is normal that the adapter and/or the device feels warm during charging. In very rare cases, in which the room temperature would exceed 40°C, the device will not charge as it is equipped with battery-overheat protection.

After charging, remove the adapter from the wall socket and pull the small plug out of the device. Store the adapter together with your Lumea device.
Fully charged batteries provide at least 130 flashes at light intensity 5. This is not enough for a full body treatment. Depending on your body size, body shape and hair density, it might not even be sufficient to treat a full leg. We know this is very disappointing. The power required to fire all flashes would require a huge battery resulting in a very heavy and bulky device.

The battery functionality is designed for areas that are difficult to reach. Therefore we recommend you to use the device cordless when you treat your face, underarms or bikini area. This provides you with as much flexibility as possible to choose a position and location where you can effectively carry out your treatment.

When you want to treat larger body areas such as your legs, stomach or arms, we recommend you to use the device corded. Did you know that the device performs the treatment almost twice as fast when it is used corded? Therefore, there is also a huge benefit to using it corded: the faster your treatment, the sooner you can enjoy your hair-free skin!

After care

After using Lumea, your skin may appear slightly red and/or may prickle. This reaction usually disappear quickly. Some women describe the IPL treatment as creating a warm, tingly or prickly sensation. In most cases these sensations disappear within a few minutes. You may notice more discomfort and sensitivity after applying an IPL treatment in delicate areas. The skin of the underarms or intimate areas is generally thinner and less taut compared to the legs.

In the first 24-48 hours after applying an IPL treatment, you should avoid sunbathing, very hot baths, and perfumed body lotions and crèmes as the skin can become easily irritated.

If you experience rare side effects such as excessive redness, skin discoloration or blistering - please consult the user manual. Please note that a Lumea treatment should never be painful. If you experience discomfort, reduce the light intensity setting of your Lumea to make the treatment more comfortable. Additionally, we recommend you also do a skin test before your next treatment.

Applying lotions

If you experience skin irritation or skin redness after your IPL treatment, we advise you to wait until these subside before applying any products to your skin.

When the skin feels normal, you can apply your favorite lotion, moisturizer or cosmetic to the treated areas. There is no harm in moisturizing your skin. Deodorant can normally used on your treated skin. However, you should be careful with aggressive deodorants, as your skin might be a little more sensitive to perfumes or other ingredients in the deodorant.

Some products might contain perfumes or other irritating ingredients. In case you experience skin irritation after applying a specific product to your skin, wash it off with water. To prevent irritation, you may plan your Lumea treatment in the evening. In this way, your skin can rest a full night before you go out and apply your lovely cosmetics.

Even when you follow all instructions, it is still possible that you get a skin reaction. In this case, we advise you to stop using the device and contact the consumer care center.

Sunbathing

Philips Lumea can be used throughout the whole year, including the summer months. It is perfectly fine to have some sunlight on your skin from being outside after you have applied a Lumea treatment. There are however, precautions to be taken before and after tanning. These recommendations are for both natural sunlight and artificial light (such as tanning bed). Occasional and indirect sun exposure does not qualify as tanning.

Sun bathing after using Lumea

Directly after using Philips Lumea, your skin will be more sensitive. Therefore, we recommend you to wait at least 24 hours or until all redness has disappeared before exposing treated areas to the sun.

In the first 48 hours after your Lumea treatment, we suggest to cover treated areas when you go out into the sun or to use a sunblock of SPF 50 or higher. As your skin is more sensitive to sunlight, be careful not to get any sunburns. For two weeks after your Lumea treatment, we recommend to use a sunblock of SPF 30 or higher when sun bathing.

Using Lumea after sun bathing

Make sure you never use Lumea on sunburned skin for as long as the sunburn persists.

As tanning influences the sensitivity and color of your skin, we advise you to wait at least 2 weeks after tanning before using Lumea. When your skin has been exposed to the sun significantly, a skin test can help you determine which setting is most suitable for your current skin conditions. Even a slight tan can cause your skin to react differently to a Lumea treatment. When doing a skin test, select the highest setting that still feels comfortable, and that did not show any skin reactions after 24 hours. For detailed instructions, consult the chapter 'Skin test‘ in your user manual.

Moisturizing

A skin is considered normal when it is well balanced. Skin is constantly renewing itself; a natural process in which skin cells are created in the top layer of your skin. Harsh weather conditions such as very cold, strong winds, heat, or a lot of sun exposure can stress the hydration of your skin. Moisturizers can help to rehydrate the top layer of your skin cells and seal them. Did you know that most moisturizers do not actually add moisture to the skin? They actually seal in existing water so it does not evaporate. To keep your skin smooth and elastic, it is helpful to apply a moisturizer daily that nourishes the top layer of your skin.

Good management of your skin is about forming a routine with products that you know work for you. You can use the most expensive cream in the world but if it isn’t suited to your skin, then it will do more harm than good. If you have a normal skin, the top layer generally retains sufficient moisture. Still there are external conditions in which your skin is challenged, for example by dry winter air, or when you use harsh soaps. A moisturizer can help protect your skin from these external factors by acting as a barrier and protecting your to prevent it from getting rough or itchy.

A Lumea treatment can also be one of the external factors that challenges your skin, and therefore you may need a moisturizing boost. Due to this, we advise to use a thicker cream after your Lumea treatment to hydrate the skin and prevent any dryness. However, if you prefer to use a lighter lotion for example this is also fine! Preferably, choose for a moisturizer that is soft and fragrance free, as chemically added scents may irritate your treated skin. We advise you to be careful with products that contain perfumes in general. If you experience any irritation after applying a specific product to your skin, wash it off with water to calm down the skin. Let your skin rest, and wait a couple of hours before you apply any other cosmetics to your skin.
The heat that is generated by the light flashes of Lumea can cause dry skin that feels itchy. To avoid intensifying this effect you should avoid sunbathing, hot and/or very long baths, synthetic clothing, and perfumed body lotions and creams. When your skin feels unpleasant after your IPL treatment, please make sure you take care of your skin.

If you experience redness, dryness or itchiness after your Lumea treatment, cool the area with an ice pack or a wet face cloth. Alternatively, you can store your moisturizer or Aloe Vera in the fridge to give a soothing cooling sensation while moisturizing your skin after a treatment. This help the skin to calm down quickly. For areas that are more delicate, you could consider buying a mild balm that contains soothing ingredients such as Aloe Vera.

Prevent any skin reactions

DiscomfortA Lumea treatment should never be painful. If you experience any discomfort, change the way you are using your Lumea device. Below we give a few tips:

If you are not using your Lumea in the correct way, pain may be experienced during or after treatment. Examples of incorrect usage include: Flashing the same area repeatedly, using Lumea on open wounds, inflammations, infections, tattoos, sun burned skin, etc., or using Lumea at a light intensity that is too high for your skin tone. To make sure that you know how your skin reacts, perform a skin test on each area to be treated. This skin test is necessary to check your skin's reaction to the IPL treatment and to determine the preferable light intensity setting for each body area separately.

Over the course of applying a Lumea treatment, you might notice the treatment window on your Lumea getting warm, which can create an unpleasant sensation of extra heat on the skin. As skin sensitivity varies quite a bit between different body parts, we advise you to start your Lumea treatment on the most sensitive areas (e.g. bikini or underarm) while the device is relatively cooler, and save the larger body areas until last. As the skin in some areas is much more sensitive, you can imagine that the sensation of extra heat can be unpleasant in these areas.

SensitivityThe sensation of a Lumea treatment on your skin might vary greatly between different body areas. This is due to varying skin thickness and coarseness of hairs in different body areas.

There are certain times when your skin might feel more sensitive than usual during your Lumea treatment, for example, when weather conditions change of when the color of your skin changes due to sun exposure. If you experience any discomfort using the device, the light intensity setting you are using might be too high. Check that you are using a light intensity setting that still feels comfortable on your skin. If necessary, select a lower setting.

Please also make sure that you are not using the device on areas, which the device is not intended to be used. Never use the device on the inner labia, anus, nipples, areolas, lips, moles, freckles, tattoos, piercings, inside the nostrils and ears, around the eyes and near the eyebrows. Men must not use it on the face and neck including the beard area to avoid a painful experience.

Clean & hair-free skin

In case a flash hurts in a very specific place, make sure you have removed all hairs on the surface of your skin in the areas to be treated. It is necessary to pretreat your skin before you use Lumea, as any residual hairs can cause a painful experience. This is because all the energy from the light pulse will be absorbed by the residual hairs on the surface of the skin, which can create a very hot or even burning sensation on that surface of the skin. Moreover, removing all superficial hairs allows the energy to be absorbed by the hair root, which ensures a more effective treatment. You can either shave, epilate or wax. Do not use depilatory creams, as chemicals may cause skin reactions.

Side effects

If you use your Lumea according to instructions, you should not experience any serious side effects. However, you might experience some minor skin reactions like redness or warmth. This is normal and should disappear quickly. During your Lumea treatment, your skin may feel warm, itchy, or you may experience a burning or tingling sensation. Again, this is normal the sensation disappears shortly after treatment. Please read in the chapter on moisturizing how to take care of your skin when you experience dryness, itchiness or redness. In case you experience any other side effect, please read the user manual carefully and follow the instructions.

Cleaning and storage

Cooling the device

When you have finished your Lumea treatment, the device might have become very warm. Simply: the longer you use your Lumea, the hotter it gets. Due to the large amount of energy that is required to produce the light flash, the device heats up internally. In some cases, especially when the external temperature is already a bit warmer, you will hear the fan of the device, that is running overtime to keep all the components cool and up and running.

Apart from the bright flash, which feels already warm to your skin, you might also notice extra heat coming from the treatment window. If the heat feels unpleasantly warm, you can decide to pause the treatment and let the device cool down before continuing. Start your treatment with the most delicate areas to ensure the most comfortable treatment experience.

Cleaning the device

Ensure that the device - especially the treatment window - is completely cooled down before cleaning and storage. Do not touch the treatment window right after you have finished your treatment, as it can become very hot!

Cleaning can be done with the soft cloth that is supplied with the device. Any other soft cloth can also be used, if you prefer to use your own. Moisten the cloth with a few drops of water. An alternative is to use pre-moistened cleaning wipes with or without a disinfectant. Any residual dirt can cause little burns inside the attachments. In order to properly clean the treatment window, you will first need to remove the attachment. In this way, you can easily reach all the corners.

In case you see any remaining hairs on the attachment and/or treatment window before starting your treatment this should be a trigger for you to clean the device again to ensure there are no remaining dirt. Any hairs that are still present can cause an unpleasant sensation and can lead to a burnt smell during treatment. Most importantly, these little spots can also negatively impact the efficacy of your treatment!

Storage

Once all surfaces of your device are clean, let all parts air dry thoroughly before storage.

You can use either the box or the pouch that is delivered with your Lumea device to store the device neatly between treatments. Did you know the box is specially designed to be solid enough to prevent any damage during transport to the warehouses? If you struggle with the box as being a nice storage solution, we advise you to use the pouch. To get the device into the pouch, make sure that you rotate the device in a way that the device lies in horizontal direction in your pouch, with the treatment window facing the zipper. The attachments can be nicely stored in the little sachets and the adapter can be added at last.

Wherever you decide to store your device, make sure you store the device in a dust-free place that is room temperature, with normal humidity. This will prevent your device from getting damaged and makes sure it will reach the end of its intended life-time.

Charging

The high-end models of Lumea Prestige (BRI95x) offer the possibility to use it both corded and cordless. If you have one of those devices and you prefer to use your Lumea Prestige cordless, make sure you fully charge the batteries before storing the device. Fully charging the batteries takes up to 1 hour and 40 minutes. The charging light will flash white to indicate that the appliance is charging and will light up continuously when the device is fully charged. It is normal that the adapter and/or the device feels warm during charging. In very rare cases, in which the room temperature would exceed 40°C, the device will not charge as it is equipped with battery-overheat protection.

After charging, remove the adapter from the wall socket and pull the small plug out of the device. Store the adapter together with your Lumea device.
Fully charged batteries provide at least 130 flashes at light intensity 5. This is not enough for a full body treatment. Depending on your body size, body shape and hair density, it might not even be sufficient to treat a full leg. We know this is very disappointing. The power required to fire all flashes would require a huge battery resulting in a very heavy and bulky device.

The battery functionality is designed for areas that are difficult to reach. Therefore we recommend you to use the device cordless when you treat your face, underarms or bikini area. This provides you with as much flexibility as possible to choose a position and location where you can effectively carry out your treatment.

When you want to treat larger body areas such as your legs, stomach or arms, we recommend you to use the device corded. Did you know that the device performs the treatment almost twice as fast when it is used corded? Therefore, there is also a huge benefit to using it corded: the faster your treatment, the sooner you can enjoy your hair-free skin!

After care

After using Lumea, your skin may appear slightly red and/or may prickle. This reaction usually disappear quickly. Some women describe the IPL treatment as creating a warm, tingly or prickly sensation. In most cases these sensations disappear within a few minutes. You may notice more discomfort and sensitivity after applying an IPL treatment in delicate areas. The skin of the underarms or intimate areas is generally thinner and less taut compared to the legs.

In the first 24-48 hours after applying an IPL treatment, you should avoid sunbathing, very hot baths, and perfumed body lotions and crèmes as the skin can become easily irritated.

If you experience rare side effects such as excessive redness, skin discoloration or blistering - please consult the user manual. Please note that a Lumea treatment should never be painful. If you experience discomfort, reduce the light intensity setting of your Lumea to make the treatment more comfortable. Additionally, we recommend you also do a skin test before your next treatment.

Applying lotions

If you experience skin irritation or skin redness after your IPL treatment, we advise you to wait until these subside before applying any products to your skin.

When the skin feels normal, you can apply your favorite lotion, moisturizer or cosmetic to the treated areas. There is no harm in moisturizing your skin. Deodorant can normally used on your treated skin. However, you should be careful with aggressive deodorants, as your skin might be a little more sensitive to perfumes or other ingredients in the deodorant.

Some products might contain perfumes or other irritating ingredients. In case you experience skin irritation after applying a specific product to your skin, wash it off with water. To prevent irritation, you may plan your Lumea treatment in the evening. In this way, your skin can rest a full night before you go out and apply your lovely cosmetics.

Even when you follow all instructions, it is still possible that you get a skin reaction. In this case, we advise you to stop using the device and contact the consumer care center.

Sunbathing

Philips Lumea can be used throughout the whole year, including the summer months. It is perfectly fine to have some sunlight on your skin from being outside after you have applied a Lumea treatment. There are however, precautions to be taken before and after tanning. These recommendations are for both natural sunlight and artificial light (such as tanning bed). Occasional and indirect sun exposure does not qualify as tanning.

Sun bathing after using Lumea

Directly after using Philips Lumea, your skin will be more sensitive. Therefore, we recommend you to wait at least 24 hours or until all redness has disappeared before exposing treated areas to the sun.

In the first 48 hours after your Lumea treatment, we suggest to cover treated areas when you go out into the sun or to use a sunblock of SPF 50 or higher. As your skin is more sensitive to sunlight, be careful not to get any sunburns. For two weeks after your Lumea treatment, we recommend to use a sunblock of SPF 30 or higher when sun bathing.

Using Lumea after sun bathing

Make sure you never use Lumea on sunburned skin for as long as the sunburn persists.

As tanning influences the sensitivity and color of your skin, we advise you to wait at least 2 weeks after tanning before using Lumea. When your skin has been exposed to the sun significantly, a skin test can help you determine which setting is most suitable for your current skin conditions. Even a slight tan can cause your skin to react differently to a Lumea treatment. When doing a skin test, select the highest setting that still feels comfortable, and that did not show any skin reactions after 24 hours. For detailed instructions, consult the chapter 'Skin test‘ in your user manual.

Moisturizing

An oily skin is a skin type with a relatively high sebum production. Some people believe oily skin doesn’t need moisturizing but it’s just not true! There is one very important skin-care truth: Hydrated skin is healthy skin. To keep your skin hydrated, you can nourish your skin with an oil-free, non-comedogenic moisturizer to protect it. Non-comedogenic means the product is free from ingredients that are known to clog the pores, which is more likely to happen when you have a skin that over-produces oil.

Many people fear that moisturizers will make their skin look greasier, the opposite it true! Skin that is dry can even overproduces oil to compensate. Using the right products will help to keep your skin smooth and elastic. It is helpful to apply an oil-free moisturizer to nourish the top layer of your skin. This will balance the water in your skin that can help protect your skin from shiny or greasy appearance.

Good management of your skin is about forming a routine with products that you know work for you. You can use the most expensive cream in the world but if it isn’t suited to your skin, then it will do more harm than good. Oily skin needs a routine of cleansing, hydration and exfoliation to look its best. The presence of oil does not mean the skin contains enough water. There are quite some external factors, such as dry winter air, hot water, harsh products, and aging that can disrupt the integrity of the skin and cause dehydration. A moisturizer can help protect your skin by creating a barrier that prevents a greasy feeling greasy or oiliness.
A Lumea treatment can also be one of the external factors that challenges your skin, and therefore you may need a moisturizing boost. If you would like to pamper your skin after your Lumea treatment, feel free to use your favorite lotion, cream or cosmetic. Moisturizers come in many forms. For people with oily skin we advise to use a lotion or Aloe Vera gel after your Lumea treatment. Preferably, choose for a soft, fragrance free lotion as chemically added scents can irritate your treated skin. You could also consider an oil-free moisturizer to help keep the skin moist and protected, without it feeling greasy. In general, you should be careful with products that contain perfumes. In case you experience any irritation after applying a specific product to your skin, wash it off with water to calm down the skin. Let your skin rest, and wait a couple of hours before you apply any other cosmetics to your skin.

The heat that is generated by the light flashes of Lumea can cause dry skin that feels itchy. To avoid intensifying this effect you should avoid sunbathing, hot and/or very long baths, synthetic clothing, and perfumed body lotions and creams. If you experience severe dryness or itchiness after your Lumea treatment, you can cool the area with an ice pack or a wet face cloth. Alternatively, you can store your moisturizer or Aloe Vera in the fridge to give a soothing cooling sensation while moisturizing your skin after a treatment. This will help the skin to calm down quickly. For areas that are more delicate, consider buying a mild balm that contains soothing ingredients such as Aloe Vera.

With all of the skin care products on the market, it can be tempting to constantly try out new wonder ingredients to help combat the shiny appearance of your skin. However, sometimes the products can actually be the culprit, causing the skin to over-produce oil.

Prevent any skin reactions

DiscomfortA Lumea treatment should never be painful. If you experience any discomfort, change the way you are using your Lumea device. Below we give a few tips:

If you are not using your Lumea in the correct way, pain may be experienced during or after treatment. Examples of incorrect usage include: Flashing the same area repeatedly, using Lumea on open wounds, inflammations, infections, tattoos, sun burned skin, etc., or using Lumea at a light intensity that is too high for your skin tone. To make sure that you know how your skin reacts, perform a skin test on each area to be treated. This skin test is necessary to check your skin's reaction to the IPL treatment and to determine the preferable light intensity setting for each body area separately.

Over the course of applying a Lumea treatment, you might notice the treatment window on your Lumea getting warm, which can create an unpleasant sensation of extra heat on the skin. As skin sensitivity varies quite a bit between different body parts, we advise you to start your Lumea treatment on the most sensitive areas (e.g. bikini or underarm) while the device is relatively cooler, and save the larger body areas until last. As the skin in some areas is much more sensitive, you can imagine that the sensation of extra heat can be unpleasant in these areas.

SensitivityThe sensation of a Lumea treatment on your skin might vary greatly between different body areas. This is due to varying skin thickness and coarseness of hairs in different body areas.

There are certain times when your skin might feel more sensitive than usual during your Lumea treatment, for example, when weather conditions change of when the color of your skin changes due to sun exposure. If you experience any discomfort using the device, the light intensity setting you are using might be too high. Check that you are using a light intensity setting that still feels comfortable on your skin. If necessary, select a lower setting.

Please also make sure that you are not using the device on areas, which the device is not intended to be used. Never use the device on the inner labia, anus, nipples, areolas, lips, moles, freckles, tattoos, piercings, inside the nostrils and ears, around the eyes and near the eyebrows. Men must not use it on the face and neck including the beard area to avoid a painful experience.

Clean & hair-free skin

In case a flash hurts in a very specific place, make sure you have removed all hairs on the surface of your skin in the areas to be treated. It is necessary to pretreat your skin before you use Lumea, as any residual hairs can cause a painful experience. This is because all the energy from the light pulse will be absorbed by the residual hairs on the surface of the skin, which can create a very hot or even burning sensation on that surface of the skin. Moreover, removing all superficial hairs allows the energy to be absorbed by the hair root, which ensures a more effective treatment. You can either shave, epilate or wax. Do not use depilatory creams, as chemicals may cause skin reactions.

Side effects

If you use your Lumea according to instructions, you should not experience any serious side effects. However, you might experience some minor skin reactions like redness or warmth. This is normal and should disappear quickly. During your Lumea treatment, your skin may feel warm, itchy, or you may experience a burning or tingling sensation. Again, this is normal the sensation disappears shortly after treatment. Please read in the chapter on moisturizing how to take care of your skin when you experience dryness, itchiness or redness. In case you experience any other side effect, please read the user manual carefully and follow the instructions.

Cleaning and storage

Cooling the device

When you have finished your Lumea treatment, the device might have become very warm. Simply: the longer you use your Lumea, the hotter it gets. Due to the large amount of energy that is required to produce the light flash, the device heats up internally. In some cases, especially when the external temperature is already a bit warmer, you will hear the fan of the device, that is running overtime to keep all the components cool and up and running.

Apart from the bright flash, which feels already warm to your skin, you might also notice extra heat coming from the treatment window. If the heat feels unpleasantly warm, you can decide to pause the treatment and let the device cool down before continuing. Start your treatment with the most delicate areas to ensure the most comfortable treatment experience.

Cleaning the device

Ensure that the device - especially the treatment window - is completely cooled down before cleaning and storage. Do not touch the treatment window right after you have finished your treatment, as it can become very hot!

Cleaning can be done with the soft cloth that is supplied with the device. Any other soft cloth can also be used, if you prefer to use your own. Moisten the cloth with a few drops of water. An alternative is to use pre-moistened cleaning wipes with or without a disinfectant. Any residual dirt can cause little burns inside the attachments. In order to properly clean the treatment window, you will first need to remove the attachment. In this way, you can easily reach all the corners.

In case you see any remaining hairs on the attachment and/or treatment window before starting your treatment this should be a trigger for you to clean the device again to ensure there are no remaining dirt. Any hairs that are still present can cause an unpleasant sensation and can lead to a burnt smell during treatment. Most importantly, these little spots can also negatively impact the efficacy of your treatment!

Storage

Once all surfaces of your device are clean, let all parts air dry thoroughly before storage.

You can use either the box or the pouch that is delivered with your Lumea device to store the device neatly between treatments. Did you know the box is specially designed to be solid enough to prevent any damage during transport to the warehouses? If you struggle with the box as being a nice storage solution, we advise you to use the pouch. To get the device into the pouch, make sure that you rotate the device in a way that the device lies in horizontal direction in your pouch, with the treatment window facing the zipper. The attachments can be nicely stored in the little sachets and the adapter can be added at last.

Wherever you decide to store your device, make sure you store the device in a dust-free place that is room temperature, with normal humidity. This will prevent your device from getting damaged and makes sure it will reach the end of its intended life-time.

Charging

The high-end models of Lumea Prestige (BRI95x) offer the possibility to use it both corded and cordless. If you have one of those devices and you prefer to use your Lumea Prestige cordless, make sure you fully charge the batteries before storing the device. Fully charging the batteries takes up to 1 hour and 40 minutes. The charging light will flash white to indicate that the appliance is charging and will light up continuously when the device is fully charged. It is normal that the adapter and/or the device feels warm during charging. In very rare cases, in which the room temperature would exceed 40°C, the device will not charge as it is equipped with battery-overheat protection.

After charging, remove the adapter from the wall socket and pull the small plug out of the device. Store the adapter together with your Lumea device.
Fully charged batteries provide at least 130 flashes at light intensity 5. This is not enough for a full body treatment. Depending on your body size, body shape and hair density, it might not even be sufficient to treat a full leg. We know this is very disappointing. The power required to fire all flashes would require a huge battery resulting in a very heavy and bulky device.

The battery functionality is designed for areas that are difficult to reach. Therefore we recommend you to use the device cordless when you treat your face, underarms or bikini area. This provides you with as much flexibility as possible to choose a position and location where you can effectively carry out your treatment.

When you want to treat larger body areas such as your legs, stomach or arms, we recommend you to use the device corded. Did you know that the device performs the treatment almost twice as fast when it is used corded? Therefore, there is also a huge benefit to using it corded: the faster your treatment, the sooner you can enjoy your hair-free skin!