“While I have big, bald plans for Lumi (face, underarms, my big toe), I started small with a test patch on my thigh, just above my knee. I already wax my upper legs because, well, I did it once and got hooked — the level of smoothness can’t compete with shaving. But such smoothness is, of course, temporary, and you have to let the hair grow in quite a bit before it’s waxable. I hadn’t had a wax in over a month in the before photo, although my hair now grows more sparsely than it used to from years of semi-regular waxing (RIP hair follicles). The instructions say to shave before using Lumi, so I did that first. Then I tried the most simple of its three modes: stamp. It’s essentially point-and-click hair removal. Place the device on the area you want to treat and click the pulse button. Although it was flush against my skin, a bright red light leapt out. It was bright. Very bright. Was it so bright I shouldn’t look directly at it? No. I reread the instructions: Short of photosensitive epilepsy or other sensitivity to flashing light lights, it is safe. Still, I kept my glance just askew when I started the Lumi back up. It did not hurt, but when I turned Lumi to auto mode, which is recommended for larger areas like legs, I felt a rising heat. This is probably because auto mode plays with intensity levels (there are six), and I had previously kept it at level one).
