Review: Skin Physics Photon LED Photo Rejuvenation System

A couple of months ago I was sent a Skin Physics LED Starter Kit to trial for Beauty Heaven. I was pretty excited, because I'd been wanting to have a go at one of these, but wasn't so keen on coughing up the $300 to do so. You've probably seen the ads - the deal is that the LED light supposedly regenerates collagen and does all kinds of other whizz bang things to make you look speccy and young. I've seen something similar being flogged on TVSN, and to be frank, it looked like a bit of a dodge, so even though I wanted to try it, I was a bit skeptical.

The Starter Kit comes with the LED device and a small tube each of cleanser, serum and night cream. The instruction book gives a lot of waffle about how important it is to use the correct products for an optimum experience and blah blah blah. I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference, really. The idea is that you prep with the cleanser, and then apply the serum to help the light "glide" around your face more easily. I don't know about anyone else, but any serum immediately sinks into my skin, so there was no gliding happening.

The kit comes with a DVD as well as the instruction booklet. Read the safety cautions in the booklet and then throw it away - the DVD is much less confusing. To use, you spend 3 minutes moving the device around your face in small circles - dividing your face into 6 parts and spending about 30 seconds on each part. It beeps to tell you when 30 seconds is up so you don't have to set any timers or count for yourself. This is to prepare the skin for deeper treatment, and once that's done, you then switch to the pulse option and apply the light to each area you want to treat for 4 minutes at a time. Again, it beeps when the time is up to tell you to move on. Once you've finished, you apply the night cream. You use it a few times a week for about 8 weeks, then once a week from then on for maintenance. I'm in my 7th week now, and I've slacked off a bit this week so I might keep up the more regular application for a bit longer.

What it's meant to do:

"...stimulates cells to produce proteins, lipids, elastin and collagen fibres needed to repair damage such as wrinkles, fine lines, pigmentation, sagging and enlarged pores all at the same time."

What it has done for me so far:

*Made my skin feel smoother and softer, though I think the night cream might have helped that along.
*Reduced the redness in my cheeks.
*Gave my skin a glow that a couple of people commented on.

I haven't seen much of a change to my wrinkles or sunspots, and these are the two things that really bug me so if I don't get some action there I'll be a bit annoyed. Having said that, overall I am pleased with it, and I can see how continued use would lead to greater improvements in skin clarity.

The only thing I really wasn't keen on is how time-consuming it is. It takes forever to charge up, and if you do your entire face in 4 minute bursts you can be sitting there holding it up to your face for almost an hour - hard on the arms! It takes real dedication to do all this every couple of nights, let me tell you.

Oh, and it comes with goggles, but they're just useless. They're hard plastic and too small and they dig into the eye sockets and hurt. I just closed my eyes when the light was near my eyes, and didn't have any problems.

I wouldn't bother buying the specific skincare products of the same brand - they're not bad, but they're no better than a million other products out there. At $300, the kit is a bit pricy, but if you're someone who's concerned about skincare, think about how much you've probably spent on various creams and potions in the last 12 months. I think it's worth the money, though I don't think it's something that's a must-own for everyone.