Beauty feels over my range. This isn’t about self-deprecation, I swear. I’m talking about access the tools that can help you feel beautiful. Facials and fillers and blowouts seem expensive and exclusive to celebrities and influencers. Like Ariel from The little Mermaid, I want to be a part of that world, but my jaw dropped when I paid over $100 for a haircut for the first time. There’s no way I could ever afford (or justify) frequent skincare and hair treatments, right? The at-home beauty market disagrees.
Companies like Therabody and Dyson have jumped into high-end beauty in recent years with trendy tools like the Airwrap and the TheraFace Pro, and other companies have quickly sprung up and followed suit. Now you can get Drybar-style haircuts, LED light treatments, and even dermaplane your skin from the comfort of your home.
The Shark FlexStyle, TheraFace Pro, and Dermaflash Luxe+ are favorites among the employees who enjoy self-care at WIRED. Each beauty tool offers its own unique treatment without a hefty service charge for each use. Don’t get me wrong: The tools themselves are still an investment, but in the end they pay off the more you use them, especially when you consider how much you’d spend in salons and spas over a year. This is what makes them worth it.
Eruption at home
I want some Matilda Djerf has: influencer hair. It is lush, bouncy and beautiful. But I know I’ll never be good enough with a round brush or velcro rollers to achieve this level of hair perfection. WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano says the Shark FlexStyle drying and styling system can give you all that glamor without the high price of a Dyson.
The FlexStyle experience is highly customizable. From the start you can choose from three models, each with a large number of tools, ranging from separate attachments for curling and blow-drying to more specific bundles for curly and curly hair or straight and wavy hair. Fortunately, you’re not locked into what you choose forever – you can buy separate attachments.
Once you’ve sorted out all your accessories, the real fun begins. Like the Dyson Airwrap, the FlexStyle has an air vortex called the Coanda effect. There’s less direct heat on your hair, so it’s not as damaging as most curling irons. Giordano says the only difference between using the Airwrap and the FlexStyle was that she had to force her hair here and there. It’s also an incredible hair dryer and diffuser, all for under $300.
Light it up
It’s no secret that I like the TheraFace Pro. My mom used to tell me I had expensive taste, so I countered that, just because all my Instagram ads and favorite pajamas were, well, expensive. The $400 TheraFace Pro joins the ranks of my most coveted items.
This is a multi-purpose beauty tool that comes with several attachments: a cleaning head, percussion heads, a microcurrent head, and an LED head. The cleansing attachment isn’t necessarily new technology, the percussion heads are a nice way to massage your face and remove dead skin cells, and the microcurrent has questionable effectiveness. But the LED lighting? That’s something I, and science, can get behind.
Board-certified dermatologist Jeffrey Hsu agreed that LED lights are effective at treating fine lines, promoting collagen production, and fighting acne-causing bacteria. He also notes that the wavelengths used in the TheraFace Pro are in line with those used by professionals and that with targeted, regular use, the Theraface Pro can do the same for you. Over the course of a month of use, my skin was plumper, brighter, and cleaner than with my normal skincare routine.
(Derma) Airplane Jane
You know how Paul Rudd looks the same since his Ignorant to dawn? I’ve also heard the line that men just seem to “age better”. Most of it is ordinary pure sexism, but I can’t deny that I want to keep my skin looking as youthful as possible for as long as possible. One option is dermaplaning, which uses a blade scrape off the top layer of your skin, including any small hairs.
WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe grabbed the Dermaflash Luxe+ when she felt her facial hair was getting a little too noticeable for her liking. Not only was it extremely satisfying to see the dead skin physically peel off after each use, but Strampe found that it generally improved the appearance of her skin — aside from peach fuzz. She says her skin was “flawless, radiant and smooth,” and who wouldn’t want that?
The disadvantage? The Luxe+ costs $200 and uses single-use blades, which are wasteful. The process isn’t terribly expensive if you have it done by a professional, but it adds up quickly. You can save money in the long run with this tool, although it’s worth talking to your dermatologist to see if it’s right for your skin.
Not you need any of these items, and some of them can be daunting to use alone. For us, they’ve been a welcome way to enter the world of beauty without having to go to a spa and spend hundreds of dollars over the course of a year, and it offers a little more control over our own appearance. That alone is worth it.
