I used this £2,000 beauty gadget for four months – here’s my honest LYMA Laser review

Forget the Hermès Birkin. The hottest celebrity accessory right now is the LYMA Laser, with A-listers like Sienna Miller, Eva Longoria, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale all proclaiming their devotion to the portable power tool. I tested it for four months to see if this "it gadget" lives up to the hype.

From microcurrent and microneedling to the best red light therapy devices, it seems like there’s a new technical innovation vying for our attention on a monthly if not weekly basis. And many of us are being drawn like moths to a high-tech flame.

Though the results from at-home beauty gadgets won't be as profound as those achieved in a clinical setting, these tools do provide a more cost-effective and less invasive alternative to in-salon tweakments. But in a saturated multi-billion-pound industry, the LYMA Laser stands out, with breakthrough technology engineered by scientists and surgeons, and protected by 38 patents.

Our Beauty Editor’s LYMA Laser review, with before and after pictures

With an army of A-list fans, I feel truly lucky to have had time to test the laser myself over four months to observe the effects. I wasn’t sure how noticeable my results were day-to-day, but once I sat down to write this LYMA Laser review and looked at my side-by-side before-and-after shots, I was quite blown away. Here’s why...

What is the LYMA Laser, exactly?

Simply put, LYMA has produced the world’s first clinical-grade at-home laser device, which works to regenerate skin at a cellular level to accelerate collagen and elastin production. It claims to improve wrinkles, pigmentation, sagging, redness, scars and breakouts using cold laser technology, which is completely painless – you won’t feel a thing, not even any heat.

Unlike the more cumbersome at-home lasers of old or LED masks (handy, but impossible to make look chic on a bedside table), the LYMA Laser is nifty, nimble and portable. It’s essentially like going from an Amstrad computer to an Apple Macbook.

But the LYMA Laser we see today was actually a happy accident. The technology was originally developed as a medical laser back in the 1960s, used to treat injuries such as torn tendons and worn cartilage. Doctors soon noticed an interesting side effect to the low-level laser therapy – as the light had to pass through the skin to target the damaged tissue, it had a visible anti-ageing effect, reducing wrinkles, redness and scarring. LYMA's team of scientists successfully re-engineered this technology to make it suitable for safe at-home use.

How does LYMA Laser work?

As we age, cells become sluggish and less active, skin loses elasticity and is less able to hold on to water, all of which mean wrinkles begin to form. The LYMA Laser sends cold, near-infrared laser light deep into the dermis to change the behaviour of the cell itself.

If you were giving a tour of your skin on Cribs, you might refer to the dermis as “where the magic happens”. Here, the light is absorbed by mitochondria – the battery pack of the cell – and converted into chemical energy. These powered-up cells are effectively "switched on" like a light, and begin the regeneration process, accelerating skin repair, reducing inflammation, increasing blood flow and stimulating collagen production – the type responsible for making skin springy and plump.

It’s important to note in this LYMA Laser review that the technology is very different to LED. When LED light is scattered, the energy density of the waves decreases as they travel through the different layers of skin, so its effect is more potent at the surface. Compared with red light therapy devices, the LYMA’s near-infrared laser light has a longer wavelength sent in powerful straight-line beams, so it penetrates down to the very base layer of the skin, where it can affect muscle and joint discomfort, as well as improve skin regeneration.

Where other treatments work by inducing injury to bring about a healing response, such as radiofrequency or microneedling, the LYMA Laser essentially improves the energy content of the cell and manipulates the way it behaves to subsequently rejuvenate skin.

This zero-damage, cold laser technology means there’s no risk of scarring – which makes it a safe solution for black and brown skin tones, who have historically been excluded from laser treatments that use heat to cause damage and trigger collagen production.

Not only it suitable for all skin types and tones, it can also be used during pregnancy (just not on the abdominal area) and anywhere on the body, making it great for targeting sagging knees, tech neck and even scarring. It’s also safe for use around the eye area.

How to use the LYMA laser

The LYMA Laser is quite different to any other skincare device I’d used before. Unlike microcurrent tools, like the ZIIP Halo, which only work with a conductive gel, the LYMA Laser can be used on clean skin, on top of make-up, and even over SPF. The starter pack does come with a 30-day supply of LYMA Oxygen Mist and Oxygen Glide, which help to optimise the results, but the device works without them. (If you need a bit of slip and slide and aren't equipped with either of these products, simply use your favourite serum in their place.)

I used this Mist and Glide combination about half of the time while trialling the LYMA. To get going, click the laser on and start gliding it across the face and neck slowly, in upward motions. Pass over each section three times before moving up the face. I could do my whole face in 15 minutes, usually while bingeing reality TV. It’s so easy to use that I found myself zoning out – and by the second week, I did the whole routine on autopilot.

You can also use the LYMA Laser as a more targeted treatment. For example, if you have a noticeable patch of pigmentation or acne scarring, you can hold the laser over this area for three minutes. The brand recommends that you use the laser every day for the first 12 weeks for optimum results, then three times a week for maintenance from then onwards.

The results

The before and after shots on LYMA’s website are also compelling; saggy knees become snatched, whiole jowls appear melted away. The clinical trials are similarly astounding: 10 testers used the LYMA Laser twice a day with the brand's Mist & Glide products over five weeks. They measured a 64% improvement in the appearance of pigmentation and a 53% improvement in the depth and look of wrinkles.

As for my own experience, I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure how much the laser was doing for me during the process. That was until I saw my four-month before and after shots. Side by side, the difference is clear. My wrinkles look slightly softer, while my under-eye area looks a lot brighter. And if I really examine the photos, I think my cheeks look a little more lifted.

I didn’t go into using the laser as a hyperpigmentation treatment – my focus was more on plumping up my laughter lines and the creases around my eyes – but a more uniform complexion is still a fantastic by-product. I’ve mostly been focusing on using the device below the brow, but going forwards, I’ll pay more attention to the sun damage on my forehead, having seen what LYMA has done for the peppering of pigmentation across my cheeks.

The downsides

There’s no getting away from the fact that the LYMA Laser is prohibitively expensive. I’m very fortunate that I get to try these amazing devices as part of my job – because otherwise, this tool might have been out of my reach. That said, there is an option to split the cost, interest-free, over the course of 12 months, which makes it more doable.

All that being said, the price doesn’t seem to be affecting demand. Waiting lists for the newly launched LYMA Laser PRO (which has a larger, 30cm² lens, compared with the standard 8cm² lens on the device I tested) quickly already exceeded six-figures' worth in dollars.

I do believe that a good skincare device is worth the investment, particularly when you weigh it against regular salon tweakments and work out the cost-per-use involved. A good Hydrafacial (one of my favourite non-injectable skin treatments) will set you back around £150 a pop. Meanwhile, you’d only have to use your LYMA Laser for 13 days for the equivalent cost.

The sheer portability of the LYMA Laser – use it in bed, on holiday, on an aeroplane – means you’re far more likely to slot it into your daily regime. Tell me how many times you've managed to carve out an hour or two on the weekend to treat yourself to a facial or tweakment. I’ll wait.

The LYMA Laser also has a two-year warranty, which keeps you covered for a fair while, and an expected lifespan of 10 years – so you can do the maths on how little it works out over the course of a decade.

LYMA Laser review: Our verdict

I’m a bit of a spoiled and demanding "Veruca Salt" character when it comes to skincare devices: I want big results, and I want them now. The LYMA Laser is not a quick fix, like a wrinkle-smoothing injectable or facelift (recovery aside, of course). It targets cells in the deepest layers of your skin to stimulate repair and collagen production – so the results are never going to appear overnight.

Whilst it’s hard to see real change in your skin reflected in the mirror each day, I’m buoyed by my four-month before and after pictures. My skin looks fresher, smoother and a whole lot more uniform. My eye area is definitely improved, too – the darkness has lifted, and the crinkles do look a little shallower.

With the LYMA Laser, you do need to be consistent, so if you’re a bit flighty when it comes to skincare fads, this probably isn’t the tool for you. You'll only get out what you put in, so to speak, in terms of results. And I’ll be honest – there were nights when I was so tired, taking my make-up off was considered a win, so I’d probably rank my consistency in these first four months at about 80%.

However, I’m so encouraged by my side-by-sides that I would definitely recommend the LYMA Laser to anybody who wants to improve the look of wrinkles, sagging, pigmentation and scarring. It combines the most innovative laser technology on the market with a design that is so incredibly easy to use, so for that, I probably would justify the splurge myself – split over 12 months.