Rant: I tried a new facial machine for 3 months and it was a total waste

My spa bought this fancy new 'multi-wave' light therapy device for over $2000. I used it on clients for a full quarter, following the manual exactly. It promised to reduce redness and boost collagen. Honestly, my old, simple high frequency wand that cost maybe $300 did a better job in half the time. The results from the expensive machine were so subtle that three separate clients asked if I'd even started the treatment yet. I'm going back to my trusty high frequency next week. Has anyone else had a machine totally fail to live up to the hype?

4 comments

4 Comments

drew_hart42mo ago

Honestly, I had the complete opposite experience. My shop invested in a similar machine last year and the clients with persistent redness saw a real, lasting change. It took a full six to eight weeks of regular sessions for some to notice, but they were thrilled. Maybe the specific technology or the skin types you're treating just don't match up well. It's frustrating when such a big purchase doesn't work out for your practice though.

park.miles2mo ago

Our rep swore by a twelve week protocol for stubborn cases.

finleyl392mo ago

Remember my friend who runs a small spa? She bought one of those systems after a glowing demo. Her most loyal client with rosacea did the full twelve weeks, twice a week. The client's skin got MORE irritated, not less. My friend ended up refunding the whole package and felt awful about it.

emmam892mo ago

Our clinic used that same multi-wave system for five months before giving up. We tracked client photos and even the before-and-afters our rep showed us never happened in our treatment rooms. I get what @drew_hart4 is saying about skin types, but we tried it on a full range of clients with redness issues. The machine just didn't deliver anything close to its claims for us. Sometimes the basic tools really are better.