Ranging from less than £20 to well over £200, these are some of the best facial devices on the market right now for tightening skin, treating spots and reducing puffiness.
If you’ve got your skincare routine sussed, you may find yourself looking for other ways to improve your skin beyond the capabilities of serums and creams. Or, you might find skincare isn’t enough and you need a helping hand from high tech to help you reach your goals.
Facial devices are varied and can target a multitude of concerns, from anti-ageing to reducing breakouts. And while they may seem expensive, they bridge the gap between your skincare routine and costly facial treatments, which can quickly add up to thousands of pounds when done frequently.
The best facial devices for anti-ageing
The NuFACE Trinity (£252.99) is a facial toning device that uses microcurrent (tiny electrical impulses) to tense facial muscles, promising to tone, lift and contour the face and neck as a result. The award-winning device should be used for five minutes, five days a week — but can be used for up to 20 minutes at a time. In a clinical study conducted by the brand, 85% reported significant improvements in facial contour and 80% said their face felt more toned. You can also purchase it in a set with the NuFace Trinity Lip and Eye attachment (£149.99 alone or £374.98 with the Trinity), which has two small prongs that allow you to target smaller areas of skin such as around the eyes or mouth.
Using different technology but also promising anti-ageing benefits is the CurrentBody Skin LED Light Therapy Mask (£279). It emits red and near infra-red light into the skin, which is said to trigger the skin’s repair mode causing it to produce more collagen. This in turn helps to firm skin and even skin tone. It can also reduce redness and increase blood flow, leading to healthier looking skin. In CurrentBody’s research 95% of users said their skin tone, texture, firmness and tightness was improved when the mask was used for a four-week period.
Read more: The pro-ageing ingredient you need in your skincare routine
The best tools for lymphatic drainage and reducing puffiness
Gua sha is the most popular, and one of the most effective, tools for depuffing the skin and massaging the face, but you need to know what you’re doing. You can get them at most beauty stores and they needn’t be expensive, we like this one from Evolve (£18).
Another, slightly easier to use tool is this vibrating Beauty Bar (£15.99) massages the skin and can aid lymphatic drainage. If you’re prone to puffiness, then use it in the morning to help drain excess fluids and toxins from the face (always move in an outwards direction from the middle of your face).. Or, if you find yourself with muscle tension after a long day, use it in the evening to massage and relax facial muscles. Whenever you use it, it’s great to over serums or hydrating face masks as it can help to increase or speed up absorption of the product.
The best facial devices for treating spots and cold sores
Another light therapy tool from Currentbody, the Anti-Blemish LED Pen (£59) uses blue LED light waves to kill acne-causing bacteria, while also emitting red light to help skin heal quicker. Similarly LightStim produces both red and blue LED handheld tools (£199), so you can get the blue for acne and the red for ageing and, due to it helping skin heal, the red will also aid with cold sores.
If you have a lot of blackheads and congestion in the skin (as opposed to spots with whiteheads), then the best buy for you is an ultrasonic pore extractor, we recommend the Dermaflash Dermapore (£99). As long as your skin is very wet, the metal glides along smoothly and the ultrasonic waves extract blackheads with ease.
