LYMA laser review: before and after

This at-home device combines cold laser and blue LEDs to gradually rejuvenate, calm, and heal your skin with daily use. The expensive LYMA skincare is optional, but could give you faster results.

Unlike other at-home rejuvenation lasers, the LYMA laser does not trigger a healing response by damaging your skin with heat. The laser energy is nonthermal or ‘cold’, and it stimulates your skin cells instead.

The photons from the 808nm near-infrared laser reach your deepest tissue layers and give your cells an energy boost with a process called photobiomodulation. This reduces inflammation, boosts blood flow, and energises all your cells, so they build better collagen and elastin. It calms, heals, refreshes, hydrates, brightens, and firms your skin.

Four 470nm blue LEDs treat your skin surface. The light energy triggers a photochemical reaction which controls sebum, kills acne and other bacteria, to give you clear skin.

In this LYMA Laser review…

First impressions

The black, understated packaging is simple and refined, and it’s heavy too. It does a splendid job reminding me this is an expensive bit of kit. It’s beautiful 😍 and rather exciting to open.

The envelope opens out to reveal a beautiful A5 hardback matt-black user guide book, with fresh new paper smell. It’s beautiful and looks more like a fancy coffee table book than a user guide.

Remove the laser, serum and spray mist to reveal a small hole in the tray. Use this to lift out the whole cardboard tray.

It’s all made of recyclable cardboard packaging ♻ – Bravo, LYMA.

The LYMA laser kit contents:

• LYMA laser
• 30ml Active Mist
• 50ml Priming Serum
• Neoprene storage pouch
• Battery charger
• Charging USB cable
• User guide book
• Membership card
• Charger manual & warranty

LYMA laser quality & design

The LYMA laser device is a small but heavy cylindrical black wand. It feels expensive, made of superb quality, tactile materials with a neat and durable construction. I love the simple black styling with engraved ‘LYMA’ logo towards the business end. It looks rather like an expensive, powerful torch, and it’s pleasing to hold.

Slightly recessed into the top is a textured, soft silicone push button. It’s the only control, and it simultaneously operates the laser and blue light – simply on or off.

You also get a small charging cradle and USB charging cord. I like this isn’t too bulky and there’s no mains plug, so you can use your own USB charging port or plug. I also like you must remove the battery to charge it. That way you can store the expensive laser device safely whilst it charges, rather than leaving it out where it’s vulnerable to knocks and damage.

A full battery charge takes up to 4 hours. All four blue lights stay lit once it’s fully charged. You get around 2 hours of use per charge. So, you’ll need a weekly charge if you use the laser 15 minutes daily. Therefore, you need more regular charges if you do longer sessions or multiple body areas.

The total Li-ion battery life is very good. You get at least 500 charging cycles, giving 10,000 hours of laser energy. LYMA say that’s enough for 10 years of use.

On the opposite end of the laser is the transparent plastic treatment lens. It’s smooth on the surface and really rather pretty, with rings and levels of teeny clear hexagons. They’re designed to refract the laser beam from the tiny pinprick laser aperture and diffuse it over a larger surface area. LYMA say it does this 25,000 times and so the energy delivered to our skin is 25,000 larger than traditional lasers (bu they don’t say how big the originating beam is). This “ultra-diffused” energy is safe on your skin (and around your eyes) and allows you to treat a larger surface area, spread throughout the treatment lens.

LYMA Active Mist & Priming Serum

The kit comes with the Active Mist spray (30ml) and a Priming Serum (50ml). Use these daily, am and pm, and before your laser session. They’re expensive – to buy more costs £99/$149 and lasts a month if using daily on your face and neck. However, these products aren’t necessary conductors as with microcurrent, Radio Frequency and ultrasound – the laser works fine on your skin without them.

But, according to LYMA, they’re important:

“…it is important to use the LYMA Active Mist and LYMA Priming Serum at the start of every morning and evening’s skincare regime. This will prime your skin with a high content of oxygen and beta glucans to stimulate optimal regeneration.”

Lyma.life

Hands up if you want to ‘stimulate optimal regeneration’! 🙋‍♀️🤣🤣

I did some more digging to understand if they’re worth investing in, (as well as lining the coffers at LYMA LIFE HQ).

LYMA cosmeceutical ingredients

LYMA promote these as cosmeceutical products, and the ingredients sound impressive.

But what are cosmeceuticals?

Cosmeceutical products are available without prescription and contain active ingredients capable of triggering desirable cellular changes. The phrase was coined by the cosmetics industry They’re somewhere between ‘cosmetics’ and ‘pharmaceuticals’. But because they aren’t drugs, their claims aren’t subject to rigorous testing. Some ingredients show good clinical results. Whereas for others, there’s theoretical or preclinical support, but little robust clinical data.

This is a good background article on effective cosmeceuticals if you want to learn more.

And here’s the LYMA ingredient lists decoded on incidecoder.com:

• LYMA priming serum ingredients list
• LYMA Active mist ingredients list

The key active ingredients – as highlighted by LYMA – are Active Stabilised Oxygen (ASO), Wellmune® beta glucans and Orchistem™.

Beta glucans are a goodie in skincare proven to moisturise and repair, with mild protecting antioxidant properties, and they’re shown to reduce wrinkle depth too. Yay!

Orchistem™ is a stem cell extract from the Japanese Calanthe Discolor Orchid. It’s shown to increase the number and movement of fibroblasts in your dermis, and to stimulate activity of those fibroblast cells by increasing their antioxidant defence, thus boosting collagen and elastin production. All this heals and rejuvenates your skin.

So, these promising actives help to protect, repair, and rehydrate your epidermis and dermis skin layers 👌.

But the star ingredient in both products is Active Stabilised Oxygen (ASO).

LYMA say it’s ‘35% bioavailable’, which means enough of it gets into your skin and to the right places where it does its work. It then replenishes depleted Oxygen levels in aging skin. So, once the laser energises your cell mitochondria, there’s oodles of oxygen on hand during cellular respiration to create ATP. Your fibroblast cells then use this ATP energy to build their very finest collagen and elastin. And it boosts other cellular growth and repair work, just like in young skin.

Sounds good, right?

Hmm. A few problems here.

👉 First, there’s no evidence to show normal aging skin lacks Oxygen. We get plenty Oxygen from the air we breathe. And our blood delivers this Oxygen to our organs, tissues, and cells, along with other much needed nutrients.

👉 Second, even if an Oxygen boost were beneficial, there’s scant evidence that Oxygen applied to the skin, either during an Oxygen facial or in a potion or lotion, has any benefit at all for your skin (even if, as LYMA say, the molecule is in O₄ format).

👉 And lastly, I find the few scientific-sounding facts offered by LYMA about ASO a little bamboozling. There’s not much substance to it. And I can’t find an official INCI ingredient name, listing or data for ASO. So, who knows what it’s made up of? And LYMA don’t share test results of the LYMA laser used with versus without this wonder ingredient. So, it may or may not have the effect as billed.

It may be no better for your skin than your current skincare products.

Before you start

It’s very quick to get started because you don’t need to do a skin sensitivity test, and the instructions in the user guide are very easy to follow.

Skip passed all the sexy imagery and fancy-sounding marketing bumpf at the beginning to the instructional content about charging, how to use it, contraindications, and operational data on the last few pages (page 48 out of 58). It’s a quick and easy read with a web address to view the LYMA laser facial video demo. Check out the Laser FAQs also for further helpful information.

All the information in the user manual is available on the LYMA website.

Contraindications for the LYMA laser are:

❌ DON’T use if:

• You have a medical condition which makes your skin sensitive to light, or if you’re taking any medications which make you sensitive to light.
• Don’t use over the breast area, tumours, over-active thyroid, fungal skin infections, implanted pacemaker, melanoma.
• If pregnant don’t use over the abdominal area

Next, how to use the LYMA laser…

LYMA laser facial routine

The face/neck routine is very easy. Watch the facial routine demo video before you start so you know what’s coming. You must pause/start it as you move from section to section because it’s not in real time, but it’s easy to remember after a few goes.

The laser isn’t too slippery so it’s safe to do the routine without a mirror. But if you’ll target frown lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, scars or spider veins, a small mirror is helpful to locate them and place the laser accurately.

You can do the routines at any time, and you can do different routines throughout the day to break them into manageable chunks.

For the 15-minute facial routine, divide your face in half and work in strips the width of the treatment head to cover all the areas of your neck and face. Move along and back a strip, repeat this for a total of five times per strip.

1. Start behind your ear and slowly glide down your neck to your collar bone and back up. Do this five times. Then move to the next spot along the top of your neck and repeat five times. Repeat this working along your neck to the centre.

2. When you reach the centre of your neck, cover the same area again but in side swipes, five reps per section. Start with slow back-and-forth glides along the bottom of your neck from the centre to the side. Work up your neck in slow side to side gliding strips.

3. Next, work along your jawbone from your chin to your earlobe and back. Do five reps.

4. Then do a half circle from your centre chin around your mouth to the centre of your upper lip, for five reps.

5. Then, slowly swipe from the centre of your top lip along your cheek to the middle of your ear and back. Do five reps.

6. Slowly swipe from the side of your nose along your cheek bone to the upper ear. Do five reps.

7. Place the laser between your eyes and slowly draw a circle around your eye, go above the brow, under your eye and back. Repeat 5 times.

8. Then, do slow arching swipes along your forehead from your temple to between your eyes and back. Repeat in arching strips, five reps per strip, up your forehead.

9. To finish this side of the face, place the laser at the top middle of the forehead and slowly glide down, adown the bridge to the tip of the nose and back again.

Then repeat on the other side of your face.

When you’re done, turn off the laser, give the end a wipe and store it safely. Or charge it if it needs more juice ready for your next session.

Hands, scars, pigmentation, spider veins, bruises & other body areas

For other body areas such as hands, décolletage and knees, treat the area in strips for a minimum of 15 minutes. Cover all the skin in adjacent slow-gliding strips and repeat until the time is up.

For bruises, hold the laser on each section for 5 minutes.

What does it feel like?

First, the cosmeceuticals are pleasant. The Active Mist is refreshing, the Priming Serum has good slip and two pumps goes a long way. Both feel good, but for me they’re nothing extraordinary. My skin feels hydrated and smooth, but no more than with my regular serum.

I like there’s no cord to get in the way and the laser is super simple to use on hands, decolletage and easy-to reach areas of my legs.

I rather enjoy the facial routine. There are no messy gels to apply, and the smooth laser lens slides easily around my facial contours. It’s quick to master the best grips for different facial areas. I also like applying a bit of pressure with the laser wand – more than in the facial demo video – and this makes for a stimulating massage sensation around my face (with added face squishing 🥴).

However, compared to rival handheld devices the laser is heavy and a tad chunky. This makes it a little awkward to reach under your chin and jaw, and tiring if used for more than 15 minutes on your face or decolletage.

To combat this, you can alternate your grips to lessen the strain. I also sit on my bed and support my arm by resting my elbow on my bent knee. This helps take the weight and lessen any strain. You can also move your head/face as well as your hand. However, it’s perfectly comfy for treating hands and legs. That’s because the weight of the device rests down on the treatment area.

The laser routines require very little concentration and it’s easy to remember the facial routine after a few goes. And it doesn’t matter if you lose count on your glides. Just start again from 1. You can’t overdo it.

Treatment schedule, effort & results

Use the LYMA laser daily for at least 3 months. Continue for further improvements, or drop down to 2 or 3 sessions per week to maintain your results.

You need at least 15 minutes for the facial routine, areas of rosacea, spider veins, and for treating other body areas such as hands, decolletage and knees. For scars, pigmentation, and more wrinkled bits, you need 3 minutes per section (the size of the treatment head). And it’s 5 minutes per section of a bruise.

If you have the time, LYMA suggest doubling-up your daily sessions to 30 minutes per area. They say this gives even faster, corrective anti-aging results.

You’ll still see results with 15 minutes a day if that’s all you can fit in. But consider sticking with your daily sessions for a few months longer and you’ll likely see further improvement.

So, it’s clear the LYMA laser is a big commitment, especially if you have multiple areas to treat. But it’s easy once embedded in your routine. Plus, it’s good to dedicate yourself a little self-care down-time each day.

I like that there are no faffy conductivity gels and it takes very little concentration. I watch TV, listen to music or a podcast, and can even read my Kindle during my treatments. So, it’s easy to combine into several downtime activities versus other rival devices.

LYMA suggest you can use the portable laser any time during the day, for example at your desk, at the kitchen table or watching TV. This makes it easier to fit in several treatment areas. But this doesn’t work for me. 

First, because I simply don’t think to use it during the day. But it’s easy to remember as part of my wind-down evening routine. 

And second, I’m very scared of dropping and breaking this expensive laser! Therefore, I’m happier with it tucked away in my bedside drawer where it’s safe from curious hands, and clumsy knocks.

Advertised results

What it fixes: firms & smooths skin texture, improves elasticity, plumps fine lines & wrinkles, strengthens muscle tone, fades sun-damage & thread veins, heals acne, scars & rosacea, smooths cellulite, lifts eye area

The LYMA laser needs consistent daily use. During a session your skin may flush pinky-red because it increases your blood flow. But there’s no pain, skin irritation, or other side effects.

It typically takes 4+ weeks of use to notice subtle changes, with significant improvements in your target area after 3 months of use. My trial results match this guidance. More on that below.

So, changes are slow and subtle as each daily session energises your skin cells, in turn strengthening, rebuilding and replenishing your collagen and elastin to heal and rejuvenate your skin.

Here’s what to expect for your different targeted treatments:

• See changes in acne and rosacea from 1+ months of daily use, with significant improvement after 3+ months.
• See noticeable fading of scars at around 2 months of daily use, but keep going for significant changes after 3 to 6 months.
• For firmer, brighter healthier skin, with softened wrinkles and more elasticity, most see improvements at 1+ month using the laser 30-minutes daily. Keep going for 3+ months for your best rejuvenating results.

Learn about my results next…

My LYMA Laser before and after photos

I’ve tried red and Near-infrared LED light therapy before. And I saw excellent results, especially from the Dermalux Flex MD light therapy panel. But the LYMA is the only at-home cold laser which also uses photobiomodulation to work magic on your skin. So, I’m eager to see how it compares.

I’ve decided to treat two problem areas I’ve not focused on in previous trials. That’s the annoying red thread vein on my right cheek and my crinkled old-lady hands! 

Let’s take a look.

I hope to get considerably younger looking hands. The skin here is very thin, dry, with a scaly texture and a weird sallow colour. My right hand is worse I assume because it gets more sun exposure when I’m driving. 

And I’d love to fade the red spider vein. Not many devices claim they work on these. However, I’m mindful LYMA don’t have a before vs after photo for spider veins on their website. I live in hope…

Let’s move on.

4 month trial

Total 108 sessions

Treatment areas

Hands &
small spider vein

1 hr 10 mins per day

Spider vein: 30 mins
Hands: 20 mins each

I use the LYMA laser on an evening relaxing on my bed. I do my hands first for 20 minutes each. Why 20 minutes you say? – because at the same time, on my legs I use the Flex MD light therapy panel which requires 20 minute sessions to do it’s thing.

I then hold the laser agianst the spider vein on my cheek for 30 minutes.

And I feel the results on my hands very quickly.

1 to 4 weeks

After just 1 week, I feel a change in my skin, but only on my left hand 👍. The skin is a little springier to my touch and the colour looks less deathly. And because of this my motivation is high. I miss only 3 sessions during the first month.

Over the next two weeks the skin on both my hands starts to feel noticeably thicker and padded. But it’s still very dry, lacking elasticity, and it looks like roast chicken skin 🍗! Ah-boo.

It’s at the end of 4 weeks that my hands look a bit healthier too. They’re meatier, and with this the colour is clearer and brighter, so the weird yellow-green and orangey-brown undertone is fading. 

But they’re still dry and scaly on the surface. 

So, I see the rejuvenation effects are building from the lower skin layers up, and it needs more time to reach the outside. 

At this 4-week marker, there’s no change in the red spider vein on my cheek.

2 to 3 months

Over the following 4 weeks the skin on my hands slowly but surely improves further. I miss a handful of sessions.

After 2 months there’s considerably more volume and better hydration. My skin feels plump and smooth, and has some glow about it. I’m conscious I often stroke the back of my hands. But I can’t help it. They feel lovely. This is very encouraging.

There’s no change in the red spider vein.

The next month is a busy one for me and I miss ten sessions. So, at the 3 month mark, despite seeing further improvement, I’m not quite satisfied. I decide to keep going a little longer. 

Red spider vein remains. 

Before & After 4 months comparison

And it’s after a further 1.5 months and a total 108 session I’m finally happy with my new, smooth and youthful hands. 

Check out the comparison photos…

I have smooth, hydrated and elastic skin. It’s plumped, meaty and bouncy, with a clearer, unified colour. I still see the dark spots from sun damage. But in all, the skin looks ALIVE. And it kinda sparkles!

I love these results. And maintenance is much easier to fit in. Two sessions a week works for me.

But unfortunately, I saw no change in my facial spider vein.

I’ve given it over one hundred 30-minute sessions. That’s heaps. And nadda. It’s disappointing, and I’m not prepared to keep trying. It’s just too much effort for no noticeable benefit. Here are the comparison photos for you to see…

The Negatives

There are a few negatives to consider with the LYMA laser kit.

First up, as mentioned earlier, the start-up stage demands time and daily commitment. 15 to 30 minutes for the facial routine is ok, but you’ll need even more time if you’ll treat multiple body areas. It’s manageable for just a couple of small facial or body areas. And it’s easier and less time-consuming during maintenance with two or three 15-minute sessions per area per week.

The Flex MD red and NIR light therapy panel is much more practical if you want medical photbiomodulation treatment on larger or multiple body areas in one day.

Second, again covered earlier, the wand shape is a tad chunky and sometimes awkward around your face because it doesn’t have an angled treatment head. It’s also rather heavy because of the rechargeable battery inside. So, in all it’s a little less comfy and ergonomic than other handheld devices. And particularly if treating your face for longer than 15 minutes. However, it takes just a few sessions to find your best technique and grips, and it’s easy and very pleasant once you know how.

Next, whilst it’s easy to reach most areas on the front of your body, it’s not so for the back. Therefore, you may need a helpful assistant for hard-to-reach areas such as cellulite on the backs of legs or acne on your back.

And, as discussed earlier, the LYMA Active Mist and Priming Serum are nice enough but very expensive. You get a month supply in the kit. If you like them as a replacement to your regular skincare (and you can afford it), you can join LYMA’s ongoing subscription!

But if you like your current skincare or can’t afford the monthly cost, don’t sweat it. The rather special sounding ingredients are not powerful drugs to transform your skin. It won’t suffocate from lack of O₂, and you’ll get equally ‘optimised’ results from the laser without them. 

WOWSER 🤑

And finally, the LYMA laser is very expensive indeed, at £1,999 😵.

And there’s no money back guarantee either. Boo.

Now LYMA can justify this price because it’s the only at-home rejuvenation cold laser you can buy. And this at-home tech is expensive to develop and build. It certainly feels a top-quality bit of kit.

But the real justification for this hefty price tag must be in the results. It’s billed as an impressive multi-tasker to treat an array of concerns other individual devices can’t, including rejuvenation, acne, scars, cellulite and spider veins. I can vouch for the significant and pleasing rejuvenation effects, but unfortunately not for fading my pesky spider vein.

It also irks me that LYMA use fuzzy language around the clinical test status for the LYMA laser. They say the technology behind the LYMA laser is extensively tested. e.g.

“almost all the plausible peer-reviewed evidence uses LYMA’s technology as the light source.”

LYMA.life

LYMA’s technology is low-level light therapy (LLLT) laser photobiomodulation with a 808nm laser. But it doesn’t then follow that all low-level 808nm lasers with tests are the new LYMA laser. So, whilst on the surface it sounds like the LYMA laser itself has undergone a clinical test or two, that’s not specifically stated anywhere. I asked LYMA for more information on their studies but I received only generic studies and papers on LLLT photobiomodulation.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the LYMA laser is no good. I saw excellent rejuvenation results. But it could mean that the advertised results are not as reliable or as broad and deep as stated. This may not bother you. But I very much like and trust at-home beauty brands that have clear, supporting clinical evidence for their devices to back-up their claims. So, it’s disappointing the expensive LYMA laser most likely lacks this.

LYMA Laser Review Summary

This is a top-notch, powerful device promising significantly better results than rival cosmetic LED masks and handhelds. And as well as anti-ageing and acne, it can help with cellulite, scars and (maybe) spider veins too. Although you can use it almost anywhere on your body, each 15-to-30-minute session suits smaller targeted areas best such as face, hands, knees, scars, pigmentation etc. You’ll need plenty spare time & motivation to tackle several of these areas.

Here’s a summary of my test scores, and pros and cons for the LYMA Laser, to help you decide:

Ease of use

👍👍👍👍

A super quality, cordless device with a decent battery life. Use with the LYMA cosmeceuticals or your own skincare. Glide the wand slowly over your face, neck, and other body areas, or hold it still for a few minutes over pigmentation, scars & bruises. It’s a tad chunky & heavy, but the routines are simple so you can do it as you watch TV.

Effort

💧💧💧💧

Requires time & commitment. Use daily for 3 months on each treatment area. Continue for further improvement or drop to 2 or 3 sessions per week for maintenance. Do a minimum 15 minutes per treatment area, double it for faster results.  For pigmentation & scars, hold the laser against your skin for 3 minutes, 5 minutes for bruises, and 15 minutes for thread veins.

Results

⭐⭐⭐⭐

An impressive muti-tasker to heal, rejuvenate, perfect & fight acne. No pain, side effects, or nasty skin reactions. Changes are slow & gradual, typically taking 4+ weeks of daily until noticeable, with significant improvement at 3+ months. Be prepared to double-up on your daily sessions for faster results. For pronounced scars and areas needing extra TLC you may need 6 months of daily sessions.



Pros

• CE-cleared
• Very easy to use
• Decent battery life
• Use it over tattoos
• No conductivity gels
• Compact travel partner
• Use all around your body
• Very little concentration needed
• Top-quality build & cordless design
• Prepping cosmeceuticals are optional
• Safe over the centre of your neck
• Safe around your eyes (no safety goggles needed)



Cons

• It’s very expensive
• Not yet FDA-cleared
• It’s unclear if the LYMA laser is clinically proven
• Time intensive start-up schedule & maintenance
• Difficult to treat hard to reach body areas such as your back
• Monthly mist and serum consumables are very expensive (but optional!)
• Slightly chunky wand-shape is a tad awkward to manoeuvre around your face
• It’s rather heavy so the facial is tiring (but easy on other areas like hands & knees)

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