Devices
At-home beauty devices, and whether they earn the counter space
LED masks, microcurrent and laser devices run from $200 to $2,700. Some work. All of them only work if you keep using them, which is the part most reviews leave out.
The question to ask before any device purchase
Not 'does it work' but 'will I use it three times a week in eight months' time'. Almost every disappointed device review is really a review of an unused device. The technologies in this category are largely legitimate — LED and microcurrent both have real mechanisms and reasonable evidence behind them — but every one of them delivers cumulative results that reverse when you stop. Before spending $400, look honestly at what else is already in your bathroom cabinet unused.
Budget for the consumables
Microcurrent devices need conductive gel, and they genuinely will not work properly without it. At typical usage that is a recurring cost that can approach the price of the device over a few years. LED masks have no consumables at all, which is a real and underrated advantage. When comparing two devices at similar prices, the total cost over three years is often a very different number from the one on the box.
Contraindications are not boilerplate
This is the one category on this site where the safety notes matter. Microcurrent should be avoided if you are pregnant, have epilepsy, or have a pacemaker or other implanted electrical device. LED should be approached carefully if you take photosensitising medication or have melasma. These are genuine medical cautions rather than legal padding, and they are worth a conversation with a doctor rather than a scroll past.
Before you buy anywhere
High-end beauty is heavily counterfeited and the fakes are convincing. There is one reliable check that takes ten seconds and applies to every product on this page.
How to spot a fake