My skin feels uncomfortable or painful with my Philips Lumea

Before your first treatment on each body area, test your skin’s reaction and find a suitable treatment setting. It's important to repeat this step after unprotected sun exposure because this can alter your skin tone. Also perform a skin test again after you’ve stopped using Lumea and want to start treating yourself again. 

Depending on which Lumea model you have, there are two ways to perform a skin test. See the next section on how to perform the skin test. 

For the following Lumea model numbers: BRI92X, SC199X, BRI94X, BRI95X, BRI97X, BRP958

Attach a suitable attachment for the area where you want to carry out the skin test and place your Lumea flush against your skin. Treat one spot with setting 1, move to another spot on the same body area and treat with setting 2. Repeat this for settings 3, 4 and 5, but stop increasing when the flash is painful. 

Wait 24 hours and check your skin. Choose the highest setting that still felt comfortable and did not cause a skin reaction. 

For the following Lumea model numbers: BRI87X, BRI90X, BRI91X, BRI93X, BRI98X, BRI99X 

Attach a suitable attachment for the area where you want to carry out the skin test and place your Lumea flush against your skin. The light intensity indicator will propose a light intensity setting for you. Select the suggested light intensity and place the Lumea back on your skin and press the flash button 1 time. If the flash is comfortable, you can increase the intensity. If you experience pain, lower the intensity. Move to an adjacent spot and flash again. Repeat until you find the highest comfortable setting.  

If there are no skin reactions after 24 hours, start the treatment with the highest comfortable setting. If the highest comfortable setting resulted in a skin reaction, choose a lower intensity that did not result in any skin reactions. If you did not test a lower setting, repeat the skin test. 

Check if you are using the right attachment. If the highest comfortable setting from your skin test resulted in a skin reaction, choose a lower intensity that did not result in any skin reactions. If you did not test a lower setting, repeat the skin test. 

Do not use Lumea on lips, nostrils, ears, scalp, nipples, labia minora, perineum, around the anus, penis, or scrotum. These areas are highly sensitive and have thinner and darker skin. 

Additionally, do not use Lumea on skin that is darker than the surrounding treatment area. These highly pigmented skin areas can lead to excessive heating of the skin. Darker areas may include: dark spots such as moles, warts, large freckles, birthmarks, age spots or dark veins, and marks added to the skin, such as tattoos or (permanent) makeup. 

Tanning makes the skin more sensitive. Do not start or resume using Lumea within 4 weeks after exposing your skin to sunlight unprotected (natural sun or tanning bed) or within 2 weeks after artificial tanning (creams, sprays or pills).  

Do a skin test before starting/resuming your treatment, see the section ‘Perform a skin test’ of this FAQ. 

Check if your attachment is clean before each treatment. Clean your attachments and the glass of the light exit window after each treatment. Dirty attachments or glass can produce an unpleasant or burning smell and reduce the effectiveness of your Lumea. 

Don’t forget your skin also needs to be clean and dry before starting your treatment. No water, oil, cream or body milk should be left on your skin. 

Refer to your user manual for cleaning instructions or see the FAQ titled: 'How do I clean my Philips Lumea?' 

Your Lumea comes with different attachments. Each attachment is used to treat different areas of the body, don’t use the attachments on areas they are not intended for. Check your user manual to determine which attachments came with your specific Lumea model. 

Note: do not use any other attachment than the face attachment on your face. 

See FAQ: ‘What are the differences between the Philips Lumea attachments?’ for more information on the different attachments.