Philips Support

Is Philips Lumea suitable for all skin and hair types?

Published on 15 February 2024

Philips Lumea is not suitable for all skin and hair types. Find out here which skin tones and hair types Philips Lumea is suitable for.

Skin tone and hair suitability for Philips Lumea

IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatment works when the energy of the light is absorbed by melanin (a type of pigment) in the hair. Since light blonde, grey and white hair do not contain enough or any melanin, IPL treatment will never work on these hair colours. Red hair contains a different type of melanin, which is also not responsive to IPL.

Philips Lumea is also not suitable for dark skin tones, as it can cause skin damage such as burns, blisters or discolouring.

How does the IPL technology in Philips Lumea work

Check the skin tone/hair colour chart

Lumea Prestige series is suitable for use on skin type one to skin type five. Lumea Advanced and Lumea Essential series are suitable for skin type one to skin type four.

None of the Lumea models are suitable for use on light blonde, white, grey or red hair.

Philips Lumea skin tone and hair colour chart

Use the skin tone sensor

Some Philips Lumea models come with a skin tone sensor; this sensor ensures that a pulse will be emitted only on suitable skin colours.

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