In recent years, smart and portable beauty instruments that can be operated at home have become popular.
The advertising slogan of "6-10 minutes a day, the nasolabial folds become lighter and shorter, and the average length of the wrinkles around the eyes is reduced by 30.97%" even made many people "excited" for the product.
However, on social media, users of beauty devices have mixed reviews.
Some people call it the IQ tax and it has been returned.
Some people also believe that there is a gap between home beauty equipment and medical beauty, and maybe long-term use will have a certain effect.
So, what is the difference between a home beauty instrument and a medical beauty instrument?
How does it work?
Are there security risks?
event
Potential for skin burns
180,000 beauty devices were recalled
Recently, New Cornerstone (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "New Cornerstone Company") took the initiative to report the recall plan to the State Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the requirements of the "Interim Provisions on the Management of Consumer Product Recalls". 182,215 sets of Chupu brand first-generation Stop Eye model home radio frequency beauty instruments imported from January to September 2021.
The reason is that when the home radio frequency beauty instrument within the scope of this recall stays in the same position for a long time or moves too slowly during use, the temperature of the device probe may be too high.
The new cornerstone company said it will provide consumers with free maintenance and add thermostats.
In this regard, some users expressed dissatisfaction with the way the product was recalled and repaired.
Netizen Xiaotian said that the Chupu beauty instrument she purchased in March 2021 has been idle after several uses.
She learned from customer service that this recall only needs to be sent back for repair, and it cannot be returned for a refund.
Xiaotian believes that there will be many unstable factors after the disassembly, and he is not sure whether the set received later is the one he sent in the past.
A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned that during the "3.15" period last year, the China Academy of Inspection and Quarantine and the State Grid Corporation of China jointly carried out a "comparison test of household beauty instruments". Safety and other aspects of testing.
Among them, the Stop Eye test of Chupu beauty instrument did not meet the standard, and the temperature during use exceeded 60℃, which had a great risk of scalding.
market
A wide range of beauty products
Prices range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars
According to the company's data, there are 84,000 beauty instrument-related companies in my country, and more than half of them have been established in the past three years.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily searched on the e-commerce platform with the keyword "beauty instrument", and there were more than 60,000 results.
In terms of efficacy, it includes lifting and firming, body care, anti-acne and lightening, moisturizing, whitening, etc.
The price ranges from a few hundred yuan to ten thousand yuan, and there are not a few that sell more than ten thousand yuan per month. The price of the top 5 products in the hot-selling list is generally between 2000-6000 yuan.
The main categories are micro-current beauty instrument, phototherapy beauty instrument, radio frequency beauty instrument, iontophoresis beauty instrument, etc.
So, how does a home beauty instrument work?
How is it different from a medical beauty instrument?
Dr. Fang Fan of Beijing Air Force General Hospital introduced to the reporter of Beiqing Daily that the medical beauty instrument is a kind of machine that uses scientific principles to adjust and improve human tissue and physiological functions.
According to its functions, it includes whitening, skin rejuvenation, freckle removal, firming, hair removal, fat reduction and so on.
From the perspective of equipment requirements and operation qualifications, it can be divided into medical and household beauty instruments.
The volume of beauty equipment has gradually developed from huge to medium and small.
Fang Fan explained that the micro-current beauty instrument uses micro-current stimulation to improve human muscle function.
When used on the face, the facial muscles are also stimulated and exercised, resulting in a firmer state.
However, this is passive tightening, which is weak and has nothing to do with fine lines, wrinkles, or texture.
Most of the phototherapy beauty instruments use low-energy visible light, such as red or blue light, to play an anti-inflammatory repair or sterilization effect.
Red light can reduce pain and improve inflammation by increasing mitochondrial function.
Blue light is mainly used to treat acne.
The American Academy of Dermatology considers light therapy to be safe, and unlike laser therapy, it does not cause significant damage and pain to the skin.
But experts warn that the long-term effects of these devices are still unknown; others believe that prolonged exposure to blue light may cause hyperpigmentation, and that it actually has a limited effect, possibly only for mild acne.
Radio frequency is actually an electromagnetic wave. When it acts on the skin, it can heat the local area. The controllable thermal damage will lead to subsequent tissue regeneration and remodeling, so as to achieve the purpose of firming and wrinkle removal. It can also stimulate the production of collagen. Helps resist the damage of photoaging, is the most attractive anti-aging technology.
The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery believes that radiofrequency skin tightening is safe, but if done incorrectly, you may get burned, and the most common side effects include temporary swelling, redness, and tingling.
remind
Lack of professional medical evaluation
There are risks in the use of beauty device treatment
Fang Fan introduced that the differences between home beauty instruments and medical beauty instruments are mainly reflected in power, function, safety and price.
In terms of power, under the same technical principle, the power of home beauty instruments and medical-level beauty instruments is very different. For example, the LED phototherapy instruments in medical beauty institutions have thousands of light sources, while most home phototherapy instruments have less than 30.
Compared with the Thermage, which is a professional radio frequency treatment, the Thermage's instantaneous output power can reach 400W, which makes the dermis shrink and promotes the formation of a large amount of collagen.
The power of home radio frequency instrument is generally only 10W.
Functionally, different medical beauty instruments have different energy settings, which can treat individual skin problems in different modes to achieve better results.
The home beauty instrument is aimed at the general population, and its professionalism is insufficient, which determines that the parameter and mode settings must be as simple and easy to use as possible, which further limits the effectiveness of the device.
In terms of safety, generally qualified equipment is safe, but medical-grade equipment will have stricter safety design, and will be operated after being evaluated by professional doctors, which can fully consider the indications and contraindications of individual skin.
Relatively speaking, the treatment process of home beauty instrument lacks the evaluation link of professional doctors, and there may be certain risks in operation and precautions.
Fang Fan said that medical beauty instruments will have the approval of health supervision departments at all levels, regular inspections, and industry guidelines and recommendations, and will continue to improve in terms of safety.
It is difficult to form industry opinions in the evaluation of home beauty instruments.
"It needs to be emphasized that the core of medical beauty is always the operation of the doctor, not the instrument." Fang Fan pointed out that regular home beauty instruments can be used as the support and supplement of medical beauty instruments to help achieve better results, but it needs to have Certain medical knowledge, and adhere to long-term standardized use, and do not have high expectations.
However, in addition to the formal medical beauty instruments and home beauty instruments, there are also a large number of unlicensed beauty equipment on the market. The promotion of these products may be quite different from the products themselves, and their safety and efficacy are impossible to talk about.
It is understood that according to the existing classification standards, household beauty devices are classified as personal care appliances, and are not managed as medical devices.
The safety standard "GB/T36419-2018 Household and Similar Skin Beauty Devices" specially formulated for household beauty devices is relatively broad, and there are no specific standards and specifications for many technical parameters, and they are not mandatory.
In April 2021, the State Drug Administration issued a notice on soliciting opinions on the "Guidelines for the Classification and Definition of Radio Frequency Beauty Products" (Draft for Comment).
The notice clarifies that three types of radio frequency beauty products will be managed as medical devices.
Text / Our reporter Song Xia Coordination / Chi Haibo