beauty

'I tried the new face device that's supposed to replace 8 products. Here are my honest thoughts.'

Mamamia’s Tried and Tested series is your review of the latest to hit our desks in beauty, health and wellness. You won’t find any #sponsored content here, just honest, relatable and independent advice. This week, Beauty & Health Editor Erin Docherty road tested the TheraFace PRO device.

If you're a girl with persistent neck pain (hello, please take a seat), chances are you're very familiar with the old Theragun. How we were able to function before this device is... unclear. 

So you can imagine my excitement when Therabody (the brand behind Theragun) recently launched a new device – this time, for your face.

It's called TheraFace PRO, and it's marketed as a revolutionary eight-in-one device that replaces a whole heap of different devices in your routine.

It also happens to be a winner of Allure's Reader's Choice Awards — so when the device and attachments sauntered their way across my desk, I knew it was worth trying.

Watch: You know what else I tried? Putting 10 pumps of foundation on my face. Here's how it went.


Video via Mamamia.

Now, just on my skin – I feel like it's necessary to give you a little bit of a background. (Oh, come on – I'll be quick, promise). But basically, I recently came off the pill after 12 years, and my face... it has been very mad.

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For the better part of three months, I've struggled with some pretty gnarly hormonal breakouts – specifically of the cystic kind (yay). Like, not the cute whiteheads you can stick a pimple patch over. I'm talking about the type of spots that feel like they have their own heartbeat/nervous system, hurt like hell and absolutely refuse to be squeezed or covered.

These guys:

This is the situation. Image: Supplied.

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Now, I'm not exactly mad about it (I am), because at least it offered up the perfect canvas to trial the TheraFace device.

Here are my honest thoughts.

What is TheraFace Pro?

Oh, yes! A good place to start. On the website, the TheraFace Pro is described as a "relaxing facial massage meets the facial therapies you love". 

We do love!

It promises to "save time and counter space" with "all-in-one routines for everything you face daily".

Using the technology behind the popular Theragun device, this multi-tasker is meant to help reduce tension and relax facial muscles, while also offering the benefits of skin-toning and rejuvenating thanks to micro-current and LED light therapy.

In short, you can combine and customise different treatments to suit your individual skin concerns.

Hello, new friend! Image: Supplied.

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It costs $599, which includes the handheld device and eight attachments. 

Certainly not cheap, I know, but when you think of how many different treatments it actually includes, the #girlmath kind of makes it pretty... reasonable?

Speaking of the attachments, here's what you get: three 'percussive therapy' heads (flat, cone and micro-point), a micro-current ring, an LED light (with red light, blue light and red and infrared light), and a cleansing attachment. 

The attachments and the device itself all come in a black zip-up bag, with little compartments for each.

All of the attachments! Image: Supplied.

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I also received the TheraFace Hot and Cold Rings ($99), which come separately in a teeny cute little baby esky-type bag.

See? Looks like a teeny baby esky and I'm here for it. Image: Supplied.

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These promise to reduce puffiness under the eyes, as well as tension, pain, and inflammation, with three temperature options per ring.

How did you go with it?

First off, the head of the device is magnetic, so it makes it super easy to pop all these different attachments on and off.

Obviously I've been dealing with some really angry skin, so my primary goal was to go ham on the LED light ring attachment and spot treat the s**t out of my breakouts, primarily with the blue light treatment.

And sweetie, I did. I really did. 

I don't think I've ever gone so hard on the LED light and *actually* been consistent with it (apart from the months leading up to my wedding).

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Because, while I'm lucky enough to have a couple of LED masks kicking around my beauty cabinet, I'm wildly inconsistent with actually... using them, mostly because I forget to charge them and want to sit and watch TV/eat without the roadblocks of a mask.

For this reason I was a really big fan of the Theragun for light treatment – it's portable, effective and easy to use.

I shifted in between the red light (mainly for tackling wrinkles), blue light (great for acne) and the red/pink light.

However, the greatest improvement I saw was in my breakouts. The light not only helped clear them up, but tackled the red marks and scabs leftover from me absolutely *annihilating* my face with squeezing (do as I say, not as I do, etc, etc).

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Within the space of two weeks, I have to say, my skin looked clearer, brighter and way less angry.

Before and after. Image: Supplied.

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But the LED rings weren't the only star of the show.

You see, my husband suffers from something called TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder, which is basically persistent pain in his jaw joint and the surrounding muscles.

This means he regularly experiences pretty intense headaches and ear/neck pain, and has been prescribed daily exercises by his physio to help with pain management.

Now, this is where the little percussive therapy heads came in.

He's been using these different attachments to target the pressure points in his face (the 'cone' is his favourite attachment for the jaw joint because it's 'intense' but 'gentle') and you guys, he loves it. We recently went on a weekend trip away, and he brought it with him – which says a lot, because he only ever brings, like, a pair of shorts and one shirt.

He tells me he's noticed a dramatic improvement in pain and tension, which makes me wonder why we didn't think about trying something like this sooner.

The 'cone' attachment was a hit. Image: Supplied.

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But apparently it's not just his jaw that's f**ked up. Cute!

According to my dentist, I've also been clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth a little too much, because I'm ✨stressed AF✨ and I also started using these mini-Theragun-like percussive attachments. And they did wonders for the tension in my face and jaw. Everything feels looser. Not as hurt-y.

In terms of the other skincare attachments, my other favourites included the micro-current device.

I'm a fan of the FOREO and NuFace devices, however, similar to my LED light masks, I'm terrible with consistency and commitment.

In saying that, each time I used the attachment I did notice a difference in terms of the contour and tone of my face. I used the highest setting each time (like the absolute bada$$ that I am), along with the conductor gel you get with the device, and found that each time everything just looked lifted, tighter and... better? 

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The verdict.

All in all, I found the device really easy to use, and the number of different attachments meant all areas of my skincare routine were sufficiently covered.

I'd have to say that out of all the attachments, I probably used (and will continue using) the percussive therapy heads, the LED light and the micro-current heads the most. I also used the hot and cold rings pretty regularly for when my skin/eyes were feeling puffy after any late nights (not kids) (just partying).

While the cleansing ring is gentle enough to use daily, my skin is quite sensitive – I've never really been a cleansing brush fan for this reason, so this is probably the one attachment I used less. 

However, as with all the attachments, your preferences would really depend on your skin type and what kind of concerns you wish to tackle.

Overall, while the device is a pretty hefty investment and is by no means cheap – especially in this financial climate (see: cost of living) – if you're someone who is partial to a few different beauty devices and has a slew of different skincare concerns you're wanting to tackle, something like this may be up your alley.

Cya.

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So, if you've been shopping around for a few different devices and haven't quite settled on which ones you want to go for just yet, this all-in-one number is a convenient way of ticking all the boxes.

Just remember, consistency is still key!

Have you tried the TheraFace Pro device? What are your thoughts? Share them with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Supplied/Erin Docherty

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