Tria 4X laser hair remover - anyone have any experience of this?

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I'm looking for a permanent solution for both thick and fine dark fast-growing facial hair. I've tried salon IPL which was ok but too expensive to keep going back. I was thinking of getting a Phillips Lumea but the Tria 4X came up in my searches and is supposed to be more effective than IPL. But it's supposed to hurt more...anyone know how painful this is? Any advice on the best permanent solution?

Anyone??

I "treated" myself to the Philips lumea and I have definitely seen a reduction in hair. It's not painful in the slightest and so quick and easy to use. I'd recommend it but it's expensive. Also, it works best on lighter skin and darker hair so it doesn't work for everyone. I haven't even heard of the other one you mentioned but anything with pain puts me off!!

I went for the tria and it's been great for me (pale skin/dark hair). It's not especially painful and I'm so used to it now, it doesn't hurt even on the highest setting. When I started off it did sting a bit (like being snapped with an elastic band on the high setting, but completely minimal on lower ones). It took quite a while to do each leg. But now my leg, armpit and bikini line hair is much finer and slower growing. I top up roughly every 3 months and might shave every 2 weeks or so. Not sure if that's a permanent outcome, but I'm very happy I got it.

Ooh thanks Wombat that sounds ok. Did you use it on your face?

I use the Philips. I didn't get the tria because of the teeny tiny head. The IPL window on the tria is weeny, about the size of a 10p, the Philips one is at least twice that so will take half the time. Especially important on larger areas like legs.

My results (and skin/hair colour) are the same as wombat.

How was it on your face, Frick?

Good. I got the one that comes with a smaller head for facial use. I don't know the model. I think it was about £450 but I paid £350, it was on offer in Boots.

I posted the same in another thread last week.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/2767254-Which-Lumea
I found the Tria better than the Lumea, including for facial hair.
It still isn't as fast as good recent salon treatment, but it has actually made the sort of difference I expected.
It does sting a bit more than the Lumea, but I am used to that anyway from salon treatments on high settings, plus I used to use an epilator before I had any laser treatment, and because I'm mostly using it for topups on areas that have very little hair left, it doesn't sting as much as the salon stuff did.

The only "new" area I used either on was armpits. I'm not bothered about a bit of armpit hair as appearance, but now I had a gadget at home I thought I'd try it because it would make me a bit less sweaty and cut down on shaving.
The Tria has made a difference faster (the Lumea didn't really make a visible difference on me there) but not nearly as fast as salon treatments would have.

If you have particularly stubborn thick hair then the Tria is probably better but a lot of people seem to be fine with the Lumea.

Ooh thanks Penny, I think the Tria is the one!