The Philips Lumea 9000 is the premium at-home hair removal experience: cordless, four smart attachments and a skin-tone sensor, at £450 to £500. The FAUSTINA 3IN1 costs £220 and does something the Lumea does not attempt: skin rejuvenation and blemish care alongside hair removal, with lamps you can replace. Pay double for polish, or half the price for versatility. Here is the honest detail.
Head to head
| FAUSTINA 3IN1 | Philips Lumea 9000 (BRI957) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £220 (list £240) | £499.99 official, around £450 street; the older BRI955 dips near £330 |
| What it does | Hair removal + skin rejuvenation + blemish lamp | Hair removal only |
| Total flashes | 1,500,000 across three replaceable lamps | 450,000, sealed unit (Philips: equivalent to 39 years of use) |
| Smart features | Skin-contact safety sensor, 5 manual levels | SmartSkin sensor recommends a setting; app guidance; 5 levels |
| Attachments | Interchangeable lamps (HR, SR, AC), one window shape | 4 area-shaped attachments: body, face, bikini, underarms |
| Cordless | No, mains powered | Yes, corded and cordless modes |
| Skin tones | Light to medium, caution on deeper tones | Same physics: not for very dark skin, not for white/grey/light blonde or red hair |
| Warranty | 2 years | 2 years, extendable by 3 more on registration |
| Money back | 40 days on unopened devices bought direct | Retailer dependent |
Where the Lumea 9000 is genuinely better
It is the most polished hair-removal-only device you can buy. Cordless freedom matters more than people expect on backs of legs and awkward angles. The four shaped attachments genuinely fit faces and bikini lines better than a one-shape window, and the SmartSkin sensor choosing your intensity removes the guesswork a first-timer feels. Philips also backs registration with a five-year total warranty, which is the best in the category.
Where the FAUSTINA 3IN1 is genuinely better
Less than half the price. £220 against £450 to £500 for the current 9000 series. That difference funds a holiday, or simply stays in your pocket.
Three functions, not one. The Lumea removes hair, full stop. The FAUSTINA also carries a skin rejuvenation lamp for sun spots, tone and visible redness, the lane with real independent coverage from Penn Smith and Natural Kaos, plus a blemish lamp. See the rejuvenation guide for what that is worth.
Replaceable lamps. Both devices carry finite flashes. The Lumea's 450,000 are generous but sealed; when they are gone, so is the device. FAUSTINA lamps swap out at £60 each, and the device starts with 1.5 million flashes anyway.
The bottom line
| You | Buy |
|---|---|
| Want the most polished cordless hair-removal device and the price is fine | Philips Lumea 9000 |
| Want hair removal plus skin rejuvenation without buying two devices | FAUSTINA 3IN1 |
| Want the category result at half the spend | FAUSTINA 3IN1 |
| First device, nervous about settings | Lumea's auto-recommendation helps; the FAUSTINA's five levels starting at 1 do the same job manually |
FAUSTINA 3IN1
£220 £240
Three lamps, 1.5 million flashes, five levels, UK stock, 2-year warranty.
See it at labotest.co.ukHere for skin, not hair?
£260
The FAUSTINA 3SR carries three skin rejuvenation lamps for tone, sun spots and visible redness work only.
See the 3SR