Do We Believe in the $6,000 Lyma Laser Pro?
If you haven’t heard of the Lyma Laser, you’ve definitely seen it: the black cylindrical, handheld beauty tool complete with red light. It’s not a mask or sculpting device — it’s a laser that promises to make your skin look glowier and more plump. (Aren’t all the serums and creams enough?) It promises to treat concerns like scarring, hyperpigmentation, and wrinkles. It’s painless, easy, and portable, promising results from a traditional heated laser without stressing the skin out. Unlike an LED mask, laser light therapy claims to penetrate the skin on a deeper level. All that, and it has a long list of celebrity fans, including Hailey Bieber (our skin queen), Martha Stewart, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cynthia Erivo. But is it really worth the hype?
The first Lyma Laser debuted in the U.S. in 2020 for $2,695, and earlier this year, the company launched a Pro version of the device for $6,000. It’s the same technology with a bit more power (1,000 MW to be exact) fit into the larger lens (30 centimeters versus eight centimeters), sizable enough to not only cover the face and neck but also the full body. We tried it on three different skin types for over two months, and here’s what we think of the $6,000 tool.
Lyma Laser Pro
So how well does the Lyma Laser Pro work on different skin types?
➼ April Long
➼ Carol Lee
➼ Asia Milia Ware
April Long, beauty and wellness journalist
Did you try the OG Lyma Laser?
When the first Lyma Laser launched in the U.S., I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, partly because I was so wowed by before-and-after photographs I saw of founder Lucy Goff’s knees (seriously — look them up). But when I received a Lyma to test, I couldn’t get with the program. The suggested protocol involved applying a serum before treating the whole face (or wrinkly body part) for 15 minutes. But because the laser didn’t glide very well and would just get gunked up and stuck in the serum, I lost enthusiasm pretty quickly. I used it about five times before giving up.
What do you think of the Lyma Laser Pro?
The Lyma Laser Pro, however, is a game changer. It covers a much larger surface area than the OG, so it’s easier and faster to use. Also, you simply hold it over an area of concern for three minutes (with or without serum) rather than trying to slide it around continuously for a longer treatment. My only demerit is that the device signals the end of each three-minute treatment by flashing a white light, which you can’t see if you have it pressed to your face. If I was doing my nightly Lyma sesh in front of a mirror, this wouldn’t be a problem. But since I prefer a couch-potato practice, I have to set a phone timer to go off every three minutes, which annoyingly disrupts my Netflix flow.
Did you see any results?
I’ve been using the Pro almost every evening for three months, focusing on my under-eye area and cheeks, jawline, neck, and knees. It takes about 25 minutes, but if I’m too tired for the whole shebang, I’ll just do my neck. While I have not seen a major transformation, I have been getting consistent compliments on my skin. After a week, a friend at dinner asked if I had just had a facial. A week after that, my sister asked if I had started using some kind of magical new makeup primer or foundation. Even my husband, who is used to me doing all kinds of things to my face in the name of beauty journalism, said, “Your skin looks really good,” completely unprompted one day. I haven’t changed anything else in my regimen.
If I squint, I can see a difference. The biggest difference I’ve seen is that my skin overall is less red. Less obvious is that I think the area around my jaw and under my chin does look slightly more taut. My knees are unchanged, but their elephantine condition may take longer to reverse. Compliance is the key to efficacy with any home beauty device — and although I kind of hate to say this considering the choke-on-your-own-spit price of the thing, the Lyma Laser Pro is the most user-friendly one I’ve ever used. I’m going to keep going — and by next spring, who knows? Maybe you’ll see me in a miniskirt.
Carol Lee, beauty writer
Did you try the OG Lyma Laser?
Yes, and call me George Washington, because I cannot tell a lie — I like the Pro version better than the original.
What do you like better about the Lyma Laser Pro?
Both do the same exact thing, but the convenience factor of having one that covers more surface area and cuts down on the time needed to treat your whole face is huge. With the OG, it could take up to an hour for me to feel as though I’d covered every inch of my face. For that reason, although they serve different functions, I was much more likely to grab a red-light face mask when I felt like giving my skin a light treat. The Pro still requires a bit of an arm workout (it’s also heavier), and it’s not as precise for spot-treating, but it gave me 30 extra minutes a night to doomscroll using two hands instead of one.
Did you see any results?
Because I don’t have wrinkles just yet, I can’t speak to if either of the Lyma devices helps with those. However, the reason I love them is because I notice that my rosacea and rosacea-related breakouts are calmer and heal more quickly when I’m consistently using the cold laser. I don’t even think Lyma claims that its products help with that, but that’s why I keep them around and pull them out when I can tell my skin is freaking out (or is about to).
Would you buy it?
I don’t think I can, in good conscience, say that everybody needs to save up months of pay and splurge on this tool — especially when the smaller version is half the price and has the same technology or when it might make more sense to get a few rounds of in-office lasers and microneedling instead if you want visible results faster. However, if you just happen to have $6,000 lying around and have confidence in yourself that you can devote 30 minutes every single day to using it, I think it’s something that can be an asset in a skin-care obsessive’s arsenal. It’s for sure not a need, but it is a nice-to-have.
Asia Milia Ware, beauty editor
Did you try the OG Lyma Laser?
Yes, I did, and it helped improve my hyperpigmentation with consistent daily use. I didn’t like the products it came with, though — they left my skin sticky and pilled a bit.
What do you think of the Lyma Laser Pro?
The bigger the better, right? In this case, yes (when it comes to results, not price). Because the new lens takes up more space on the skin, it cuts down the time tremendously, and for someone who can be a bit lazy with tools, I’m always going to sign up to cut time. The technology is the same, so there isn’t much to compare there. But outside of the heaviness, I like the larger size because it’s also easier to use on body parts where I need more skin tightening than on my face.
Did you see any results?
Let me be very honest. Luckily for me, I’ve been having a very good skin season, and for the past couple of months, I haven’t had many skin concerns. Hyperpigmentation is usually my main skin issue, but thanks to my consistent use of sunscreen and my obsessive routine, it’s not something I’ve been experiencing lately, so it wasn’t something I could test this time around. I also don’t have many wrinkles yet. But has my skin been plump and appearing healthy? It has been. And as someone who has been on more planes than I can count in the past month, I’d consider that a win. Outside of my depuffing wand for my under eyes, this is the only tool I’ve used. I’m excited to keep using it on my body. I can’t say I’ve seen a difference in the tightening over the past five weeks, but it’s something I plan on keeping in my body routine.
Would you buy it?
Spending $6,000 on anything requires deep thought in my world. The only way I would justify a beauty purchase with this price tag would be if it’s equivalent to a treatment you were planning on getting. For me, I’ve been really into radiofrequency for skin tightening on my body (heat technology to stimulate new collagen production) at the Body Lab in Brooklyn. One customized sculpt session including radiofrequency is $180. It would take me 33 sessions to spend $6,000, but perhaps I’d cut down on treatments to splurge on a daily treatment at home with my laser since it’s easy. For the face, even though it cuts down on time, for anyone with skin conditions like sun damage and hyperpigmentation or wrinkles that you’d rather treat through light therapy, I think the OG is fine. But if you’re like me and don’t have much to treat, hold on to your money or splurge on an in-office treatment every now and then.