Beauty devices are big business right now: whether you’re loyal to a traditional jade roller or a sucker for anything that’ll tighten, brighten or mildly electrocute your face, there’s a high chance there’s at least one facial tool nestled on your dresser.
And as technology continues to creep out of the clinics and into our homes, the offerings continue to advance – often with hefty price points to match. It’s not uncommon to spend more than the average monthly mortgage on an LED mask or lifting microcurrent device – but one buzzy newcomer in particular is offering the best of both worlds.
You might already be familiar with Solawave: the brand has been floating around the social-media sphere for a while (including many A-list accounts) and indeed its before-and-afters do command you to stop scrolling.
What is the Solawave?
The 4-in-1 Skincare Wand is the star of the small but growing Solawave line. This remarkably slim (seriously, you can slip it in your cargo-pant pocket) metal wand might be small, but it combines several powerful skin technologies to deliver impressive benefits with a five-minute daily treatment.
Solawave 4-in-1 Skincare Wand with Red Light Therapy
First, there’s the LED. the Solawave wand features a slim head filled with red light diodes that do appear much brighter than most other torch-style treatment pens on the market. Red LED is the crowd-pleasing colour: studies have supported its ability to stimulate the fibroblast cells, which in turn leads to increased collagen production.
Then, the microcurrent. The factor largely responsible for those remarkable ‘after’ shots, this technology works by sending small electrical pulses through the muscle fascia of the face, training them to tone up.
You’ll need to slather your skin in a water-based (not oil-based, as oil blocks the current) serum in order to facilitate conduction, or you’ll feel pricks akin to an elastic-band flick as it hits the surface of the skin. Solawave offers its own Renew Complex Activating Serum, but anything water-based (a glycerin or hyaluronic acid serum is ideal) will work just as well, so don’t feel compelled to add another bottle to your collection. (I use La Roche Posay's Hyalu B5 Serum, which works a treat.)
But the best part here is that results are largely instantaneous: work across your face in an upwards and outwards motion, and you’ll notice higher eyebrows and cheekbones. While the effects aren’t permanent, it's a brilliant thing to call on before a big event (or, indeed, the morning after one).
The third and forth technologies sit more in the pampering camp than the performance one, but you'll be happy to have them anyways. The ‘therapeutic’ warmth essentially means the head heats up as you perform your treatment, which feels especially relaxing after eight hours of screen-squinting. Combined with the gentle vibrational massage, the lymphatic system is boosted and puffiness gradually drains away.
It’s fair to underestimate a tool of this size when it comes to power – but the Solawave wand actually boasts the same strength (if not higher) microcurrent as the bulkier devices on the market – it emits over 300 microamps of current, to be precise – and the LED is powerful enough to bring about actual skin-brightening benefits.
So, do you need one? If you’ve already bought an LED mask or pen, and have a microcurrent device on your bedside, I don't think it's essential you add this one into your roster (although it’s fair to say Solawave does win on size, convenience and practicality).
It’s not the best thing out there for acne either – if breakouts are your main bugbear, look to the brand’s Bye Acne device instead, which uses bacteria-neutralising blue light alongside the red. (Or, even better: get yourself a digi prescription from Get Harley, but I digress...)
The Skincare Wand also won’t reverse hyperpigmentation or completely banish acne scarring. But! The lifting, toning, face-revitalising benefits? They're real. And, considering this is something no topical product (trust me, I've tried) will actually deliver on, I'd say that makes the Solawave a worthy investment. Regular, consistent use leads to sharper, higher facial contours and genuinely visible radiance. Think: perkier skin, not an intensely resurfaced complexion.
So, if you’re after an all-over skin boost and are yet to experience the tightening, brightening effects of these two buzzy skin technologies, I'd say this is the wisest thing to invest in now – after all, any beauty benefits that can be worked into the evening's Netflix marathon are surely worth jumping on.
