If you’re anything like me, then you want to look your best with as little effort as possible. As a female nutritionist and certified personal trainer, I know how important it is to take care of your body. There are so many different components to health and wellness that can affect your appearance, your mental health and how you feel physically. A few years ago, I started focusing on my skincare and beauty routine a bit more. Gone were the days of having youthful and glowing skin with no effort. I started to see wrinkles and fine lines popping up, and things like the sun were starting to have a negative effect on the health of my skin.

I’m a firm believer that you need to have the right products on hand to help keep your skin healthy and looking beautiful, but there are some other tools that have been used by professionals to reduce signs of aging, speed up the production of collagen, heal blemishes and promote a more even skin tone. Not everybody can afford to schedule routine appointments with a professional. Personally, I don’t like having to attend all those appointments when I already have so much going on. I came across at-home microcurrent devices, and I was immediately intrigued.

I want to introduce you to two highly rated microcurrent devices that provide the same results that professionals have been helping their clients achieve for more than 20 years now. Let’s get started on the path to healthier and younger looking skin by talking about the Solawave Skincare Wand and the LightStim device.

Table Comparison of SolaWave vs LightStim Microcurrent Devices

Overview of Solawave Skincare Wand

The Solawave multifunctional skincare wand combines the use of red-light therapy along with microcurrents, therapeutic warming and massage to help improve the quality, condition and appearance of your skin. Despite using low voltage power, the Solawave Skincare Wand can get deep down into the inner muscles and tissue of your face and neck to reduce signs of aging like fine lines, wrinkles, dark circles and blemishes. Therapeutic warming increases blood flow to the surface of your skin to heal your pores, heal damage that has occurred from the sun, oxidative stress and free radicals while also helping you to relax. It’s like a spa experience from the comfort of your own home.

The user-friendly design of the Solawave Skincare Wand is the real star of the show. It’s shaped like a razor that you would use to shave your legs, but there’s a lot more benefits from this beauty tool. It turns on as soon as it touches your skin, and an automatic shutoff feature preserves power. The head of the unit rotates 90 full degrees to make it easy to reach all the different contours of your face and neck. It’s a cordless device that can be charged using a micro-USB port.

The Technology

Let’s break down the Solawave Skincare Wand into its four different technological components so you can better understand all that it can accomplish as part of your beauty routine.

How to Use It

Before you begin, make sure that you have washed and dried your face. There is a renew complex serum that you can use from the Solawave brand to help prepare your skin for your treatment. Simply glide the wand across your face and neck in an upward and outward movement. The areas to target are under the eyes, forehead, cheeks and lips, but it can be used anywhere on your face and neck. The unit will turn on when it makes contact with your skin and turn off when it’s not in use. Your treatment should take place for at least five minutes at a time.

What I Like

I really like how user friendly the Solawave Wand is. It’s really small, so it fits comfortably into the palm of your hand. It turns itself on and off, and you can comfortably reach all of the different areas that you want to treat. Plus, you only have to perform sessions that are five minutes at a time, so you don’t have to set aside a ton of time to keep up with your microcurrent therapy.

What I Don’t Like

Because it’s a small, handheld unit, you can’t really treat large areas at one time. If you were using one of those larger devices that covers most of your face at once, that would require a lot less effort. That being said, some people might prefer to target small areas where they see the most help.

Overview of LightStim

LightStim utilizes different wavelengths and colors of light to provide rejuvenating therapy to areas that have fine lines and wrinkles on them. The more you use your LightStim, the more you’ll reap the benefits of plump, youthful and healthy-looking skin. According to the brand’s website, 100 percent of the people who have tried LightStim as part of a clinical study have seen a dramatic improvement in the appearance of their wrinkles. It can be used on areas such as the forehead, crow’s feet, cheeks, nasolabial folds, jawline and the lips. This is a professional-strength unit that has been cleared by the FDA.

The Technology

The LightStim device utilizes advanced NASA LED technology to emit multiple wavelengths of colored light. Working together, these wavelengths will give your skin a much more radiant and youthful appearance. The light emitting diode that is used in the construction of this device is non-invasive, doesn’t result in any pain like a lot of laser treatments do and you’ll reap the relaxing benefits of the gentle warming sensation that is produced during a treatment. There are 72 LEDs total, included wavelengths of amber, light red, dark red and infrared.

How to Use It

To start your LightStim treatment, you simply place the wand on an area of your face that you want to treat. The light will remain on for three minutes and then the unit will beep. This is a signal to move the device to another area of your face or neck, where you will hold the unit in place for another three minutes. You continue with this process until you’ve covered all of the areas you want to treat. There is a photoserum product made by LightStim that will help increase your chance of beneficial results.

What I Like

I can’t question a brand that claims their product produced 100 percent beneficial results for those who were using it during a clinical trial. The price point for this product is a little higher than some of the other units out there, but you’re covering a larger area at one time, there are a lot of LEDs included in the design and there are products from LightStim that you can use with your microcurrent device.

What I Don’t Like

I don’t love the size of the LightStim device. It’s much larger than the Solawave’s design, making it a little bulky to use. Also, this device is corded, so you have to situate yourself near a power source in order to complete your treatments.

Comparing Cost and Overall Value

There is a pretty substantial price difference between the Solawave Wand and the LightStim device. You can purchase the Solawave Wand for $149 on its own, but the brand also offers a package deal with the wand and Renew Complex Activating Serum for $181. There are other devices and skincare products sold by the Solawave brand, and you can view them on the company’s website (https://solawave.co/pages/shop-product/).

If you’re more interested in the LightStim device, the cost is $249 and free shipping is included. It’s a more expensive option, but you have the option to break the cost down into four different payments if that’s easier for you to afford. If you want to use any of the other serums or products from LightStim, those must be purchased separately.

I think you get a lot of value from the more affordable Solawave Skincare Wand. It’s substantially less in price, but it essentially offers the same potential results. You can’t cover as large of an area with the smaller head design, but the treatment process only takes five minutes. That’s compared to LightStim’s process, which utilizes three minutes on just one area of your neck or face at a time.

Comparing Technology

Both of these devices utilize light therapy to help turn back the hands of time. They can be used preventively to keep wrinkles and fine lines at bay, but these are also useful tools if you’re in your 40s, 50s or beyond and want to treat some of the damage that has been done over the years.

Solawave has the four-in-one approach using microcurrents, therapeutic warming, facial massage and red-light therapy. LightStim is a light energy device that utilizes multiple wavelengths (colors) of light. It has a slight warming effect.

Comparing Results

As with any skincare or beauty product / device, results are going to vary from person to person. This isn’t necessarily because of the product used, rather it depends on age, skin type, the current condition of the skin, age and so much more. What I can say is that as a women’s health advocate, trainer and nutritionist, I’m motivated by the fact that LightStim has 100 percent positive results for the clinical studies that were performed using their device. That being said, Solawave has a 4.9 star rating out of five stars on their website, with 89 percent of their reviews being extremely positive.

Comparing Ease of Use

As I mentioned earlier, I like the size of the Solawave wand. It’s very compact and allows you to easily move the device around your face and neck without losing your grip. The LightStim unit is a little bulkier, and you have to worry about plugging it in during your treatments. Otherwise, moving both of these devices around your skin is quite an easy process.

Main Differences between LightStim and Solawave

What stands out to me with these two devices is their price. If I were someone that had never tried a light therapy device before nor had they visited a professional for a similar treatment, I’d be more apt to try the Solawave Skincare Wand. It’s under $200 and has some really great reviews. The LightStim device also boasts impressive results, but it doesn’t have all four of the features that Solawave has. Think about what you’re trying to treat, the areas you’re targeting and the price that you’re willing to pay before you make a final purchase.

Which is Better: Solawave or LightStim?

It’s really hard to say which microcurrent device is the best option for your situation, since everybody has a different experience. I love the affordability of Solawave’s Skincare Wand, but LightStim isn’t that much more of an investment. I like that LightStim has a lot of experience with their light therapy tools. They even have a device that assists with pain. Solawave knows what they’re doing with skincare and have other products to complement your device. Weigh the pros and cons of each device, considering what you hope to accomplish with the use of a microcurrent device at home. Whichever product you chose, you’re still going to be saving a ton of money by not having professional treatments performed. However, you’re still getting professional results.

Conclusion

It’s inevitable that time is going to result in the skin on our neck and face sagging, wrinkling, developing fine lines and even becoming discolored. As a professional in the nutrition field and working with my personal training clients, I encourage the natural shift towards aging. There’s nothing wrong with embracing the years as they pass. That doesn’t mean you have to give in to all of the changes that occur. You can still look and feel your best thanks to proper nutrition, exercise, a healthy lifestyle and some of the best skincare and beauty products around.

I’ve personally fallen in love with these microcurrent and light therapy skincare devices, and I think the Solawave Skincare Wand and the LightStim device are two of the best. They’re so incredibly easy to use, they’re effective and they cost just a fraction of what you pay in a spa or dermatologist’s office. Consider purchasing one of your own handheld devices today, to see how youthful and glowing of a complexion you can achieve in a short amount of time.