The One

This Painless, At-Home Laser Kit Will Take Years Off Your Face

The Lyma device isn’t cheap, but your skin will display major results in a couple of months.

The hand-held Lyma laser skincare device.

Photographer: Janelle Jones for Bloomberg Businessweek

The beauty industry is notorious for painful trends and treatments that quickly become obsolete. Primitive microdermabrasion methods have given way to chemical exfoliation, and microcurrent treatments, which deliver electrical pulses to tighten muscles, are now all the rage. Lip and cheek fillers were popular for years, but these days everyone in Hollywood is getting them dissolved in favor of less invasive ways to look young.

Lasers, meanwhile, have remained standard in respected dermatology offices for more than a decade. The technology was developed half a century ago for hospitals to rebuild cartilage and heal tendons. Adapted cosmetically, the treatments—low pain, little downtime—were effective but expensive. And you had to keep going back to make sure the myriad wrinkle reduction and tone-evening benefits would last. With the handheld Lyma laser, you can get results without even one visit to a clinic.