The Best Personal Care Devices: Skincare and Grooming at Home

The NuFACE Trinity+ is an FDA-cleared microcurrent device built around two rounded metal probes that deliver current through a conductive gel, which NuFACE says reaches the 69 muscles of the face and neck. The three treatment levels work at different depths, from an instant-lift mode to Pro Toning, the deepest, plus a boost button that raises output by up to 25 percent. T3’s reviewer got more than a week of daily use per charge, and NuFACE backs the device with a two-year warranty and a 60-day return window. The starter kit sells for $395 on Amazon, the same price NuFACE charges direct.

T3 gave the Trinity+ its Recommends Award after its reviewer saw cheeks that looked plumper and lifted immediately after longer 20-minute sessions, a change T3 calls temporary. The same review flagged real friction: the current stung on sensitive spots at first, and the activator gel is a recurring purchase on top of the device. Commitment is the honest limitation, since NuFACE prescribes five sessions a week, five minutes each, for the first 60 days before tapering to maintenance, and results fade when the sessions stop. NuFACE’s own step up is the Trinity+ Complete Set at $595, which adds red-light and lip-and-eye attachments; the step down is the Solawave elsewhere in this guide, a cheap way to test the habit.

The Solawave wand, sold as the 4-in-1 Radiant Renewal Wand, packs four modalities into a pen-sized, aluminum-finish handle: 630nm red light, a mild galvanic current, low-level warmth, and massage vibration, with the light coming from seven dual-core chips that Solawave markets as 14 LEDs. Solawave lists 3-minute sessions per treatment area, about 12 minutes for a full routine, and up to 90 minutes of battery per charge, about seven treatments. Coverage runs to a one-year warranty with a 60-day money-back guarantee. List price is $169, and it typically sells for $130–170 on Amazon.

Independent measurement sets expectations here. Light Therapy Insiders metered the wand and found the wavelength accurate at 630.2nm but irradiance of just 8-10 mW/cm² against the 40-45 mW/cm² claimed in the manual, so each session delivers less light than the spec suggests. The same review found the pen-sized build makes daily treatments time-consuming enough to become tiresome, and its verdict was blunt: anyone buying primarily for red light should consider other devices. What the wand still earns is its price: it is the cheapest credible way into device skincare on this page. For dedicated full-face light therapy, the Omnilux Contour Face costs $395 and covers the entire face with 132 medical-grade LEDs at 633nm and 830nm in hands-free 10-minute sessions.

The RENPHO Eyeris 1 is a heated massage mask for tired eyes: Renpho quotes a comfortable 107°F warmth, sub-45-decibel operation, and a 180-degree foldable design that packs down for travel, while Pocket-lint’s review adds three pressure settings and a 104-107°F heat band. A built-in Bluetooth speaker can play whatever audio you queue during the 15-minute auto-off session, a bonus rather than the point. Pocket-lint reports six 15-minute cycles from a full charge of the 1200mAh battery, with a 2.5 to 3 hour recharge. Against a list price around $100, it usually sells for $50–60 on Amazon.

Pocket-lint’s reviewer called it a favorite small luxury of 2024 for screen-strain headaches and pre-sleep wind-down, crediting the heat and massage for easing eye-strain tension and stress, while being clear it managed migraine triggers rather than stopping a migraine outright. The dated details drew the criticism: the reviewer’s unit charged over micro-USB with no wall adapter in the box, and the touch controls proved sensitive enough that a remote helps, which newer bundles now include. Spending more buys biometrics: Therabody’s SmartGoggles, $219.99 at list in second-generation form, add a heart-rate-responsive relaxation mode plus dedicated temple massage for users who want the mask to adapt to them.

The Oral-B iO Series 5 brings Oral-B’s magnetic iO drive down to a $119.99 list price, and it typically sells for $95–120 on Amazon. Oral-B lists five brushing modes, from Daily Clean through Whitening, plus a 2-minute timer that pulses every 30 seconds. Its pressure sensor signals too hard, too soft, or just right instead of only flagging excess force. The box includes a hard travel case and a magnetic charger, though only a single brush head, and Bluetooth links the handle to Oral-B’s app for coaching that matters most in the first weeks of correcting technique.

Budget the heads honestly, because they outlast the discount on the handle. A genuine four-pack of iO Ultimate Clean heads is about $40 at Target, and Oral-B’s own store sells them only in twos at $29.99, so buying direct works out nearer $60 for four.

Tech Advisor’s review praised the quiet running and cleaning performance and singled out the light-ring sensor for flagging too little pressure as well as too much, something new to the iO range. Charging drew the criticism: a full charge takes around 12 hours and lasts up to two weeks, because the faster 3-hour charging is reserved for the iO Series 7 and above. Tech Advisor also noted replacement heads cost about $30 for four, an ongoing expense. The step up is the iO Series 9, $329.99 list and often about $220 on promotion, which adds an interactive color display and 3D teeth tracking; whether a toothbrush needs a screen is exactly the question this cheaper handle answers.

The Shark FlexStyle is a 1,600-watt dryer and styler whose head pivots with one twist, so the same machine rough-dries hair and then curls or smooths it. Shark lists five attachments in the HD430 kit, among them two 1.25-inch auto-wrap curlers plus oval and paddle brushes, and says the system measures air temperature 1,000 times per second to keep heat consistent. An 8-foot cord and a two-year limited warranty round out the spec sheet. Because each curler wraps in a single direction, reversing a curl means swapping attachments. List price is $349.99, discounts are frequent, and it typically sells for $250–300 on Amazon.

In The New Knew’s head-to-head with the Dyson Airwrap, which costs hundreds more, the FlexStyle came out ahead on points, drying half the reviewer’s head 17 seconds faster and setting curls that held longer through the day. The same comparison did not spare it: attachments can get too hot to handle mid-style, the FlexStyle runs hotter than the Airwrap, and the motor registered 95 decibels against the Airwrap’s 84. Listed weight is a near tie, 1.54 pounds versus 1.5 for the Dyson. The reviewer still called the quieter, more refined Dyson the better machine, with 4 barrel options across size and length; the FlexStyle’s case is winning most of the results for a fraction of the price.