This At-Home Skincare Tool Combines 5 Types of Cutting-Edge Technology
From microcurrent and LEDs, we’ve all been talking a lot about at-home devices. But a new cutting-edge tool just arrived from Asia that’s as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife and as innovative as Tesla. Meet the Dr. Arrivo Ghost Premium.
In all my years as a beauty editor, I’ve never come across a device that infuses so much technology into one treatment. And it is so effective; you only need to use it once a week. It’s an investment at $1720, but if you consider the number of at-home devices you’d have to buy, not to mention the space they’d take up in your bathroom drawer, to get everything this offers, it’s easier to justify. And it’s also less expensive than what you’d spend on regular professional in-office treatments that employ just one or two of these modalities.
DR. ARRIVO GHOST PREMIUM
BEST FOR: All skin types
USES: Increases firmness and tone in the skin, treats acne, minimizes pore size, reduces the appearance of fine lines, heals age spots and pigmentation.
PRICE: $1720
ABOUT THE BRAND: The Japanese-based company was founded in 2009. When designing the device, they gathered recommendations from more than 100 doctors as their goal was to create a technology that achieves the same cosmetic effect at home as you’d get in a MED spa.
The Five Types of Technology
The ability to choose between one or multiple treatments simultaneously with a simple push of a button is what makes this device so desirable. Here’s a rundown of what’s on the menu:
- Mid-Frequency Interval Pulse (MFIP): Mid-frequency interval pulse is meant for toning and lifting your skin. It combines three powerful technologies: electrical muscle stimulation, interval pulse, and radiofrequency. Because it is intense, MFIP should only be used once a week.
- Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS): You may be familiar with electrical muscle stimulation as this is what at-home microcurrent devices like NuFace use. Small currents are delivered to your skin to stimulate your facial muscles and essentially give them a workout to help tighten and reduce sagging.
- LED Light: The device has three LED lights (light-emitting diodes) to tackle multiple skin issues. You don’t feel anything during the treatment, but these powerful LEDs are making an impact. The blue LED targets acne and pore size.1 Red promotes blood flow and reduces the appearance of fine lines.2 Green works on healing pigmentation and age spots for a more even skin tone.2 Use one color at a time or have an LED party as it can emit all three at once.
- Medium/High Frequency: The Ghost device uses the highest radio frequency possible for at-home use to target collagen and elastin fibers and strengthen the skin’s deeper layers.
- Ultra Pulse: This is a painless electrical pulse that helps serum penetrate deeper into the skin and maximize its effectiveness.
The Design: Expensive and Ergonomic
SHOP
The Ghost is the Gucci of beauty tools. It’s adorned with Swarovski crystals, has shiny buttons, and comes in three colors (red, black, and gold). The oversized head covers enough territory to treat sizeable areas of your body but is easy to manipulate to target smaller sections on your face and neck.
It comes with their beauty serum, which you apply before using the device. Once that runs out, you can replenish it or use another serum (like a hyaluronic acid serum) to prep your skin before starting the treatment.
A convenience to this all-in-one handheld device is that while many others such as the NuFace offer add-on attachments as an upsell, this contains everything you need, so you don’t have to purchase additional attachments. It’s ergonomic and easy to manipulate on your face, neck, and body.
The Feel: Varies Depending on the Treatment
If you’ve experienced a microcurrent treatment, you’ll feel the same prickly tingling sensation on your skin when using the MFIP and EMS modes. It doesn’t hurt, and if it’s too strong, you can dial down the intensity. If you’re just using the LED mode, you don’t feel anything, but the light is bright, so you’ll want to close your eyes when applying it around the eye area.
How To Use: A Slight Learning Curve
Like many souped-up electronics, this takes a minute to learn. The directions are not as user-friendly as I would have hoped, so I searched for the Dr. Arrivo Ghost Premium on YouTube and found a helpful tutorial with subtitles that filled in the blanks. Once you figure out what each button does, it’s easy to operate, and you quickly get the hang of it. The overall action is to gently press down on one section of your skin for five seconds and then move on. It’s important to note that before you use the device, you need to take out your contacts, remove your jewelry, and prep your skin with their beauty serum (or any serum with a high-water content).
The Results: Each Treatment is Different
If you’ve got a big event to attend and want an instant result, use the EMS setting as you may notice that it gives your skin an immediate lifted effect that fades about 24 hours later. The real change shows up with consistent usage. You’ll start to see cumulative results from the EMS setting after 6-8 weeks. With LED, it’s typically 4-6 weeks to see a visible improvement, and with the radio frequency setting, it will be closer to 6 weeks.
Final Verdict: Worth it
It’s worth it if you’re willing to commit. To get the best overall results, you need to use the Ghost Premium for 10 minutes once a week at the most powerful setting or 10 minutes a few times a week on the less intense setting. While this requires dedication, it can end up saving you money that you would have spent on similar pro treatments. And if you care about streamlining your skincare devices, this one is the most versatile option as it allows you to customize each treatment according to how your skin is behaving that day.
