Sun spots, freckles, age spots and the uneven tone of a face that has had its summers are what Lumecca was built for. It is FDA-cleared in the US for benign pigmented lesions (harmless brown marks), including freckles, hyperpigmentation and melasma (patchy brown pigmentation). Brown pigment absorbs the flash of light, heats and breaks up; the spot goes darker over a few days and flakes away within one to two weeks, leaving the skin its own colour. Usually three sessions about four weeks apart in our practice, 20 to 30 minutes each, on fair to olive skin, at Lumecca Clinic, 130 Harley Street, with the price in writing at a free consultation.
What it clears
- Sun spots and age spots: the flat brown marks on the cheeks, temples, chest, shoulders, arms, legs and backs of the hands; the clearest responders in our experience.
- Freckles: cleared or faded; they return with sun, so sunscreen is part of the plan.
- Uneven tone: the overall mottling of sun-damaged skin, treated across the whole area rather than spot by spot. In a 2010 study of IPL in 24 women, one side of the face treated and the other left as the comparison, four sessions took the doctors' score of sun damage from 3.02 to 1.22 and 21 of 24 rated the result excellent or good.
- Melasma: on the label, but assessed by the doctor first, because it can darken with light; treated conservatively if at all.
A raised mole, a spot that has changed, or anything that has bled needs a dermatologist's assessment before any light is used, and is never treated as a sun spot.
The evidence
A review of 54 Lumecca patients' photographs from 27 clinics, collected by the manufacturer, found improved pigment with no significant side effect, at lower energies on darker skin. For intense pulsed light as a class, a 2025 analysis of 41 trials reported good to excellent results with IPL in 74.6% of treated facial areas and 90% of treated hand areas, both from one trial, and a 2022 review of 16 studies found an average course of 4.3 sessions. The worth it page weighs each study.
The session and after
Skin cleaned, eyes covered, a cool gel, and the window flashed across the area, a snap like an elastic band each time; most people have it without numbing cream in our practice. The skin is pink and warm for a few hours, the spots darken for a few days and flake away within two weeks. Four weeks out of the sun before and after each session, and sunscreen every day, in our practice. The sessions page sets out the course.
Who it suits
Fair to olive skin, types I to IV in the manufacturer's guidance, I to III and some IV after a patch test in our practice, with no current tan. The darkest skin types are advised a different treatment, and the dark skin page explains why. The forehead, the area around the eyes, the neck, the chest, the hands, the arms, the shoulders and back, the abdomen, the buttocks and the legs are treated the same way, each on its own page. The neck and chest page covers the neck, the chest and the hands together.
Not sure you are suitable? Ask the clinician, it is free
Book a free consultation
Call Lumecca Clinic on 0207 043 8149 or use the form below. The clinician looks at the spots, grades your skin type and gives you the course price in writing.
