How to Use a PureLift Device, Step by Step
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
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Clean skin, a generous water-based serum, ten minutes, working upward and outward, with three minutes per side as the maximum.
This article walks through the routine step by step, such as:
- Before you start
- The serum
- Choosing your level
- The routine
- The two modes
and many more!
Everything else is detail, and the detail is below.
Key Points:
Levels 1 and 2 are nanocurrent and microcurrent and contract nothing; level 3 is where the muscle starts to move.
The mirror is the check: if the muscle is visibly contracting, you are doing EMS.
Three minutes per side is the maximum on every model, and the session ends itself at ten minutes.
Always work toward the ear and then down the neck, never downward along the jaw.
Reapply serum the moment the probe starts to feel sticky rather than smooth.
Before you start
Cleanse and leave the skin slightly damp rather than bone dry. Remove makeup properly, since foundation sits between the probe and your skin and raises resistance.
Have the device charged. Some devices reduce output as the battery falls rather than cutting out, so a weak-feeling session late in the week is worth checking against the charge.
Sit somewhere with a mirror and decent light. You want to see the contraction, and you cannot judge it in a dim bathroom.
Keep no exfoliating acids or retinoids on the face; a device session distributes them far more thoroughly than they were formulated for.
The serum
Any water-based serum works, including the one already on your shelf. Water and the salts dissolved in it are what carry the current, so oils, balms and thick creams are the wrong texture and will make the session feel weak.
Apply generously. More than feels sensible, and to the whole area you are about to work rather than in small patches.
Reapply during the session as soon as the probe starts to drag. A dry patch raises resistance there and pushes the current toward whatever is still damp, which is the opposite of what you want.
Choosing your level
Ten levels on one dial. Levels 1 and 2 are nanocurrent and microcurrent, which sit below the motor threshold and do not contract anything; they are the right band for skin-level work and the right place to start on your first week.
Level 3 is where the current crosses the motor threshold and the muscle begins to contract. Levels 3 to 10 are EMS, and the check is visual rather than sensory: watch the mirror.
Sit at a level you can hold comfortably for ten minutes rather than the highest you can tolerate. The muscle does not respond better to being punished, and a level you dread is a level you will skip.
Move up one level at a time, and only after the level below has been comfortable for several sessions.
The routine
Start at the jaw, at the chin, and work outward along the jawline toward the ear. Slowly; most people move about twice as fast as the contraction cycle wants.
Then the cheek, from the corner of the mouth up and outward toward the cheekbone and the temple, following the direction the tissue has drifted away from.
Then the neck, if your model's instructions cover it, drawing downward toward the collarbone. The neck is the drainage exit and it is the step people skip.
Complete one side, then the other. Three minutes per side is the maximum, and the ten minute session ends on its own.
Never drag downward along the jawline. That direction is wrong for the muscle work and wrong for drainage.
The two modes
Lift mode is the muscle work described above.
Infuse mode runs Infusion and iontophoresis together: Infusion opens temporary routes through the outer skin layer and iontophoresis moves charged ingredients along them, with the mechanism set out by Prausnitz and colleagues (10.1073/pnas.90.22.10504). Use a serum whose ingredients you actually want delivered, and never a strong active.
Afterwards
Wipe the probe with a damp cloth and dry it before putting the device away. Residue raises resistance over weeks and is a common reason a device seems to weaken.
Apply your usual moisturiser. Save retinoids for later in the evening or the following night.
Expect the face to look fresher for a few hours; that is drainage, and it fades. The cumulative work is slower and invisible week to week.
How often, and for how long
Four or five sessions a week is a sustainable pattern, and consistency matters more than intensity.
Kavanagh and colleagues ran a 12-week protocol and measured an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness across 108 women (10.1111/jocd.12007). Twelve weeks is the honest horizon; three weeks tells you nothing.
Photograph monthly in the same light, at the same distance, with the same expression.
Before you use it at all
Read the instructions for your model, since the contraindications are there rather than here. If you are pregnant, have an implanted electrical device, or are being treated for a condition affecting the skin or nerves, ask a qualified professional first.
Do not use it over broken skin, an active cold sore, or anything inflamed.
For which technology sits at which point on the dial, see how the nine PureLift technologies work.