Every Branded Gel in This Category, and What Each Costs Per Session
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, Fisioterapeuta, Doctor en Terapia Física
Doctorado en Terapia Física (DPT), Fisioterapeuta Licenciado (PT)
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El Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile es Doctor en Terapia Física y CEO y Fundador de Xtreem Pulse LLC. Obtuvo su Doctorado en Terapia Física en Daemen College y aporta más de dos décadas de experiencia clínica y empresarial en terapia física pediátrica, terapia craneosacral e innovación en dispositivos médicos. Su profundo conocimiento de la anatomía humana, la fisiología muscular y la tecnología terapéutica ofrece un enfoque invaluable respaldado por la ciencia para la rejuvenecimiento facial y soluciones antienvejecimiento.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Director Médico, Clínica de Medicina Regenerativa y Antienvejecimiento | Médico Certificado por la Junta | Escuela de Medicina de Dartmouth
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La Dra. Bertica M. Rubio es una médica certificada y Directora Médica de la Clínica de Medicina Regenerativa y Antienvejecimiento en Redlands, California. Obtuvo su licenciatura en Ciencias en la Universidad Loyola Marymount y su título de Doctora en Medicina en la Escuela de Medicina de Dartmouth (Geisel School of Medicine). Completó su residencia en pediatría en el Centro Médico UC Irvine.
Con décadas de experiencia clínica, la Dra. Rubio se especializa en medicina para el manejo de la edad, medicina regenerativa, cicatrización de heridas y terapias con factores de crecimiento. Su práctica integra la ciencia médica basada en evidencia con tratamientos estéticos y regenerativos avanzados, ayudando a los pacientes a alcanzar una salud óptima y vitalidad juvenil.
La Dra. Rubio siente pasión por educar a los pacientes sobre la ciencia detrás del cuidado de la piel, el rejuvenecimiento facial y las tecnologías no invasivas como EMS (Estimulación Eléctrica Muscular) para el tonificado facial. Sus artículos para PureLift LAB combinan un conocimiento médico riguroso con orientación práctica para lograr resultados reales y duraderos.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Otorrinolaringólogo y cirujano de cabeza y cuello certificado | Miembro, Colegio Americano de Cirujanos | Profesor clínico asistente, Escuela de Medicina Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS, es un otorrinolaringólogo certificado por la junta y cirujano de cabeza y cuello en ENT and Allergy Associates en West Nyack, NY. Obtuvo su título de médico en la Facultad de Médicos y Cirujanos de la Universidad de Columbia, completó su residencia en Otorrinolaringología en el Centro Médico de la Universidad de Nueva York y es profesor clínico asistente en la Escuela de Medicina Mount Sinai. Es miembro de la American College of Surgeons y de la American Academy of Otolaryngology.
La perspectiva quirúrgica de cabeza y cuello del Dr. Grinberg ofrece a los lectores de PureLift LAB una visión clínica más amplia, conectando la práctica de EMS en casa con la anatomía médica subyacente con el mismo rigor científico que aplicamos a cada especificación del dispositivo.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Cátedra de Angiología, Hochschule Médica de Brandeburgo | Director de Clínica, Clínica Universitaria de Angiología, Hospital Universitario de Brandeburgo | Ex Consultor Senior, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlín
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El Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann es Catedrático de Angiología en la Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane (MHB) y Director Clínico de la Clínica Universitaria de Angiología en el Hospital Universitario de Brandeburgo. Completó su formación médica en la Universidad de Hamburgo, fue becario de la Sociedad Max-Planck en el Instituto Max-Planck de Investigación Cardiaca y Pulmonar, y ocupó cargos de consultor senior en la Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Campus Virchow antes de ser nombrado Catedrático en la MHB en 2016.
El Prof. Buschmann es una de las principales autoridades europeas en arteriogénesis — el crecimiento y remodelación de los vasos sanguíneos impulsados por el flujo — con más de 150 publicaciones revisadas por pares y varias patentes en EE. UU. y la UE sobre dispositivos que estimulan el crecimiento de vasos colaterales mediante terapia controlada de tasa de cizalladura. Su investigación conecta la estimulación mecánica y eléctrica con la adaptación vascular, la microcirculación y la perfusión tisular.
Las contribuciones del Prof. Buschmann aportan a los lectores de PureLift LAB una perspectiva de biología vascular que complementa nuestra autoría clínica, de fisioterapia y de anatomía quirúrgica existente — explicando cómo la estimulación EMS activa no solo los músculos faciales sino también la microcirculación que los abastece, y por qué la administración inteligente es tan importante a nivel del flujo sanguíneo como en la contracción muscular.
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Nine brands in this category sell their own conductor, prices run from $15.99 to $100 a bottle, and not one of them publishes how many sessions a bottle delivers.
This article covers what actually decides the answer, such as:
- what every named conductor costs, by size
- which brands require one and which merely recommend it
- why a per-session figure cannot be calculated honestly
- the subscription discounts and what they tell you
- what to use instead where the brand allows it
and many more!
We sell a serum too, and we will tell you plainly that you do not need it.
Key Points:
NuFACE Aqua Gel runs $35 for 1.69 oz, $55 for 3.3 oz and $80 for 10 oz, with a silk creme at $100, and its FDA file lists a gel primer as a special requirement.
ZIIP gels run $29.99 to $79.99, FOREO's conductor is $41.90 with the SUPERCHARGED serum at $59, Therabody's is $29.99 and Skin Gym's is $24.
7E Wellness sells ReStore at $14 for 2 oz, $27 for 4 oz and $75 for 16 oz, and states that gels are non-returnable.
TriPollar's activator runs about $53 a bottle per treatment cycle, NEWA's is $29 and Silk'n's slider gel is $15.99 for 6 oz, the cheapest of the group.
Not one of these brands publishes how many sessions a bottle delivers, so every cost-per-session figure in this market, including ours, is an estimate.
The full list
NuFACE Aqua Gel Activator at $35 for 1.69 oz, $55 for 3.3 oz, $80 for 10 oz, plus a Silk Creme at $100 and a serum activator at $49.
ZIIP conductive gels from $29.99 to $79.99 depending on formula.
FOREO's conductive serum at $41.90, with the SUPERCHARGED Serum 2.0 at $59.
Therabody conductive gel at $29.99 for TheraFace PRO.
Skin Gym conductive gel at $24, described by the brand as required.
7E Wellness ReStore at $14, $27 and $75 across 2 oz, 4 oz and 16 oz, with ReNu and other formulas alongside.
Solawave LightBoost activating serum at $38, not included in the box.
TriPollar activator gel at roughly $53 a bottle, stated to last one six to eight week cycle.
NEWA lift activator at $29 single or $55 for two, and Silk'n slider gel at $15.99 for 6 oz.
Required or recommended
NuFACE's FDA file lists a conductive gel primer under special requirements, and the gel holds its own clearance, so the pairing is designed in.
FOREO states that BEAR 2 must be used with a conductive serum.
Skin Gym's FAQ says gel is required for proper conductivity and comfort.
Solawave describes its serum as what conducts the current and gives the wand its glide, while not including it in the box.
TriPollar, NEWA and Silk'n all supply a gel with the device and sell refills, which is the ordinary RF arrangement since those devices need a thermal couplant rather than only a conductor.
Why nobody can give you a real per-session figure
A per-session cost needs three numbers: the bottle price, the volume, and the volume used per session.
Every brand publishes the first, most publish the second, and not one publishes the third.
Usage varies with how generous you are, how large the treatment area is, how dry the room is and whether you reapply mid-session, and that variation is larger than the price differences between brands.
So treat any confident cost-per-session number you see, from anyone, as an assumption wearing a decimal point.
What can be said honestly is the range: a few hundred dollars a year on any device that requires its own conductor.
What the subscriptions tell you
Several of these brands offer a subscription at a discount of around a quarter off.
A subscription is a reasonable convenience and it is also a statement about where the brand expects its margin to come from over the life of the device.
A cheap device with a required consumable and a subscription attached is a different financial product from an expensive device with none.
We have set out the two-year arithmetic separately, and on the closest comparisons it can close most of a $300 gap in sticker price.
What to use instead
Where the brand does not lock you in, a plain water-based hydrating serum does the same physical job, and we have written a separate piece on how to test the one you already own.
Look for water or aqua as the first ingredient and no heavy oils or silicones near the top of the list.
Where the brand does lock you in, as Droplette does with its capsules by its own statement, there is no workaround and the running cost is simply part of the purchase.
Buying a larger size is usually the single biggest saving available, since the 16 oz options run at roughly a third of the per-ounce price of the smallest bottle.
Where we sit
PureLift devices work with any water-based serum you already own, and our Activator Serum is one option rather than a requirement.
We say that in the product specification rather than only in the marketing, because a device that works only with its own bottle is a subscription with a handle attached.
If you want to use ours, it is there; if you want to use the hyaluronic serum on your shelf, the device is specified to work with it.
That is a deliberate design decision and it costs us money, which is the only reason it is worth anything as a claim.
This comparison sits inside our full map of the category, where we set out all 33 devices we track, what each one carries and what each brand publishes: Nine Technologies on One Dial, What the Rest of the Market Actually Carries.
Prices and pack sizes checked on 21 September 2026 against each brand's own shop.