The hand-held facial nano-mist device is probably one of our favourite purchases! We suffer from dry, itchy skin all year round. If it’s not the air conditioning and heat pumps bringing on the dry, itchy skin, it’s the seasonal allergies and dry heat in spring and summer. These facial nano-misters have been helping in keeping the skin from drying out too much. It seems to help keep the face clearer more often, too: a spray of mist has been enough to stop minor irritation which means oily hands are kept away from touching and itching the face and thus less chances of causing breakouts.
There are a number of brands that make nano-mist spray devices. We went with an iBeauty one: this one seem to be the device most of the online stores sold. It also didn’t cost very much. It was just a little over US$8 each! We didn’t get to choose the colour as colours were randomly decided by the online retailer. We ended up getting sent the gold, but they are also available in white and pink.
This device is a super handy device and provides a strong, fine mist to the skin using any thin liquid of your choice. The only issue we had with the device is how we couldn’t use rechargeable batteries. We’ve never compared the non-rechargeable batteries we had to the rechargeable ones, but the positive terminal of the rechargeable batteries we had were flatter and had a less of a bevel than the non-rechargeable batteries. This difference created a contact problem between the positive terminal and the contact plate for the first slot.
In front of the contact plate is a flap of plastic that’s cut to allow enough of the rounder positive terminal of the non-rechargeable battery to touch the plate. We put in non-rechargeable alkaline Energizer AAA batteries. The device worked. We put rechargeable NiMH Eneloop AAA batteries, the device didn’t work. As mentioned above, the first slot of the iBeauty device was the problem. To make the connection better, we had to get a precision knife to carve out some plastic. We don’t recommend doing this as the circuit board could easily get scratched if you were to slip whilst trying to slice through the hard plastic—which for one of the devices, we probably hit something as it worked for a period, but then died. *cries* The other iBeauty device is still working, but the battery for the first slot must be installed in quite a specific way to get good connection. It takes a few tries, but once the battery is installed in this specific way, the device works again.
So, with one device dead and another only working after a few tries installing batteries, we decided to go back online and get another one. This time, we looked for one where there was no plastic in front of the contact so that no matter what the shape the positive terminal is, there wouldn’t be this battery connection issue. We got the Pritech匹奇 nano-spray. It cost a little more (a little under US$12), but Eneloop batteries worked with the Pritech匹奇 device no problems! Yay!
iBeauty vs. Pritech匹奇
We were pretty happy with the iBeauty (pictured left above) spray, despite it the battery issues. It had a nice strong, cooling mist; so, the when we used the Pritech匹奇 nano-spray (pictured right above), we noticed how its spray strength is not as strong. The Pritech device gives off quite a wispy type of mist, so we find we have to hold it quite close to the face to feel the mist. Sometimes, after opening the top of the device to refill, the spray strength gets even weaker, like the tank’s empty or the battery is low. To get a stronger mist, we have to use the Pritech device a second time before the spray strength returns to normal. In comparison, the iBeauty’s spray is strong. It can be felt 30cm away.
The weaker spray strength of the Pritech匹奇 device might have been to do with the fact that it only uses two AAA batteries compared to iBeauty’s four.
The Pritech匹奇 device has a larger liquid capacity, though, which we really like. It means less frequent refills. The Pritech匹奇 device has a 14ml capacity compared to iBeauty’s 3.5ml. It’s quite a difference! We haven’t counted how many 45-second sprays the Pritech匹奇 can do before needing a refill, but it’s definitely at least double, maybe even triple the number of sprays of the iBeauty device. With the iBeauty device we’ve counted that it can do about three 30-second sprays, before needing to be refilled.
Refill the Pritech匹奇 device is easy as well. You can pour liquid straight from the bottle the liquid comes in into the 23mm cylindrical tank. Refilling the iBeauty device requires a bottle with an eye-dropper nozzle to fill the small tank through a small 80mm hole. (Fortunately, we didn’t need to buy a bottle with such a nozzle as the device comes with one as well as a protective case, which is nice!)
We find we have problems filling the tank of the iBeauty device to full. An air bubble always develops as liquid is being squeezed into the tank. Sometimes if we tilt the device or jab at the air bubble to pop it, we can fill it almost to full, but most of the time, we can only get it to maybe 3/4 full. So, a 3/4 full tank drops the number of refills to maybe two and a half before needing to refill.
One thing we like about the iBeauty is that it can be cleaned. The tank is removable and can be rinsed. It does take some effort, though. To get the tank out, you have to uncap the tank then lift it out from the top with your nails or some short, mini flat screwdriver. The plastic cover that goes over the tank doesn’t flip out of the way, so you have to be very careful not to snap the cover off when trying to lift the tank. Once the tank is out, you can also wipe clean the nozzle as well.
With the Pritech匹奇, we can only rinse the tank, but not clean nozzle inside. Maybe it doesn’t need cleaning/wiping?
Functionality-wise, both the devices uses a sliding mechanism to release the mist at the front. The entire front part of the iBeauty slides down, revealing the nozzle that releases the mist. The Pritech匹奇 has a small rectangular slider at the front that you slide down. No huge difference in this area, just the sliding is a lot smoother on the iBeauty.
To tell when the device is on, the iBeauty has a band of light in the centre that lights up. When it is low on battery, it will blink. When the Pritech匹奇 device is on, the band around the device’s centre and a diamond-like piece under it lights up blue and white (respectively). The band that lights up blue blinks when the Pritech匹奇 is low on battery.
In terms of size, the two devices are similar in height—11cm (iBeauty) and 10cm (Pritech匹奇). The Pritech匹奇 is a little bulkier, with a depth of 3cm compared to iBeauty’s 2.5cm; but it is not as wide, with Pritech匹奇 width at 3cm, and iBeauty’s width at a little over 5cm. Both would fit nicely in a small compartment of a bag or a side clothes pocket.
If you don’t mind using non-rechargeable AAA batteries, the iBeauty device is a great one. When we got it working, we were carrying it everywhere. It helped hydrate the skin and keep it from drying out. Only when one of the devices died and the other made it difficult to get it working again after taking out and reinstalling the batteries did we decide to get the Pritech匹奇 one.
The Pritech匹奇 is weaker in spray strength and sometimes needs a second use to build up its mist, but once it does, it does its job. We like that it holds more liquid and it’s easier to refill. It’s great that it not only uses the rechargeable batteries we had, but we have spares to replace the two when it needs recharging!
Just some information on what you can fill the nano-spray. It can be any thin liquid—so water, rose water, diluted apple cider vinegar, maybe a thin toner. With water, it is recommended that the devices are filled with filtered water to avoid clogging the nozzles. We have filled the devices with tap water and both devices works fine, but we’ve not filled it with tap water for a greater number of uses. (We like to fill it with rose water and have stuck with rose water with these devices. It seems to keep the skin hydrated, smooth and clearer, so we’ve stuck with it.) So, we don’t know the effects tap water has on the nozzles long-term. It’s probably better to stick with filtered water, especially if your tap water is quite hard and has the potential to clog the devices’ nozzles.
iBeauty nano-spray and the Pritech匹奇 nano-spray are such great discoveries. Love!
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