How It Works

The EMSTIGHT Method

Fifteen minutes.
Hands free.
It switches itself off.

You put it on, press one button and get on with something else. No timer to watch, nothing to hold against your face, no gel to wash away afterwards. Here is exactly what happens in those fifteen minutes — for the patches and for the Face Mask.

15Minute session
automatic

8Modes on the
patch devices

5Intensity levels
on the Face Mask

What is actually happening on your face

EMS stands for electrical muscle stimulation. The small gold host unit sends a low-level electrical pulse through a conductive layer and into the skin, and you feel it as a light tapping or fluttering just under the surface. That is the entire mechanism. No heat, no needles, nothing abrasive, nothing to recover from.

Where the two halves of the range differ is what carries the current. On the patch devices the hydrogel patch is the conductive layer — it works on clean, bare skin with nothing underneath it. On the Face Mask the conductive layer is a sheet printed with fine silver tracks, designed to be worn over your own skincare.

EMSTIGHT devices are cosmetic beauty devices. They are not medical devices, they are not intended for any medical purpose, and no medical outcome is promised or implied.

The Face Mask: two ways to wear it

The manufacturer's manual gives two methods and both are correct. Pick whichever suits the skincare you already own — the EMS Sheet Mask goes on top either way.

Method One

Over your own sheet mask

Cleanse and pat your face dry.
Put your favourite sheet mask on as you normally would, smoothing out any air bubbles.
Take an EMS Sheet Mask from its sachet, unfold it and lay it over the top. Line up the eye, nose and mouth openings and press it to the contours of your face.
Clip the host unit onto the two magnetic studs.
Hold the button about two seconds to switch on. Each short press after that moves up one level, 01 to 05. Start at 01.
Leave it. Fifteen minutes, then it switches itself off.
Lift the EMS Sheet Mask off first, then your own sheet mask, then massage in what is left.

Method Two

Damp, over your serum or moisturiser

Cleanse and pat your face dry.
Apply your usual serum or moisturising lotion, a little more generously than at bedtime. This layer helps carry the current, so it should not be fully absorbed before you start.
Dampen an EMS Sheet Mask with pure water. Damp, not dripping.
Smooth it onto your face, lining up the openings and pressing it flat.
Clip the host on, hold for two seconds, start at level 01.
Fifteen minutes, then it stops by itself.
Lift the sheet away and massage in what is left underneath.

Why there is always something underneath. The EMS Sheet Mask is not a treatment mask — there is no serum in it. It is the conductive layer, and it needs a damp surface to pass current evenly into the skin. That is why both methods put something wet beneath it. A dry sheet on dry skin will not conduct properly, and the session feels weak or patchy.

The host unit is not waterproof. Wipe it, never rinse it, and keep it away from alcohol, makeup remover and solvents. It charges in about twenty minutes over USB. If it is sitting unused in a drawer, top it up every couple of months.

The patches: peel, clip, press

Nothing goes underneath a hydrogel patch. No serum, no gel, no moisturiser — the gel itself is the conductive layer, and anything applied first sits between it and your skin.

Clean and dry the skin properly. Cleanse off makeup, SPF and the day's oil, and let the skin dry completely. This step matters more than any other — see section 05.
Peel the clear film off the patch, and keep the film. You will want it again in fifteen minutes.
Clip the gold host onto the two metal studs. The eye and cheek patches are handed: the one printed LEFT goes on the left side of your face. The forehead is different — it is covered by one single wide patch, not a pair.
Press the patch on so the whole gel surface meets skin, then run a fingertip over every part of it. An air gap concentrates the current in one small place — that is what a sharp or stinging sensation usually is.
Hold the power key about three seconds to switch on. M cycles the eight modes; + and − adjust the intensity. Start low and climb until it is clearly noticeable but comfortable.
Fifteen minutes, then hold the power key for three seconds to switch off.
Peel each patch away gently, press the clear film straight back on, and store it somewhere cool and dark.

Where each patch goes

The eye patch curves around the outer eye — one arm along the brow bone, the other sweeping beneath the eye toward the temple. The forehead patch spans the brow in a single placement. The cheek patch is the most versatile in the range, because its broad fan shape follows more than one contour:

The cheek and mid-face
Smile lines and around the mouth
Along the jawline
Under the jaw, onto the upper neck

Two limits that always apply to the cheek patch. Never place it on the lips or inside the mouth. And when you use it on the neck, keep it beneath and behind the jaw — never on the front of the throat, away from the windpipe and the pulse points at the front of the neck.

The devices do not run while they are charging.

What it feels like the first time

Expect a light, rhythmic tapping, a flutter, or a faint pins-and-needles feeling as the pulse comes through. At a comfortable level you can feel the muscle respond. It should never be sharp, stinging or hot — if it is, switch off, lift the patch or sheet, reseat it properly and start again a level or two lower.

The Face Mask has a contact check built in, and it surprises people. If a magnetic stud is not seated, or the silver tracks are not properly touching skin, the device drops itself to level 01 within about five seconds and shuts down after around thirty. That is not a fault. It is the device telling you the contact is not good enough — take it off, re-wet or re-smooth the sheet, and reconnect.

Changing the intensity part-way through does not restart the clock. The session still ends at fifteen minutes, and the manufacturer does not recommend running a device longer than that in one sitting.

How many sessions do you get out of one?

The host units are not consumables. They recharge over USB and are built to be kept. It is the part touching your skin that wears out.

EMS Sheet Masks

We recommend up to three sessions each

Handled carefully, we recommend getting up to three sessions from each EMS Sheet Mask. Five sheets come in the box, so one box covers up to fifteen sessions.

Rinse gently in cool water afterwards. Do not scrub, and never fold, crease or stretch the silver conductive tracks — those tracks carry the current across your face, and once they are scratched or lifted the sheet stops conducting evenly. Lay flat to air dry, away from heat and sunlight, and store dry.

Retire a sheet when it will not sit flat, when the tracks look damaged, or when a session feels weaker than usual. One person's use only, and never reuse a sheet worn on broken or irritated skin. Replacement packs of five are £19.

Hydrogel patches

Clean skin is what buys you the extra sessions

The patches are considerably more reusable than the sheets, and how much more is largely down to you. Two things end a patch's life: stickiness and conductivity. They go together, because both depend on the gel staying clean and intact.

Every trace of oil, makeup, SPF or moisturiser the patch lifts off your skin stays in the gel. Apply to properly cleansed, dry skin every time and they keep going for a long run of sessions. Apply over the day's SPF a few times and you will notice the difference quickly — the patch stops gripping, and the current stops passing evenly.

Film back on straight after use, stored cool and dark, never left to dry out in a warm room. Replace them when they no longer stay put, or when a session feels weak even at a higher level. Replacements are £19 per area — a handed pair for the eye and cheek, a single wide patch for the forehead.

Before your first session

These are electrical stimulation devices, and they are not for everyone.

Do not use them at all if you are under 15, or if you have an implanted electronic medical device such as a pacemaker or defibrillator, an artificial heart or lung, or wear a medical electronic instrument such as an ECG monitor.

Speak to a doctor first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a heart condition or abnormal blood pressure, have a malignant tumour, are unwell, feverish or taking medication, have a skin condition or infection, or have reduced sensation in the skin.

Never place a patch or sheet on the eyes themselves, the lips or inside the mouth, any mucous membrane, the front of the throat, directly over the heart, or on broken or unhealed skin. Stop immediately if the skin becomes red, itchy or uncomfortable.

The full list is in our FAQ, and the manual supplied with your device always takes priority over anything on this page.

Choose your coverage

The range is organised by how much of the face you want to treat. Every device runs the same fifteen-minute session on the same platform — the difference is which areas it covers.