The NanoSteamer from Pure Daily Care is currently one of the most popular facial steamers on the market. But does popular necessarily equate to being good?
This machine is packed with features that definitely make it a great deal – And yet, it’s not for everyone. There are a few features missing that some people would like or need to have. That being said, if this machine meets your facial steaming needs, you will definitely love it.
Which brings up the question – who is the NanoSteamer right for? Let’s take a look…
Overview
The NanoSteamer is an ionic facial steamer. It is as close to a professional grade machine as you will find for at home use. It has a 200ml water reservoir that is good for about a 20-30 minute steam session. This is a multi-function steamer – it has both a warm towel, and a humidifier setting.
How to use it
- Remove the water reservoir from the steamer.
- Fill the reservoir with water.
- Place the reservoir back in; add towels to the steaming chamber if desired.
- Turn the knob to the desired setting; wait about 15 seconds for steam to dispense.
That’s about it. Pretty standard functionality so far. Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons so you can decide if this is the right steamer for you.
Pros
This steamer is loaded with features, and some pleasantly surprising health benefits:
Large capacity – The NanoSteamer has a 200ml water reservoir which is good for about 20-30 minutes of steam. Most steamers come with an 80-100ml reservoir- which provides around 8-10 minutes of steam.
Steam volume – This is an adequately powered machine – 280 watts. It will definitely provide a satisfying, and steady amount of steam.
Ultrasonic – Steamers use a traditional heating element, like a metal coil to boil water, which then produces “traditional” steam.
Ultrasonic vaporizers use a metal plate that vibrates at a frequency that is not audible to us. This creates vapor through oscillation, not boiling, which produces a fine mist – with water particles much smaller than those in regular steam.
The NanoSteamer combines the heating element, with an ultrasonic vaporizer to create nano steam (steam with smaller water particle size), which is much more effective.
Ionic – The nano steam created contains negatively charged ionized water particles – more on this below.
Angled spout – A straight vertical spout, like the one below, makes it hard to use a facial steamer for anything other than you face. And even then, you have to tilt your face towards the steam, which makes for an uncomfortable experience if you want to steam for more than a few minutes.
An angled spout not only allows you to maintain a normal posture while steaming, it also makes steaming other parts of your body much easier too. For me personally, and angled spout is a must!
Price – Not necessarily the most important consideration when talking about a machine that is being used for your face – but the NanoSteamer is quite affordable nonetheless. Prices range from between $40-50 depending on what site you use.
Temp control – Pure Daily Care calls this feature “temp control”, but it should actually be called something like “multi-function” instead, since there is no such thing as variable temperature steam – steam is always 212 °F ( or 100 °C).
The temp control knob lets you choose between the following 3 settings: Warm towel, facial steamer, or humidifier.
The fact that this machine is a multi-tasker is pretty cool. You’re most likely going to purchase this to use it as a facial steamer, but the NanoSteamer also doubles as either a towel steamer, or a humidifier. The facial steamer option is pretty obvious, but let’s quickly discuss the other two settings:
The warm towel setting prepares hot moist towels in the towel chamber without letting steam out. Of course you can also steam towels while using the facial steamer setting.
The humidifier setting uses the ultrasonic vaporizer mentioned above to produce a cool mist. This machine is also much smaller than your average humidifier – which is a plus if you’re short on space.
Works fast – It takes this steamer about 20 seconds to produce steam; whereas with other machines it can take a few minutes.
Easy cleaning – A key to using a facial steamer successfully is keeping it clean. The NanoSteamer comes part very easily, which in turn makes it simple to clean.
The instructions indicate that you should also periodically clean the machine by running a vinegar/water mixture through it. (This works the same as when you clean a coffee machine).
Lightweight – This steamer weighs approximately 2 pounds. It measures approximately 12″x 6″ x 6″.
Bonus gift – The NanoSteamer package contains a 5 piece surgical grade stainless steel blackhead and blemish extractor kit. Nice!
A quick note about the ionic steam that the NanoSteamer produces:
Ionized steam is basically steam that contains a negative electrical charge. This might sound weird (or dangerous), but it’s actually quite normal. Nature creates these negative ions by combining air, water, and the natural radiation from sunlight. You are commonly around negative ions while at the beach, hiking by your favorite waterfall, or during a thunderstorm.
Do you feel calm, or energized while at the beach? This is partially due to the negative ions – they increase your capacity to absorb and utilize oxygen.
Since our homes are closed off to natural elements, this creates a lack of negative ions. And the electronic machines that most of us have (like computers, TV’s, etc.) just output positive ions, making the imbalance even greater.
Negative ions clear the air (this is why you’ll see a negative ion feature on air purifiers), improve respiratory function, improve mental clarity, decrease blood pressure, and regulate sleep patterns. This adds to the calming effect that a facial steamer already provides.
Ionized water also makes your skin more absorbent to moisture. Which means that your skin will obtain more benefit from whatever products that you use after the steaming session. The particle size of ionized water itself is also smaller, which makes it more able to penetrate the pores of your skin.
This is what makes the ionic steam feature of the NanoSteamer a definite pro.
Cons
No facial steamer is perfect, so let’s take a look at the drawbacks of the NanoSteamer:
Not capable of attachments – Some steamers have an extended arm attachment, or a hand-held spout, that makes it easy to steam hard to reach areas. This model does not accept attachments. It only produces steam through the main spout.
No built-in water filter – This steamer does not purify the water that you use to fill the water chamber, which is an issue if you are used to using regular tap water. If you use filtered water, or bottled spring water (which you should be doing), then this isn’t really a problem.
Standard US outlet – If you’re planning to use this in the US – not a problem. Using this internationally will require an adapter.
No essential oils – Because of the different type of heating element used in this steamer, essential oils can actually cause it to overheat, and break. The instructions are pretty clear on this one – you can’t add essential oils to this steamer.
Reviews and recommendation
The NanoSteamer has the largest amount of reviews of any facial steamer on Amazon. Looking through the reviews, and the other facts presented here in this review, one major thing stands out:
As mentioned above, this isn’t the perfect steamer for everyone. If you’re looking for a facial steamer for face or skin cleansing purposes, this machine will work quite well. It has a large water tank, which provides a lengthy steam session and large steam volume. It is the closest thing that you will find to the steamers found in professional spas. It is definitely a beautifying tool.
If you like the traditional facial – steam, face mask, moisturizer – you will definitely love the NanoSteamer.
On the other hand, if you want something for aromatherapy or medical purposes, this is not the right steamer for you.
For example, some people like to add essential oils or herbs to their steamer to treat a rash, for relaxation purposes, etc. Since essential oils can’t be used in the NanoSteamer, and since it does not have an adjustable or hand-held steam spout, I would avoid this model if that is one of the features you require of a steamer.
Here’s a helpful hint if you really want to use essential oils in a NanoSteamer: Add a few drops to your finger, or a Q-tip, and apply the oil to the inner lip of the steam cone BEFORE turning it on. Make sure that this a light layer so that it does not drip backwards and towards the inside of the steamer.
Final Thoughts
The NanoSteamer from Pure Daily Care is a very affordable, and capable facial steamer. It does a particular job, and does it very well. It is the right machine for those looking for a face cleansing tool.
Have you tried the NanoSteamer? If you have, would you please leave a comment below and share your experience?
