Best Conductive Gel for Microcurrent, RF and Ultrasound Devices (2026)
Buying guide · prices read August 27, 2026
Eight conductive gels, compared honestly
Every price below is the regular list price, read on August 27, 2026 from the seller listed in the references, ours included. Promotional discounts come and go weekly, so they are noted rather than compared. Sizes are converted to mL so the per-100-mL column compares like with like. We sell one of these gels and say so in the row.
| Gel | Price (read August 27, 2026) | Size | Per 100 mL | Base | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVENSKYN Conductive Gel (ours) | $49.99 USD | 300 mL | $16.66 USD | Water-based | One bottle covers RF, microcurrent, EMS and ultrasound. About half the per-mL cost of the small device-brand bottles. |
| EVENSKYN Conductive Gel, 2-pack (ours) | $79.99 USD | 2 x 300 mL | $13.33 USD | Water-based | The lowest per-mL price in this comparison at regular prices. Makes sense once you know your routine. |
| 7E Wellness ReStore, 4 oz | $27.00 USD | 118 mL | $22.82 USD | Water-based | The gel behind the MyoLift devices. Solid mid-size option. Their site ran a sitewide 25 percent promotion on our read date, $20.25 USD that day. |
| Skin Gym Conductive Gel | $24.00 USD | 80 mL | $30.00 USD | Water-based | Small bottle sold through Skin Gym, Revolve and Dermstore. Fine gel, weeks of use at a daily routine. |
| NuFACE Hydrating Aqua Gel, 3.3 oz | $35.00 USD | 98 mL | $35.86 USD | Water-based | The default for NuFACE owners. Well liked, and expensive per mL for what is a conduction medium. |
| NeoGenesis Glide | $44.00 USD | 120 mL | $36.67 USD | Water-based | Esthetician favorite sold through Art of Skin Care. Premium per-mL pricing. |
| Nu Skin Conductive Gel | $70.00 USD | 148 mL | $47.35 USD | Water-based | Made for the Nu Skin Facial Spa. The most expensive per mL of the sized gels here, from their own site. |
| ZIIP Golden Gel | $129.99 USD | not stated | n/a | Water-based | ZIIP does not publish the bottle volume on its product page, so the per-mL cost cannot be checked. When a brand will not state size, that is worth knowing in itself. |
| Generic TENS / electrode gel (e.g. Spectra 360) | from $4.99 USD | varies | n/a | Water-based | Made for electrode pads, not facial glide. Conducts fine, texture and residue are the usual complaints on faces. |
Format note: 7E Wellness also sells ReStore in a 16 oz salon jar for treatment rooms. On our read date it was listed at $56.25 USD under their sitewide 25 percent promotion, which puts the regular price at $75.00 USD, or $15.85 USD per 100 mL. That is the only branded option that gets close to the EVENSKYN 2-pack per mL, and the 2-pack is still the cheaper of the two at regular prices. Prices move, links to every source are in the references.
Why the gel matters at all
Microcurrent, RF, EMS and ultrasound all have to cross the boundary between a metal treatment head and your skin. Dry skin is a poor conductor, and any air gap between head and skin is worse. The gel is not a skincare step. It is the medium the energy travels through, which is why running a device dry is the single most common reason people decide a device does nothing.
One practical consequence: oil blocks the path. Oil-based serums, balms and creams are insulators, which is why device manuals tell you to treat over gel only and apply the rest of your routine after you rinse.
What gel actually costs you per month
Gel cost calculator
Set your routine. We turn it into mL per month and what that costs at the per-mL prices in the table above, read August 27, 2026. The per-session default is about a teaspoon for a full face, and you can adjust it.
The same routine costs about $18.63 USD a month in NuFACE Aqua Gel and $15.59 USD a month in Skin Gym gel at their current per-mL prices.
Which gel should you actually buy?
- You use any energy device three or more times a week: buy volume. Per mL, the 300 mL EVENSKYN bottle costs about half what the small device-brand bottles do, and the 2-pack is the lowest per-mL price in this comparison at regular prices. That is the honest reason to buy ours.
- You own a MyoLift: 7E's own ReStore is a fine gel and the best-priced of the device-brand bottles. Ours conducts the same for less per mL, because conduction is chemistry, not branding.
- You use a device a few times a month: a small bottle is fine and volume math should not push you. NuFACE Aqua Gel and Skin Gym are both good gels, just expensive per mL.
- You only use an LED mask: buy nothing. Light does not need a conductive medium. Gel enters your routine only when microcurrent, RF, EMS or ultrasound does.
- You are strictly budget-first: a TENS electrode gel conducts for a few dollars, with texture as the tradeoff. We would rather tell you that than have you think branded gel is the only option.
What conductive gel will not do
It will not improve your results beyond what proper conduction already provides. More gel is not more lift, premium gel is not more current, and no gel turns an at-home device into a clinic machine. In-clinic RF microneedling systems like Morpheus8 and Sylfirm X operate at depths and energies no home handset reaches, gel or no gel. A gel with skincare ingredients is on your face for minutes and then rinsed off, so treat ingredient lists as a tiebreaker, not a treatment. If a gel is marketed as the thing that makes a device finally work, the honest translation is that the device was being run dry before.
The devices this gel pairs with
Every electrical mode EvenSkyn ships is designed to run over a water-based gel: the RF, EMS and microcurrent modes on the Lumo+, the Phoenix microcurrent bar, and the ultrasound and microcurrent modes on the Eclipse. It conducts the same way for other brands' microcurrent and RF handsets, because conduction is chemistry, not branding. The MicroInfuser is the exception in our range: micro-infusion delivers serum through microchannels and uses no gel at all.
Common questions
Do you need conductive gel for a microcurrent device?
Yes. Microcurrent needs a continuous water-based path to travel from the metal probes into your skin. Run the device dry and much of the current never makes it in, the session feels scratchy, and the probes drag instead of glide. Every major microcurrent brand, including NuFACE, 7E Wellness and EvenSkyn, tells you to use a conductive medium every session.
Do you need conductive gel for at-home radiofrequency (RF)?
Yes. RF devices like the EvenSkyn Lumo+ move energy through electrodes on the treatment head, and the gel is the coupling layer that lets that energy pass into skin evenly instead of concentrating at whatever spots happen to touch. It also lets the head glide, which matters because RF sessions involve constant motion.
Do you need conductive gel for red light therapy?
Not for light alone. LED light does not need a conductive medium, so a mask like a red light panel works on clean bare skin. The exception is combination handsets that fire red light alongside RF, EMS or microcurrent in the same head. Those need gel for the electrical modes, so you use it for the whole session.
What can I use instead of conductive gel?
For microcurrent, the honest answer is that some substitutes conduct: pure aloe vera gel is the most common one, and some people use thick layers of a water-based serum. The tradeoffs are inconsistent conductivity as it dries, faster drying than a purpose-made gel, and unknown behavior under heat if your device also runs RF. Anything oil-based does not work at all. A purpose-made gel is cheap insurance for a device you spent hundreds on.
Does aloe vera work as conductive gel?
Partly. Aloe is mostly water with electrolytes, so it does conduct microcurrent, and plenty of estheticians use it in a pinch. It dries out faster than formulated gel, conductivity drops as it dries, and bottled aloe often contains alcohol or added ingredients you do not want under an energy device. If you use it, use a pure, alcohol-free gel and rewet as needed. For RF heat we recommend a formulated gel instead.
Is ultrasound gel the same as conductive gel?
They overlap but are not the same product. Clinical ultrasound gel is made to transmit sound waves and is water-based, so it also conducts electricity, and it is cheap. What it is not made for is facial skin feel: most are sticky, some are formulated for machines rather than faces, and they offer no skincare benefit. Facial conductive gels are formulated to conduct, glide and rinse off without residue.
Can I use TENS or electrode gel from a medical supply store on my face?
It conducts, and it costs a few dollars. Electrode gels like Spectra 360 are designed to sit under a stuck-on pad for hours, not to be spread and worked across facial skin, so the texture and residue are usually the complaint. If budget is the priority and texture does not bother you, it is a working option for microcurrent. Most people who try it go back to a face-formulated gel.
Can I make conductive gel at home?
Recipes exist, usually water, aloe and a pinch of salt thickened with a gum. They conduct. The problems are shelf life with no preservative system, batch-to-batch inconsistency, and unknown behavior under an RF device that heats the skin. We do not recommend DIY gel under RF. Under plain microcurrent the risk is mostly a wasted session, not an injury.
What should never go under a microcurrent or RF device?
Oils and oil-based serums, which block conduction. Active ingredients you would not want driven deeper or heated, like retinoids, strong acids and vitamin C, on the same evening. Makeup. And broken or irritated skin, which should not be treated at all. Cleanse first, run the device over gel only, and apply your actives after you rinse the gel off.
How much gel do you use per session?
A thin, even, unbroken layer over the area you are treating. For a full face that is usually somewhere around a teaspoon, which is about 4 to 5 mL, and more if you also treat your neck and chest. If the head starts to drag before you finish, you are using too little or it has started to dry, so add a bit more. The calculator on this page turns your routine into a monthly number.
How long does a 300 mL bottle last?
At three face sessions a week and about 4 mL per session, you use roughly 52 mL a month, so a 300 mL bottle covers just under six months. Daily users and people treating face plus neck get through it in two to three months. Smaller 80 to 100 mL bottles from device brands last a matter of weeks at the same routine, which is why the per-100-mL column in our table matters more than the sticker price.
Do you wash conductive gel off afterwards?
Yes. Rinse it off with water when the session ends, pat dry, then apply your normal skincare. A water-based gel rinses clean without a cleanser. Leaving it on does no extra good, because its job was conduction during the session, not treatment after it.
Is conductive gel good for your skin, or is it just functional?
Its job is functional. Water-based gels are usually built around glycerin and humectants, so skin tends to feel hydrated after a session, and ours is formulated to be hydrating. Treat any skincare benefit as a bonus rather than the reason to buy. No conduction gel replaces your serum or moisturizer.
Does it matter which brand of gel I use with my NuFACE, Ziip or Foreo?
Conduction does not care about the logo on the bottle. A water-based conductive gel carries current the same way whether it came from the device brand or not, which is why estheticians freely mix brands. Device makers naturally recommend their own. Check your warranty terms if that worries you, use a water-based gel either way, and pick on price per mL and skin feel.
Why do these gels have to be water-based?
Because water carrying dissolved electrolytes is the conductor. Oil is an insulator, which is why oil-based products block microcurrent and why every device manual tells you to avoid them under the head. Water-based also means it rinses off clean after the session instead of needing a cleanse.
Will conductive gel clog pores?
The water-based gels in our comparison are light, rinse-off formulas rather than heavy creams, and they are on the skin for minutes, not hours. Ours is formulated non-greasy and rinses clean. If you are acne-prone, rinse thoroughly after each session and check the ingredient list of whichever gel you choose the way you would any leave-on product, even though this one leaves.
References
- NuFACE Hydrating Aqua Gel product page, mynuface.com/products/nuface-hydrating-aqua-gel. Price and sizes read August 27, 2026.
- Skin Gym Microcurrent Conductive Gel product page, skingymco.com/products/microcurrent-conductive-gel. Price read August 27, 2026. Size per the Dermstore listing of the same product (80 mL), read August 27, 2026.
- 7E Wellness Conductive Gels collection, 7ewellness.com/collections/conductive-gels. Prices and sizes read August 27, 2026 during their sitewide 25 percent promotion; regular prices shown are the listed sale prices divided by 0.75.
- Nu Skin Conductive Gel product page, nuskin.com/catalog/us/en/product/nu-skin-conductive-gel. Price and 5 fl oz size read August 27, 2026.
- ZIIP Golden Gel product page, ziipbeauty.com/products/golden-gel. Price read August 27, 2026; no volume published on the page.
- NeoGenesis Glide Conductive Gel, sold via Art of Skin Care (artofskincare.com), price and 120 mL size read August 27, 2026 via Google Shopping listing.
- Parker Laboratories Spectra 360 Electrode Gel product page, parkerlabs.com. Intended use read August 27, 2026. Retail from $4.99 USD per Google Shopping listings read August 27, 2026.
- EVENSKYN Conductive Gel product page, evenskyn.com/products/evenskyn-microcurrent-rf-conduction-gel. Prices confirmed August 27, 2026.
