Lumie has produced lamps to tackle seasonal affective disorder (SAD) since 1991 and were the creators of the world’s first wake up light, which brought light therapy into the mainstream.

The Iris 500 goes one step further by involving a new sense in the waking up process; smell. The Iris has two removable aromatherapy chambers for sunrise and sunset oils (oils not included) that can be used with continuous or intermittent diffusion. The idea is that one oil will help to relax the body into a natural sleep and the other will wake you up with a boost of energy.

It also has many of the great features that we have come to expect from Lumie; 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 or 90-minute sunset/sunrise settings to wind you down and wake you up naturally, a nightlight feature, snooze, remote control and a power failure back-up that allows you go to sleep without worrying that your alarm won’t wake you up on time. It also comes with a clever security option that turns its light on at random intervals, for when you are away from the house for long periods of time.

The Iris is compact and looks attractive and unobtrusive on my bedside table. You can set it suit your week with 7-day programmable alarms. However, if you have to change these regularly then you may find the programming a little tedious; it is quite complicated and at the start you will need to keep the manual to hand, but with a little practice it does become easier.

One thing I was disappointed to find was that there were no audio options; the only alarm sound is a jarring electronic beep, which slightly defeats the purpose of a gentle wake up. I would love to see an option of white noise added to the relaxing and waking up modes. As for the aromatherapy, I feel that it genuinely helped in the morning alongside the sunrise light; I woke up feeling energised and comfortable, which for me is unheard of. At night, I found the sunset light relaxing when I was in the right state of mind, but I would have preferred a softer orange instead of the white light. The aromatherapy was also distracting, but I am willing to keep experimenting with scents to see if I can find one that works for me.

 Altogether, the Lumie 500 is a cool product. It would be nice if they had included a few oils to get you started - however, it is worth the money just to wake up feeling refreshed. RRP £160

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4.5 out of 5

Pros

Attractive addition to the bedroom

Sunrise, sunset and aromatherapy features can be used independently

15, 20, 30, 45, 60 or 90-minute sunrise and sunset options

Nightlight feature

Remote control

Security light option

Back-ups, optional alarm beep, power failure back-up

Cons

Difficult to set up

No audio options

No lights other than a cool white

Oils not included