I've come to the conclusion that hair removal is a little like birth control.
There is no perfect solution.
The best choice seems to be laser hair removal.
But let's face it, the price makes it inaccessible to most.
I'd love to spend a year getting zapped with the promise of a lifetime of hair-free bliss.
But that aint gonna happen any time soon. I have rent to pay.
I've tried pretty much everything - shaving, waxing (I recommend the Brazilian Waxing Company if you're in manchester) and creams. The last method on my list was epilation. Ouch. I finally plucked up the courage and, after reading a zillion reviews, begrudgingly spent a whopping £84 on the Braun Silk-Epil Xpressive Pro Wet & Dry 7681 from Amazon. The price is constantly changing - I've seen it as low as £74 and as high as £95. The reviews are astonishingly good. Mine won't be so glowing.
This model is pretty much top of the range. The Ferrari of epilation.The recommended retail price is £129.99. Please don't pay that!
The kit includes a shaver & trimmer cap (great for keeping the bikini area neat if you don't like to be completely bare down there!) plus heads for the face, underarm and legs. I had to buy a 2 pin adaptor (£1.29) separately as I only have 3 pin sockets at home.
It looks snazzy (if not a little scary) and feels substantial and incredibly well made. The smartlight technology means a light shines as you work, showing any missed hairs. There are settings which allow you to go slower or faster. I'm still not sure which setting is least painful.
Things i liked:
♥ When it works, it works well. Hair is left baby smooth, just like after a great wax - it did work very well on the legs where the skin is flat and taut.
♥ The battery life is great - I estimate almost an hour on full charge.
♥ The shaver/trimmer is really useful to have and something that you don't get with all epilators.
♥ Awesome that you can use this in the bath/shower. That really does ease the pain.
♥ Comes with a cute little bag to keep everything neat & together.
♥ Full money back guarantee if you're not happy with the results.
Things i really disliked:
♥ The noise: it's so loud! You simply can't use this privately. Either wait until your family/housemates are out before you epilate or please tell them what you are doing - if not, the noise will have them wondering all sorts.
♥ It bloody hurts. I'm quite possibly more sensitive to pain than others. Everyone has a different threshold. It was so bad for me that I had to psych myself up for every use and really dreaded it. After a few torture sessions I knew this was not a method of hair removal I could rely on for life, even though it is supposed to get easier over time. OUCH!
♥ It resulted in ingrown hairs in sensitive areas. Something which I'd never experienced with alternative hair removal methods. There were sometimes tiny blood dots at each hair follicle. Not cool when what you desire is perfect skin!
Verdict:I'm a wimp.
This just wasn't for me. The result wasn't worth the pain. Looking back I should have had an all-body wax and then used the epilator as hairs came through bit by bit on the growth cycle; rather than attempting to remove hair all at once with the epilator!
And guess what? I made use of that money back guarantee and sent my kit back to Braun for a full refund. I had to pay the postage costs to send it back and it took approximately five weeks before I received a cheque back in the mail.
And guess what? I made use of that money back guarantee and sent my kit back to Braun for a full refund. I had to pay the postage costs to send it back and it took approximately five weeks before I received a cheque back in the mail.
So, please, tell me - what are your tried and trusted hair removal methods for different areas of the body? Leave me a comment and tell all!
♥
good job it had a money back guarantee as that would of been a stinger (excuse the pun lol) if you'd have wasted all that money!
ReplyDeletei'm too chicken to try out epilating, which is strange because i'm alright with pain!
i definately want to find a different method of hair removal before my summer holiday though as i don't want to have to shave my legs on holiday like every other day to have soft soft skin! xx
I've got an epilator and it does really hurt. I love doing my legs with it because it lasts for ages. I've got really sensitive skin, and I keep a bit of a rash on the first day, but after that I have the smoothest skin. I've tried doing my underarms and bikini with it but I literally cried with pain. I wish I could afford laser, it would be so much better. I know you can get one now for around £300 but it's still so expensive! x
ReplyDeleteKatie - where can you get laser for £300? How many sessions do you get for that?
ReplyDeleteI'm a waxing girl all the way!
ReplyDeleteMy legs are covered with bald patches where the hair hardly grows back anymore (mainly on my shins, not sure why)
Bikini line is painful to get waxed but soooo worth it. I find that the hairs definatly grow back finer and with weaker roots.
Too much of a wimp to try epilating too!
Charli xxxx
Charli Woo - I love waxing for the bikini line but get frustrated that it's £20 but some hairs will grow through within a week :(
ReplyDeleteI'm an absolutely wimp too, I wouldn't be able to do this..
ReplyDeletexoxo
Yeahhh I'm not going to get and epilator! I'm not a wimp, I'm quite good with pain, but forget that, life is torture enough. Great review xxx
ReplyDeleteThat epilator looks so much nicer than mine! I'm rather attached to my epilator, despite the initial pain... The hairs grow back a lot slower now, if at all, which I quite like! I've heard that sugaring is a good method of hair removal, much like waxing but with a different formula obviously! xxx
ReplyDeleteMake sure you're email subscribed to Groupon and Wahanda and they quite often have deals on IPL which go for around £90 for 5/6 sessions, which is obviously amazing value. My friend has had her bikini line done in 6 sessions and although there is hair growth, it is really minimal compared to before. So definitely worth it! I think I'm going to get my underarms done, then bikini line. Best for dark hair/pale skin combo, which is perfect for me haha xx
ReplyDeleteI have an epilator but yes, the pain! Oh gosh. I waxed for a long time though so my hairs were already quite fine which I think made it less painful. I can't shave my legs because they are too sensitive. I waxed for a bit but it was getting too expensive and annoying having to wait for the hair to grow to get it done so a epilator was my solution. I love it but I know they're not for everyone!
ReplyDeleteI steal my mums, as a £25 jobbie from Boots does not do the job at all! I spent 2 years getting the courage to do it, and now I'm fine doing knees or lower, but anyone who can get the courage to do underarms is far braver than I will ever be!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review, I was waiting after you mentioned it on Twitter, but I think as I can only do my calves I'll go for something cheaper x
ouch! i'll stick with shaving my legs/underarms until they come out with something better thats virtually painless lol, though i do Brazilian wax
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThere is a laser treatment thing you can buy and use yourself in boots for about £300. I've read lots of reviews on it and it sounds amazing, it apparently doesn't hurt that much and is permanent after ten weeks of using it! Sadly i cant afford it though. :(
ReplyDeleteHere is a review:http://smoothskintrial.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-25T10%3A30%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=3
Theres loads more, just search google :)
Oh god I cannot imagine epilating my arm pits - I think there would be actual screams for that! I - like you am a wimp - I used to wax my legs myself, i.e. once and now I have to pay someone to do it for me because it took long for me to psych myself up for every single strip lol Once you get past the pain though I think waxing is much better than shaving - it lasts longer and the hair doesn't grow back like a monkeys.
ReplyDeleteIt's times like this when I wish I were a man! xxxZ
haha I love you Sofia, this made me laugh. I am a total wimp, I have had a baby but yet have never been brave enough to wax ! I am a shave and cream gal all the way and pluck any who get left behind. I may brave waxing this year as it would be nice to go and have to it gone at least for a while, I don't get why man have it done !! If I were a man I would not care if my whole body was covered in hair, it's so annoying having to remove it you would think that in the age of the internet and iPhone and all the many technology's that removing hair would have been evolved a lot further.
ReplyDeleteI really don't get why hair remover treatment is still shockingly priced, they want us to be hairy so that they can make money off our shame :P Bastards ...haha anyway great review and if I fancy some torture I will give it a go.
Lol I found my old epilator when I was back home for Xmas and decided I would bring it back to give it another go. I always found it so painful! I will try it again in the next few days and see how I get on! Shaving is my much preferred method, so quick easy & pain free! Glad you got your money back anyway :) x
ReplyDeleteI've been considering buying an epilator for ages so this review was really helpful, I don't think I'll bother now though! I wax my legs myself and shave between, I can't face waxing my armpits myself so I shave those but would love to have laser treatment! Bikini line is a mixture of wax and hair removal cream (when I say mixture I don't mix them together!). My sister has recently had laser treatment and I'm so tempted, I know it's a lot but it would save me so much in the long run - I have such sensitive skin which makes hair removal difficult. If I invest I'll let you know how it goes!
ReplyDeletePenny x
Just found your blog through lark+linen and I'm obsessed! it's so well done and so much fun! I am contemplating weather I should try the 100 happy things! xx
ReplyDeleteyour new follower,
http://www.annawithlove.com
I'm an awfully hairy person and removing hair off of my body is just a pain. Especially if it comes in full circle the next day. I just leave it alone most of the time. The only time I actually shave my back and stomach is during the Summer time but even then I hate it. I've tried Nair on my back and trust me, it ruined my whole entire Summer. Little red bumps EVERYWHERE. So I stay away from creams. I haven't tried waxing but that's my next move if the birth control I'm about to go on doesn't help with the hair.
ReplyDeleteI have of these and i totally agree with the pain situation when you start. I promiss, it takes a while maybe a month, but afterwards I wouldn't go back to shaving my legs! I wouldn't use it under my arms but it is alot better than shaving my legs. I normally shave my legs like everyday in the summer but towards the end of the summer, after using this for a month of so i was only having to do it around every 3 days then only 1 once a week.
ReplyDeleteOnly problem is over the winter i have stopped using it as much and I'm going to have to grin and bare the initial pain when it comes to summer again as I will have very hairy legs, lol. But this is defo worth a try!
May x
www.worldofmay.blogspot.com
I noticed you didn't get an answer as to where to get laser for £300. I don't think it's congruous with the exchange rate but you can get a TRIA Laser Hair Removal gun thing for $495 here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.aol_refer.false.tpl.detail.msn_refer.false.item.A97878.ref.GBA?cm_ven=GOOGLEBASE&cm_cat=Beauty&cm_pla=Bath%20&cm_ite=A97878
I have been using Epilator for awhile...Everywhere O_o after a few times doing it i had gotten use to it. underarm has gotten really easy. bikini though.... um still trying to get use to it ... but it is worth it.
ReplyDeletei haven't done my legs in 2 months and only a few hairs has popped up. under arm it has taken me one week to grow back the hair and bikini well ... now they are alot thinner. everyone is different but i can't go back to shaving or waxing.
I have never shaved my body, and have only ever waxed myself for the last 10+ years. Initially I did remove the hairs from my underarms and hollywood area with creams as no-one was experienced enough to wax those areas - and it also was not 'fashionable' to do so at the time! For the last many years I have waxed myself in practically every part of my body because the hair either grows back the same, or finer. I have waxed my legs, arms, hollwood/bikini areas, stomach, back, and underarms, and now my hairs are much much finer. Luckily I do have a high pain threshold, and usually fall asleep at some point during my waxing sessions at the salon.
ReplyDeleteThe main issue I had left was that I had a lot of facial hair which was not particularly obvious on my face, but my sideburns are extremely hairy and dark. I have been looking for a solution to remove the sideburns for years. I tried bleaching, but that actually made the hair more noticeable on the face as I have olive coloured skin. I then began getting electrolysis, and did this for almost 2 years but it did absolutely nothing for the hairs. I then started using hair removal creams for the face, which was fine, but the sideburn hairs grow back quickly as the creams do not take them out from the roots. I recently did some more searches on hair removal, and came across the Braun Silk Epil 7681 Epilator. I noticed a lot of rave reviews, so I thought I would try it on my face.
All I can say is, it was fantastic! This machine took all the thick dark hairs from my sideburns out from the roots. I did not see a single broken hair - I was amazed! Even trying to tweeze myself, I could never get them out from the roots most of the time, as the hairs there are so tough. But this little machine did it with ease. As I do have a high pain threshold, I only really felt slight pinching as it grabbed all the hairs. My skin was so smooth, and only stayed slightly red for 10 minutes. After many days, the hairs have still not come through and I am just over the moon, as I naturally look like I have no sideburns. All I can say is this product is great, as long as you do not fear pain, or have a high pain threshold. The only issue is it is a bit loud, but that does not bother me as it does a fantastic job of removing the hairs.
Recently I have brought a Braun silk epil 7681 Epililator from trusty old boots! I did the first leg and I literally passed out so I had to go to bed without the other one being done... Basically I waxed for 4 years and have previously been shaving for 4 months. But now i can see the difference already by only using it twice. It hurts alot but certainly does its job!
ReplyDeleteI brought an epilator about a year ago, think it was probably the edition before yours. I used it and cried so put it away. I recently got it out again after getting really upset about all my facial hair, thank you PCOS, and decided to be brave and use it. God it hurt, i will admit that, but it was worth it. After the first initial time, the hairs grow back thinner and at different times so its not pulling out so many so doesnt hurt so much. I havent been brave enough to try my legs yet, but i am working the courage up to try today. It lasts about two weeks so i think in some ways the pain would be worth it, as I have to shave twice a day at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI bought the braun exelle epilator and tried it for the first time today.I absolutely love it! I'm a waxer normally but got tired of growing the hair to waxing length. Now I can epilate my short hairs hurray! It didn't hurt at all on my legs but the underarms were abit sore at first but got used to it after awhile. I am going to exfoliate more to combat ingrowns but over all I love my epilator:)
ReplyDeleteI have the Dual Epilator, that came in March. I really like it. Yes, it hurts, but I was expecting that from an epilator. You do get used to it though. I didn't get any ingrown hair, even if I was expecting some on my bikini area. I tested it for Bzz Agent, I have a few review and update on my blog if you want to read them :)
ReplyDeleteI counted a couple of weeks ago and I use 13 different products/appliances to remove unwanted hair from my body. Isn't it crazy. If I tried to estimate how much time and money I've spent over my lifetime-since the first time I knicked my 14 year old shins shaving I could probably have saved a decent college fund for my son and gone the 4 years needed to get my BSN. What makes it worse is I'm what I consider a hairy women, gross I know, but my sideburns grow longer that my husbands. I have an epilator and I totally agree with your review and the other readers comments, It took me-no kidding 3 years before I could do my entire chin and thats no more than 30 hairs or so. I don't consider myself a wimp-I've passed gallstones and kept working. I think everyone must be diffent. Just for the record, the product I use is by Emjoi AP-9PB Silken it's still available on Amazon.com for around $27.00 US dollars. I'm glad I ran across your article. Your review was funny and yet included enough relevant facts to keep it interesting. As it stands my Emjoi is now 6 years old and it doesn't hold it's charge very long so I wondered if there has been considerable improvements in epilators, I almost feel for a presentation on QVC, in which the presenter said there was a "little pulling" sensation even indicating that they use it on there underarms. I don't have the courage to try that.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking to get this particular epilator and with all my online research I still can't work out if they are safe to use to do a brazilian/hollywood job on yourself. Whilst the reviews and manuals refer to 'sensitive' areas I don't know if they are referring to genital areas that encompass more than just bikini line. Gawd knows that is a sensitive area, but for some so is the underarm area so I figured I can only ask the question :)
ReplyDelete