biodb8er's Full Review: Braun silk-epil 5270 Epilator
I have never shaved my legs. I have always waxed. I usually get professional waxings done, but I lived in a foreign country where I often had to self-wax at home. Waxing gets expensive though so I decided to try an epilator.
After reading dozens of reviews, I decided that I would get this model. Model came with the epilating head (with 40 tweezers), a "massaging" attachment, an "efficiency" epilating head, a shaver attachment and a trimmer attachment, and a drawstring bag and brush to clean things.
I read (in various reviews) that in order to make this work the best you should exfoliate, which I did a few days beforehand. The reviews also said to use it on completely dry skin after a warm shower. Check. Many reviews said to get a waxing first, then to use this as the hair came back. I didn't do that.
I wish I had done that.
I'm used to pain from hair removal. Waxing really hurt the first several times I did it, but after a while I could actually fall asleep in waxing sessions. I suspect this will be the same. But the first time...it really, really hurt.
I had six weeks of hair growth, so I started by using the shaver with the "opti-trim" attachment. That DID work very well at getting the hair to a more manageable length, and it did a very nice job around the bikini area.
I attached the massaging rollers head and set the speed to low (there are two speeds) and started at my ankle, where the hair is the coarsest and the skin nearest to the bone.
I will not lie. It hurt. A lot.
I followed the advice that I read on reviews and went as slowly as possible, trying to get as much hair as possible on the first run. I also held the skin taut.
I found it much more painful to epilate than wax, so I only went up to the knee (I usually wax full leg). I also found it very, very painful to epilate the calves.
I put the epilator away for the day. My skin was a bit red but calmed down very, very quickly. In fact, it took much less time for the redness to go away than it did when I waxed my legs.
Every day for the past week, I've epilated a little bit more. The pain has DRAMATICALLY decreased, though there are areas (back of calf, upper thighs) that still hurt quite a bit (I will not attempt it on my bikini line or pits any time soon!). The redness has always gone away very quickly.
As other have pointed out, it's pretty noisy. (The clackity-clack sound freaks me out a bit, but I haven't gotten my skin pinched!)
The cord could certainly be a bit longer than it us. I have to stay very close to the outlet.
The LED light is really bright. REALLY BRIGHT. I like it, as it makes it easier to see the hairs I've missed.
I find that the slower setting works best for coarser hair, while the fastest setting works best for fine hair. I tried using the non-massaging attachment but had a hard time keeping the epilator at the correct angle, so I've switched back to the massaging head, which keeps the head at 90 degs. With more practice, I may try the other head again.
Finally, how is the smoothness? It is surprisingly smooth, but not as smooth as a virgin wax would be. Waxing removes the top later(s) of skin, which makes it very, very smooth. The epilator only removes hair, so you definitely have to exfoliate to get the skin super smooth.
I KNOW I will use this over constant waxings. The price is completely worth it. I intend to epilate weekly, because it will catch hairs quicker and hurt less.
PROS compared to waxing:
Cheaper
Private
Can do more often than waxing (hair can be shorter)
Redness goes away faster
Will take less time if you do it once a week (suspected pro)
This model includes a trimmer and shaver, so you can use it more places and more flexibly than waxings
CONS compared to waxing:
Hurts more
Noisy
First time takes a really long time
Doesn't exfoliate skin
Ripping out your own hair can be scarier than having someone else do it (I suspect this would be especially true around bikini line!)
I will come back in a few months to update the review re: ingrowns, time, pain, redness.
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