Review: The Braun Silk-epil Epilator

Those lovely people at Chemist Direct offered me the chance to review the Braun Silk-epil Epilator for them, and I have to say, I jumped at the chance.

I do have an epilator, but it's about ten years old, and very noisy. It came with an ice pack, which I promptly lost, and I rarely use it any more. I had heard pretty good things about this new Braun one from my friends, so I was keen to try it.

The epilator comes with 3 different attachments for the head. The charger is one of those ones you plug into a shaver plug in the bathroom, which is less than ideal if you don't have one of those power points. Luckily, I had one of those clever converter things left over from when I had an electric toothbrush with the same issue. The good news is that once you've charged it, it lasts a good length of time before you need to charge it again.

They advertise this thing saying it can remove even the shortest, finest hairs... those of you who see me as a perfect goddess, look away now. Fact is, the hairs on my legs are so fine, they don't even really notice if they grow to about half an inch long. Which they do. Say, for example, if you were caught unawares by a heat wave, and didn't want to shave your legs because you were waiting for an epilator to arrive for you to review. Or if you were just feeling a bit lazy for an extended period of time. You might end up with fairly long hairs on your legs.

The switch on the epilator is a dial, which makes it a bit tricky to switch on and off when you're used to using a switch, but I'm sure that's just something you get used to. It has a really bright light on the side too, so that you can see where the hair is that needs epilating.

I'm not going to lie; it still hurts. This epilator can be used wet or dry, and on the legs, arm pits and bikini line. I've used an epilator on my legs before, and this one did hurt less than my old epilator. I also used it on my arm pits, and thought I might cry. I think it hurts less the more you do it though, like eyebrow plucking. I have to say, I've not yet been brave enough to try it out on my bikini line...

They advertise that it can remove hairs as small as a grain of sand... I have to say, it took me 2 or 3 goes before it removed all the hair on my legs, but it did remove them more thoroughly than the old epilator.



Here are my top tips for epilating:

• An epilator is not a quick fix. If you're going out tonight and your legs and pits look a bit like a rainforest, buy a razor. But if you're not going out until next weekend, use an epilator. If you use it regularly, the hairs that grow back are finer, and grow at different rates, meaning what regrowth you do get is less noticeable and less painful to deal with.
• Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate! Ever had an ingrown hair? Want 500 of them? Then exfoliate. Often.
• The fact this epilator can be used in water is a definite plus; the water actually makes it hurt less. Promise.
• For me, the ankle seems to be the most painful/sensitive part of the leg. If you start there, you're likely to give up before you reach your knees. Start a little further up your leg, and go back to the ankles.
• Although it hurts, and you want it over with quickly, don't move the epilator too quickly - it won't have time to grip the hair as you race over it, and you'll end up having to do it again. And again.
• Epilate at night, before bed, especially if you have sensitive skin. Your legs will most probably come out in little red dots (where the hairs have been removed) and you won't want to be wandering about town like it. Apply some soothing moisturiser (like E45) and go to bed. It'll look a lot better in the morning, promise.
• Often it can be less painful if the hairs are shorter. You don't need to grow your hair like you would if you were going to a salon for a wax - especially not with this model, which is designed to catch the shorter hairs.

At the time of writing, the Braun Silk-epil Epilator was £74.99 on the Chemist Direct website. I think that's a pretty good price, when you think how much you'd pay over the course of a year for razors, shaving foam, hair removal cream or waxing.

Disclaimer: Chemist Direct provided me with the Braun Silk-epil Epilator for free in exchange for a review, but this was not dependent on my writing a favourable review.