Epilating takes a lot longer than other hair removal methods in that you have to go over it multiple times for the best results.

It’s also much cheaper than an accumulation of yearly wax and laser appointments, which gives it great value for money. As someone who works full-time, it’s also easy to do on my own time, rather than have to rely on booking an appointment with a beauty therapist. I love that it comes with a bunch of different brush heads to suit a heap of needs (aka trimming for pubes and a facial cap for your upper lip). For what it's worth, my personal experience did not find epilating wet to be any more soothing, but contorting around in my iron maiden of a single shower stall may have impacted this. How to deal with the ingrown hairsThe built-in LED light is actually super useful (again, a Braun plus). I assumed it was like a bullshit marketing thing, but trying to epilate without that extra light on my legs was basically impossible.

Featuring wide, long and deep tweezers, the Silk-épil 9 Flex removes even the shortest hairs with precision, that wax cannot catch My skin, which is by NO means sensitive, was covered in a buuuuunch of tiny red welts after my first epilation sesh. It was very jarring to see, but it went away after a few hours. An epilator won’t catch every single hair though (like a high-quality razor would), so if you’re looking for perfection, epilating may not be the right choice. Shaving is also pain-free, whereas epilating pulls hair from the root, which can cause slight discomfort. Do epilators permanently remove hair?

What is an epilator?

Unlike some other hair removal methods, epilating does provide long-term results, leaving you hair-free for up to four weeks. It won’t banish hair for good, but it will give you significantly more time in between treatments than shaving would. It comes with a brush to clean out all the hair removal buildup in each of the heads, which helps to keep it clean and fresh. My legs are covered in tiny baby ingrowns that I just never care enough about to fix, but the epilator kind of popped them open. Seeing the rest of my legs so smooth made me want to take better care and exfoliate better so that next go-around, I can have even smoother legs. Using either chemical or physical exfoliants are fine here, as long as they're not irritating, says Susan Bard, MD, a dermatologist in NYC. It's expensive. Everyone has different pain tolerances, and while I'd def classify myself as a pain weenie, who's to say that the Braun Silk-Epil 9 will be just as painless for you? It's definitely an investment to make and one that you might not be able to walk away from if you throw down so much cash for it. Hot tip: I also noticed that epilating definitely hurt more when I tried to do it right before I started my period as opposed to when I used it afterwards. Science says that your pain receptors are more active before and during your period, which causes you to be more sensitive to pain than usual. So, my recommendation is to try to avoid epilating during that time of the month.

To minimise discomfort, make sure you apply warm water to the skin before you start, which helps to open up pores. Alternatively, choose one of the epilators from our list that can be used wet when bathing or showering, so you can thoroughly soak skin beforehand. Is it better to shave or epilate? Now before I begin, I must preface: an epilator is essentially an electronically-powered version of a tweezer, except there’s not just one singular tweezer, but instead, many of them rotating on a spinning wheel designed to grab your hairs and pull them out at the root. Overall, the result was great, almost as if I’d gone for a wax. Aside from the razor, I also did go in with a tweezer to get some other stragglers (particularly on the top half of my coochie), and voila, I was done. How much does the Braun epilator hurt? SensoSmart™ technology guides your epilation with a red light to ensure the right amount of pressure is applied. The noise is the worst part at first. It sounds like a lawnmower eating up a stray twig when it catches a hair.

What’s in the box

I loved the Braun epilator’s flex head as it really helped get to those hard to reach hair removal areas. I won’t beat around the bush. This hurts! More than any other hair removal I’ve ever experienced before. I felt like my coochie was on fire — and it was not a fun sensation. I, however, did manage to get most of it done, with the exception of having to touch up a few bits with my razor.