No more hedgehog legs (Braun ER1373 Silk-Epil SuperSoft Plus)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Braun ER1373 Silk-Epil SuperSoft Plus
Date:	20/01/04 (583 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very slow regrowth, Very cheap in the long run - no buying expensive razor blades, Neat & compact with a little carrying case

Disadvantages: Painful on first few uses

I absolutely despise having hairy legs. Even if it is winter and I am wearing trousers most days I like to have smooth hair free legs. I have always found that shaving only keeps my legs silky smooth and completely stubble free for one day, two at a push. Apart from the cost of razors I found this really irritating, shaving day in day out, itchy legs, and worst of all, the hair growing back thicker and thicker every time with that nasty prickly hedgehog effect.


SILK EPIL EPILATOR

I was given this epilator as a present by my mum, and it is probably (still to this day) one of the best beauty accessories I own (honestly!) It took a little getting used to because admittedly it did hurt a fair bit the first few times I used it, but as the months went on it got better and better to the point that I can happily do it now with minimal pain.

The epilator itself is a small electrical device about the size of a mouse (computer mouse, not a squeaky rodent). It is powered by a plug, so there is no need to be worrying about constantly replacing or recharging batteries. The lead is relatively long so you have no trouble manoeuvring the device around your body when it is plugged in. It functions by using numerous small sets of tweezers to pluck the hair out on a rotating head. Ok, so now it sounds like some sadistic torture device, but trust me, you get used to it.

It is relatively noisy when you use it but that doesn?t really bother me too much as I am concentrating on removing my hair. It is not a sound that you need to endure for too long either; as long as you do it fairly regularly (it takes longer if you leave it until you have a bush growing on your leg). However, it is not something that I would recommend doing at midnight as you might have rather disgruntled flatmates/parents/par
tner.

I'm on my second epilator now as my first one broke after about 5 years (probably because I left it plugged in most of the time and the wire socket got a bit bent). My new epilator is even better as it came with a 'pain reducer' which you can fit onto the head ? and to be perfectly honest, with that on I could hardly feel any pain at all! There are two heads that you can choose from, one with many many tweezers (the one I use) or one with about a third of the amount. I sometimes use the one with fewer tweezers for the bikini line, because it is a sensitive area that can hurt.

This epilator also has one major advantage over waxing in that if the hair is visible above the skin then the chances are the epilator will remove it. I used to do my legs every day to keep them silky smooth but I don?t always have the time to do it every day at the moment. However, doing it daily you can almost always remove something, so that shows that it removes even the shortest of hairs.


ADDITIONA& #76; ACCESSORIE S

As well as the things mentioned above my epilator came with:

 Two cooling sachets of blue gel (which you put in the fridge and can use on your legs prior to epilating to numb the skin). I don?t use these as I?d rather do it after a hot bath, when I find the hairs just slide out with ease.

 'Relaxation kit' including an eye mask (plastic eye shaped thing with red gel in it) which can be warmed up or cooled down and put on eyes (whichever you choose) a wooden massager and a cute little silver bag.

 A neat bag to keep everything in. It's so small and convenient you can take it anywhere (that has a plug socket).


METHOD OF USE

It?s
so easy a monkey could do it (although with all that fur it would hurt A LOT!) All you do is hold the epilator in a more or less 90 degree angle to the surface you are epilating (generally your legs) and then move it up and down until all the hair from that area has gone.

I would suggest that you practice a fair few times on your legs before embarking on areas such as the underarm. Firstly, because it hurts a lot more on the underarm, and secondly because it is more fiddly and you don?t want to catch your skin or anything because that REALLY hurts.


TIP

If you do use an epilator don?t forget to exfoliate your skin regularly, because with shaving the dead skin is shaved off, but epilating does not affect the surface of your. You also need to do this to avoid getting ingrown hairs (hairs that stay under the surface of the skin).


PLEASE NOTE:

After epilating you may find that your skin goes a little red and spotty but that is normal (same as when you wax). It will calm down after a few hours - I usually epilate early evening so that it doesn't wake me up before bed, but it will still be back to normal by the next morning.


CONCLUSIO& #78;

I was lucky that I discovered this gadget when I was young because the hairs on my legs had not been shaved for as many years as an older lady. As the hairs weren't very thick it meant that the pain was bearable in the first place. I am unsure how much it would hurt if you hairs were very thick, but my mum tried it a while ago and couldn't stand the pain (although she might just be a wimp!)

I have so little pain from this epilator that I can even use it on my underarms now, which is great because shaving my underarm is really fighting a losing batt
le - the hair stays away for under a day!

If you think you can take the initial pain (ie. if you find waxing bearable) then this product is definitely for you, as the hair stays away for a minimum of a week. I have also found with prolonged use (about 5 years now) that the hairs on my legs are weaker when they do grow back, and they never grow back very thickly (even if I leave them for about three weeks). Once you have been epilating for a while you'll wonder what all the fuss over the pain was. I honestly feel barely any pain now.

Highly recommended.


PRICE AND STOCKISTS

I bought mine for £40 from Boots last Christmas, which was quite a good deal as I got the relaxation kit and a box of Lindt Lindor (mmmm!!) However, they sell it lots of places online so you might be able to get yourself a bargain. Failing that they sell it in most large department stores.

(note: if the hair on your legs has not all grown back at the time you epilate them the hair will grow back sooner, but remember it's not the same hair you pulled out, it's just hair that hadn't yet grown when you first epilated)


 carly_pussycat - dooyoo UK ©

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