Epilating = Low Maintenance Hair Removal?

Why epilate at all?

Well of course don’t at all if you love the body hair you have! I always wish the rest of my body hair was like the hair on my arms; in the winter it’s dark hair on pale skin which I like less because I somehow feel it’s too much of a contrast but in the summer it’s golden and fluffy on tanned skin and it looks all at one and like that’s just how it’s meant to be. When it comes to elsewhere however no such luck; it’s dark and coarse, there’s a hell of a lot of it and I just haven’t been able to reconcile myself with how that looks. If that’s the way you feel too, then here are a few reasons you may choose epilation over other forms of hair removal:

1. When you shave your hair grows back immediately (hands up if you’ve known the disappointment of same-day re-growth)
2. Your stubble is really noticeable under the skin and causes irritation
3. Professional waxing is too expensive and home waxing is an ineffective faff
4. Hair removal cream smells like chemicals and the effects don’t last long
5. All of the above

My First Time

The first time I epilated, I have to be honest, I was slightly terrified; the amount of noise the epilator made was alarming and the speed of the whirring tweezer head looked far too intimidating to be contemplated, but once I was brave enough to just grit my teeth and just go for it, the pain wasn’t unbearable, it lessened over time, and after a couple of goes, I was really pleased with how long the effects lasted.

The first time I used it under my arms, on the other hand, the pain did feel totally unbearable and I thought there was no way on earth I was going to be able to get through it—there’s so much more hair there than you think! But once I had braved it a couple of times I was ten times more thrilled than I had been with my legs. If you’re someone who is frustrated with the dark shadow left under your arms after shaving then you will completely fall in love with epilating; after a few goes the hair will begin to grow back much more sparsely which makes it so much easier to cope with the next time you epilate, and because the hair that grows back is so much more fine and unnoticeable, if you let it grow, to paraphrase Caitlin Moran, you're left with a "just hanging with my girlfriends casual musky fluff" that you can be proud of.

Is the Braun Epil 9 worth the upgrade?

The first epilator I bought was the Braun Epil 7 because it had been recommended by a friend and it lasted for years—I think about 6 or 7 years of fairly consistent use—before the battery finally gave up the ghost. Even though the Braun epilators do tend to sit around the £100 mark in price, all-in-all I feel like that was great value given the amount of use I got out of it.

With this expense in mind, if you already have an epilator that’s working well for you I don’t think the 9 is worth the upgrade; it’s still the same in essentials and there’s probably not much that can be done to improve an epilator—pulling hairs is going to hurt whichever way you do it!

I am very pleased with the 9 though, the biggest improvement over the 7 is that the 9 has a wider head which allows you to cover a greater area in less time. It also claims to be less painful than previous models as it has a gently vibrating head, and although I don’t think the difference is enormous, I do feel that I have noticed a difference on more sensitive areas.

For example, with the 9 I’ve had much more confidence to take my bikini line further and even to use it on my face which I had never had the gumption to do before so that’s a real plus point for me—no more messing around with tash wax!

My Top Tips for Epilation

Exfoliation! Much like the prep before a wax, keeping up a good exfoliation routine helps to get rid of any dead skin cells and bring the hairs to the surface so they are easy for the epilator to grab, and by stimulating skin turnover they also help to prevent ingrown hairs.

Keep it steamy. It’s much easier and less painful to pull out the hairs when your pores have expanded in the warmth of the bath or shower. It also helps to keep everything clean; you know that your skin is prepped and you can easily wash away the removed hairs as you go.

So is it low maintenance?

Although I find hair removal of any kind an absolute drag and and a drain on time, I've definitely found that epilating is the most low maintenance option for me and makes this never ending task more easy to keep on top of. So if you've never tried it before and are welcoming the coming of the winter months because it means you can get away with wearing a higher denier of tights and shaving your legs less often, then I would say it's definitely worth biting the bullet and giving it go.

Find more reviews of the Braun Epil 9 on Amazon:

Do you want fries with that shake?

Although exfoliating is good pre-epilation, using a hard exfoliator can sensitise the skin so use products that are gentle. Here are a couple of extra recommendations on the side…

As a bit of a treat I really like the Ren Rose Otto scrub. It’s a sugar scrub which is not as harsh as a salt or an environmentally unfriendly synthetic scrub and has a balm-like texture making it very soothing and moisturising.

Nip and Fab’s glycolic moisturising cream is even more excellent for gentle exfoliation as it contains glycolic, salicylic, and lactic acids which work to clear away dead skin cells from your skin and avoid breakouts while moisturising at the same time.

Venus x Olay razor heads. This may seem like a bit of an oxymoron when the whole point of epilating is that it's an alternative to shaving, however it's often hard to catch every single hair so every now and again I shave just to make sure I haven't missed anything but also to exfoliate and moisturise. Shaving actually removes dead skin cells (any one remember the shaving your face craze!?) so it can be a nice exfoliation for your legs and I like the Olay razor heads as they have nice big moisture strips that leave your skin feeling super soft and smooth. They are a little bit expensive but as I don't need to shave too often when epilating I get through them so much less quickly. I tend to crack out a new one for a special occasions—summer party, holiday etc.