I bought an epilator because shaving is the most annoying thing ever. It doesn’t take me a lot of time to shave, but I have to do it every 2 days if I want the results to remain pristine, and I NEVER do that because it sucks. I have perpetually stubbly everything.
I had heard that (like waxing) epilation was painful but lasted much longer than shaving. Sold.
I bought a Philips Satinelle after reading various reviews and determining that the Satinelle is one of the better low-end options. I got it for about $40 including shipping, because Best Buy was having a sale on hair removal products (who knew Best Buy even carried hair removal products?).
My epilator makes a very loud, scary noise when it’s on. It reminds me of a chainsaw or a dental drill. This noise is the tiny metal bits spinning around, ready to grab onto any hairs that come their way. It actually sounds kind of like a very loud vibrator, so keep that in mind if you have family members or roommates around.
The Satinelle has two modes, one that’s very effective and one that’s supposedly for areas that require a gentler touch, like the bikini area. I gotta call bullshit on that, though – I have only ever used the lower speed, because even it is terrifying. Much like the Hitachi Magic Wand, these two speeds are not “low” and “high,” they are “high” and “higher.”
It is true that epilation hurts. I mean, it’s a machine that’s rapidly pulling out all your individual hairs from the root, so you’d be deluded if you thought it wasn’t going to hurt. It feels like a mix between pinching and burning. It gets particularly bad in bony areas (like knees) or abnormally sensitive areas (like inner thighs). Sometimes I need to take a break to recover from the pain.
However, the pain does lessen after a few uses. I epilated my shins and calves in their entirety, and it hurt like hell, but the second time I did it, it was bearable, and the third time, the pain was minor (except for on my knees). I guess the follicles just get accustomed to being assaulted.
Though I bought the epilator with the intention of using it on my ladybits, I know now that there is probably no chance I will ever attempt that. It would be waaay too painful. Sad trombone.
I also attempted using it on my armpits and that was pretty much agony. All the hairs in that area grow in different directions so it’s really difficult to epilate pits properly.
However, I have successfully used it on my inner thighs all the way up to my “bikini area” (where thighs meet ladygarden). That was probably the most painful spot, but it was tolerable. I had to take breaks every 20 seconds or so, but I got it done.
A word of warning: any body part that you epilate is going to look really fucking ugly within about 5 minutes of epilation. The follicles turn into angry red bumps and it looks like you have a horrendous rash. This fades within a few hours; aloe gel also helps. I would recommend that you epilate at least 8 hours before you’re planning on going anywhere, for safety’s sake.
A cool thing about epilation is that the hairs don’t have to be super long for it to work. I think about 1/4” is long enough.
In conclusion: this was a good purchase for me, and I’m happy with it, though I’ll probably only be using it on my legs.