Braun Epilator Silk-épil 5 5-810, Hair Removal Device, Epilator for Women, Shaver & Bikini Trimmer, Cordless, Rechargeable, Wet & Dry, Holiday Gifts for Women

Let me start off by saying OUCH! Lol I'm a hairy gal. As in, man-hairy. I'm in my 40s and I've had dark, coarse hair on my face since I was in college. I've also spent all kinds of money on trying to get rid of it including waxing, electrolysis, laser hair removal, depilatory creams, and shaving. Nothing works for me. My genes are too stubborn I guess. But let me tell you... I am T I R E D of shaving my freakin' face every day. We're talking mustache, chin, upper neck, and side burns. It sucks! And by the end of the day? I'm growing a 5 o'clock shadow. Nothing makes me feel less feminine than this crap. All of that being said, this was my first time trying an epilator. And let me tell ya... this s.o.b. H U R T S lol. I think I'm a pretty tough old coot... but maybe not. I tried it for the first time tonight. I went without shaving for 24 hours and I'm thinking I should've waited a day or so longer. I tried it on my chin and it was yanking out hairs left and right. It's actually sorta satisfying to see that this little unassuming device will literally pull the hair out root and all. Luckily the pain does not last. However, my face is crazy amounts of irritated from it and I did put some soothing cream on it to try to get it to calm down. A lot of hairs were missed but I decided to call it quits for the night and try again tomorrow when they will be longer. My biggest concern is how often I'll end up having to do it (dummy-fast hair growth) and whether or not the irritation and bumps will go down in a timely manner. I will happily update this review with more info. Update #1: Okay so I went at it again 12 hours later and was able to get more done. It still hurt like crazy but I took my time with it and tried to not overdo it. I decided to get as much as I could tolerate and shave the rest. A hot shower helped with swelling a LOT. I also used some toner and a gentle moisturizer after. Update #2: I tried more on my chin 24 hours later and surprisingly it didn’t hurt as bad as it did at first. I think staggering it like this is helping me build a tolerance. Cuz lemme tell y'all... I was very close to packing this bad boy up and sending it back lol. But I honestly think that if you keep your expectations reasonable in the beginning and just do what you can, you'll get used to the pain. That being said, I worked on my upper lip and that mess hurt worst of all lol. I also did my sideburns and the area below my belly button and those didn’t hurt at all. Really though, I'm still amazed at how this thing yanks out the WHOLE HAIR and the root. What feels like tiny stubble on my face is actually pretty long when I look closely at the hairs it's pulling out. I'm really thinking that over time, this will at least help reduce the amount of time I have to spend on my face. I'm not worried about hair growing back thicker or quicker cuz it already does lol Update #3: Okay, y'all. This little device really is a keeper. I've been using it a couple of times a week on my chin/neck and really have built up a tolerance. It doesn't hurt NEARLY as bad as it used to. I use it multiple times (every other 2-3 days) because of the way I initially staggered it; hair grows back at different times, etc. I use the low setting and basically hold it upside down and stroke upwards with it (starting at my neck and go toward my chin), going against the grain. Now, when it comes to my upper lip? That's a WHOLE different story lol. It's still super painful to me up there, so instead of strokes, I dab it here and there, keeping my lip/skin taut. I also use it on my chest where I have some hair growth between my breasts (lucky me!), continue to use it on my sideburns, and the space above and below my belly button. I tried it on my ankle and HELL NAW lol. Those of you who use this on your legs have a level of dedication that I absolutely do not have lol. And as for the underarms? No way, dude. I'm not even attempting that. I've seen some negative reviews where folks are complaining that it doesn't catch the peach fuzz. Well, consider yourself lucky, sweet cheeks, because your problems could be WAY worse than fuzz lol. No, this doesn't grab peach fuzz at all and I am thankful for that. I do feel like I eventually need to let it be for a week or so and give everything a chance to grow out so that I can cut back on doing it so many times during the week. But my hair also grows stupid fast and it's really not a big deal now that my tolerance has built up. If you're considering this, just stick with it. I promise it DOES get better. Also: I tried lidocaine spray to help with pain... didn't do JACK lol. Don't waste your money. Use aloe vera to help soothe redness and irritation/bumps. I make sure my face is super clean and moisturize after. The irritation afterward is practically nonexistant now. Changing my 4 stars to 5 because hallelujah I am no longer shaving in the freakin shower every morning!

I am a complete new to epilating. I had never heard of them until I was looking for women's electric shavers and stumbled across them. I had to Google. They seemed a little scary as the consistent complaint was they hurt! I'm not a fan of waxing. I also have attempted to pluck with a tweezer so 20 tweezers sounded painful! But the idea that it gets better as you go, I thought maybe I could suffer a little and make it though. I almost purchased a diff braun epilator but opted for this one as it's a beginner. And I figured, in worst case scenario, I could use the attachment as an electric razor. I have chin hair that is super annoying, not. Erh lady like and I have to shave daily. It's annoying hence why I was willing to endure some pain. First use. Oh my gosh, it does hurt. It actually made me bleed in a few spots. Lot like lots of bleeding but tiny pricks of blood. I thought, maybe I used wrong. Looked up. Apparently this can be normal when the hair is in a blood vessel. So I continued on a different section working around back to where it had made me bleed. I also had to break it up into diff days. I got curious and oh my gosh, it had pulled out a lot of hair !! It yanks all of it. I was only focused on the black hair but it go everything. Second day. At it again. And yes, still hurting especially in spots where I had not completed the day before. Some more bleeding. Pretty much same scenario except where I went back over spots where it had missed, it didn't hurt as bad. I assume bc it's wasn't yanking so many hairs out lol 3rd day; only a few spots as painful as first day but on a whole, could already tell it was decreasing. Less bleeding. This time I completely the task. And would see what happened in a week. A week later, some hairs growing out but not near where I started. Still painful but could tell pain was decreasing. Less bleeding. Then a few days later, had a few more hairs popping up probably bc I broke it up over a few days during first time. And decided to work on my side burns. Lol again, the pain! So new areas are like a first time and yes, it's painful. Ok, so I think I've had for a month now. I just did it again. Hardly any pain. Lol a few owes but not too bad. No bleeding. I actually was able to go quickly and even turner the speed up. Felt like I was winning at this lol. I'm still impressed with how many hairs it grabs onto. I look in mirror and I don't see but a few. But then I go to clean it, and I'm Like wow!!! I'm also charging it for the first time battery lasts a decent amount of time. Here's my tips from 1 newb to another new. I found the first time better to go slower. Fast hurt like a motha! So try both ways and see what hurts less. If it's too painful, take breaks and even break it over a few days. Keep at it and it does get better. Also, I found when there is a lot of hair gathered inside the epilator, it does hurt more as it seems to start yanking hair more so empty and keep going. Going against the grain does hurt less imo. feels like less yanking but is kind of hard to do if doing on chin. Pulling skin tight helps. And applying some pressure so on skin not hovering. As far as assesories and attachments go, they seem ok. Nothing to brag about. The piece to turn epilator into razor, does not get a close shave. I tried with the guard and straight foil razor. Not impressed. The bikini shaver seems to be pretty good. I didn't use for bikini but did use on face. Got a close shave so assume it will work well. There is a piece that's confusing. The top has a blade like a regular razor and the bottom has a whole for an epilator. I'm not brave enough to use this piece nor do I understand why someone would? I have not tried the piece without the massaging rolling pins. I assumed it would work better as it's supposed to be the beginner piece I believe. The button is supposed to show red when you apply too much pressure but I am using on my chin therefore can't see it. This would be one complaint about design however unsure how they could fix this. Maybe a ring light as I am using on a mirror when doing this. Of course, many are probably using on legs so probably not an issue. My opinion, if your tired of plucking and shaving regularly, buy it! Yes it's painful at first but it gets better and soooo worth it. It also makes my skin feel super soft. It would probably help if I exfoliated but who has time for that?

This removes hair farely well. It cN be hard for it to grabbhair that is laying down on the skin.

My husband bought this epilator to replace my second dead Phillips SatinSoft (HP6520/70). They claim to be wet/dry, but with regular use in the shower water invades the machine past the o-ring seal and corrodes the battery, so the Phillips have about a 2 year lifespan to the day. He tried to replace the first one with a Remington Smooth&Silky (EP7030E). I hated it. The epilation surface is too thick to be useful, so I ended up using it dry only for legs and armpits to try and extend the life of my Phillips for wet bikini epilating (it didn't work, by the way). The Remington cord died to the new puppy... I wasn't sad about it. My Phillips died right after hysterectomy surgery, so I had a good 3 months of long curly regrowth to deal with. I was dreading the task, to be honest. Not to worry at all, this Braun is AMAZING!!! It took one and a half hours to charge fully and I have just finished my first use. I don't know how long we took, but I accomplished everything I needed to from start to incredible finish, plus husband trimmed and shaved his beard. We still didn't see a yellow light after that so I left it running another 35 minutes for science. Still no yellow light, which is supposed to warn of 15 minutes remaining. Cool! This is my first shaver. I have used a Wahl hair trimmer before, with horrifying results (I was desperate). I'll say those teeth love to chomp! Save your labia. Don't do it. Get the Braun. I had zero issues. I trimmed my pubic hair with the teeth first, and was very amazed at how close the foil part took off the rest. I could not have had smoother skin using an actual razor with a brand new blade. That's when I went running to show off to my husband. And we used it on his thick beard growth. If you go too fast, it may grab hairs, or if you let the foil suck in the long hairs that weren't trimmed first. So he had to slow down. Unsure of the battery life, we got him a uniform trim and then I took it back. Shower time! How glorious it was. I can't even describe my joy with this little epilator. As smooth as I now was, I didn't expect to do much more. I was wrong! Disclaimer: I'm very nearsighted with astigmatism. Means: I'm BLIND in the shower, and pretty much work by feel alone. This epilator is thorough! It was catching and removing hairs I could no longer even feel. The tweezing roll is just as thin or better than the Phillips so it can get in the creases without any trouble at all. It's quiet! At first I had doubts because it doesn't look like as many tweezers, first of all, and secondly it's fast setting sounded slow, like the Phillips sounds right before the motor seizes at low battery. Not to worry! It works as fast or faster than any other epilator I've owned because when it gets a hair- it GOT the hair. As in that hair is no longer attached, done. On to the next. I've never had that part of my shower done with so fast, ever. I also didn't give much thought to the rubberized grip but I'll say I've dropped my previous machines many times and never once felt that this one would slip my grasp. It's less about epilating control and more a cure for my clumsiness in general, which is nice. I did catch the thinnest skin right at the ligament. I'm not sure if there was a longer hair that got pulled an brought skin with it, or if that paperthin area was just easy for these tweezers to grab. Brief pain, no more than plucking hair, I thought I bled, but now with my glasses on, it's a blood blister. Doesn't bother me at all. I'm still sitting here slightly in awe that I am gloriously bare again after such a short painless shower. I expected to have to take several sessions, with ibuprofen or maybe vodka assistance and the hottest water to recover from full pubic regrowth. I'm beyond happy with my new Braun shaver epilator dream machine. You need to get one too!

So I've been battling hair on the face for number of years. I did 100hrs electrolysis and it still wasn't enough. I had my face waxed earlier this year. I hated having to wait for it to get long enough... Id advise caution if you do what I did. No matter what would recommend wax face 1 time before doing this... Had my doc prescribe me lidocaine 5% it didn't do a whole lot but it was enough. I got all the hair, this shaver did so damn good I'm glad I didn't go for the 7. The size is almost perfect a bit too big around lip area to an extent. I'm contemplating trying it on my legs and arms Maybe I'll get the guts to eventually. Until then though very satisfied with this epilator it is a God send I was almost crying happy...

I've had success with epilation in the past though it is painful and time consuming. My last epilator was a random $25 one that was alright but I expected to get a better performance from a name brand like Braun. I don't feel as though that were the case. The best experience I ever had was with a Phillips model but it was only 3 or 5 tweezers meant for your face. I did a Brazilian with it and while it took forever it was the best treatment I'd ever had on my bikini. Flawless. This device I couldn't bear to do my bikini with, even with my past experience epilating and waxing, it was too painful to use outside of the shower on my bikini or often times my under arms. I tried most diligently to use it on my legs but I found that it broke most of the hairs and so I had to go over and over the same place. It took hours and I was always still left with stubble. I thought the stubble might be due to my hair growing in waves so I tried to be patient and kept up with it over a few months but I could never get rid of the stubble or get my hair to grow out all at the same time so throughout the entire summer I had patchy prickly hairy bumpy legs it was a nightmare. It was so bad I could no longer even get a clean shave in between sessions. It was also much more painful than the other devices I had tried and no matter how I stuck with it or how long I used it for, it never seemed to get better for me. The best results with the Epil 5 we're on my arm pits but I began developing ingrowns there which I had not previously struggled with in that area. I had also never had ingrown on my legs even with waxing or other epilators but since using the Epil 5, I get ingrown all over even when I only shave. I ended up stopping use of the device almost a year ago because it was not working for me but it took many months for my hair growth to return to a place where I could shave normally and I still struggle with ingrowns in places that I did not have them previously. I'll be moving on to trying IPL after this experience

If you are like me and DESPISE shaving, and have the patience for the learning curve of using a new device that hurts, then you will love epilating. I do have several tips after three months, which I'll go over first. *Read the directions. They're not long. Then follow them. The first recommended epilation is supposed to be in the shower, with shave gel, using the beginner cap. (They recommend this weekly for a while.) It does work better if you pull the skin taut above where the epilator is going (this is tough with shave gel!) Also, clean the epilator after each use, and especially clean and dry it after shower use-- you don't want bacteria building up in it AND you want this thing to last! And there are instructions on whether to have the lock on or off with the electric shaver part, depending on if you use the guard or not. And go slow; it's recommended to take 15 seconds from ankle to knee. I have found the epilator grabs the hair better if you do this! *Hang in there with the pain. I can safely say this: it hurts the most the first time, especially on the ankle and knee (due to the boniness), underarms, top of the thighs and especially the bikini/private area. Like... HURTS. If you can get past the first time, it will not hurt as much the next time-- and after another time or two, you will feel it but it doesn't really hurt. I remember how much tweezing my eyebrows hurt at first. Now I feel it but it doesn't hurt at all. Epilating is just like that. Even in the bikini area, which I had to do in several different sessions at first due to the pain. Using lotion afterward really does soothe it too. *Use it in a well-lit area, or even better, sunlight. Or do a follow-up session in it. My bathroom has horrible lighting, and I miss some hairs if I epilate in there. Unfortunately this epilator does not have a light (when this one stops working I'll definitely be getting the one that lights your path!) So I find myself taking it outside with me the next day wearing short shorts so I can grab all the little hairs I missed. Not having a light on the unit is the one regret I have; wish I'd have purchased that version. *You may have to epilate at different angles. That makes sense in the bikini/private area, but I was surprised to see that the hair on the sides of my upper legs, the back of my lower legs, and especially my armpits grows in many directions. Epilating works best going against the growth, so be patient and learn which direction the hair grows in different spots on your body, and then you can epilate perfectly without thinking too much about it. I have found that epilating with pretty short or somewhat long leg hair doesn't affect my pain level either way, as some have stated. *The first time I used it, my legs had little tingly lightning-like feelings zipping across my legs an hour or two afterward. It was freaky but nothing came of it. Every once in a while I'll still get it to a much lesser extent after epilating. This seems normal. Now that the expert tips are out of the way, here are my thoughts. *I tell all ladies who bemoan shaving, about epilating now. I will never go back. The first time I epilated, I went 33 days before doing it again. I should have done it right at about 30-31 days as that is how long it took the hair to be noticeable. I find I can usually go a month between epilations. I wouldn't say my hair grows super quickly; when I was shaving in summer I'd have to do it twice a week or it was just too much stubble or too noticeable to be okay for work. So if you have a normal hair growth rate you should be able to go almost a month between epilations if you are okay with a tiny bit of growth coming back (to be discussed in the next thought.) *Your leg hair really will come back finer, softer and paler. I didn't believe this until I witnessed it. I was brushing my expended leg hairs into a light-colored hair catcher over my sink, and the first dry epilation, the hairs were still coarse and thick and dark compared to when I dry epilate now. Now, the hairs are mostly blond, and so wispy when I brush them out of the epilator that it looks like soft fibers shaved from fabric that stuck together. I mention this not only because it's great, but because it can grow back much more without being noticed. Maybe you won't go 30 days without getting regrowth-- but you may not even notice it unless you look closely! I have also found this to be true of the underarm area, which is the best. It is SO nice not to have to shave my underarms every time I shower! *The battery life is pretty great. I can absolutely do an entire session on one full charge, and my follow-up outside in the sun to grab the ones I missed, plus some. It's nice. The portability is necessary too. I almost bought a corded version of this at first, but didn't want to be chained to an outlet. It was the right choice if you can afford it! *I did have redness the first time (maybe two) I epilated, so I did it at night at first so I could sleep the redness away. I'm a pale redhead prone to my skin being pink, and would not have wanted to have bare legs the day after the first time I epilated-- so keep that in mind. After that though, I can do it in the morning and be good to go by afternoon. *Finally, maybe this is a little personal, but when epilating the bikini/private area, it is essential to pull the skin taut as much as you can. Since the hairs are very concentrated across that area, and it's very sensitive anyway, pulling the skin tight is really necessary or it will hurt a lot more. Since it took me a LOT longer to complete this area (I could only bear to do a small section every now & again), I can't speak yet to whether the hair grows back finer or paler, but I hope to have an update on that soon. I do know that when I had a hair or two regrow in that area, it didn't hurt much to grab it with the epilator (I could feel it but it didn't hurt, I could just feel it being grabbed), which was SUCH a relief. But maybe that was just because it wasn't a large concentration of hairs at once.

It does hurt a bit at first, but as other reviews mention, the pain lessens a LOT the more you use it. I was amazed at how smooth my legs felt the first few times using this with the beginner head, which utilizes the epilator and a razor together. However, after I "graduated" to be able to use the massage head or the skin contact head, I'm questioning the efficiency of this. The only head that seems to work well is the beginner one (with the razor). You would think it is working because you can certainly feel the hair being pulled out, but I went over and over the same spots several times with both the other heads and neither one of them did a satisfactory job. The manual that came with this product says that you can purchase replacement caps on their website, but when I tried to do this I couldn't find the beginner cap. After contacting customer service, I was told that this cap is no longer produced, so there are none available. So I asked if I could either send this epilator back for one that is relevant and has replacement caps still being produced, or simply get a refund. I did spend $80 on this thing, afterall. I was more than willing to send the epilator back. You would think that a good company who cares about its customers would want to reimburse an unsatisfied customer. I spoke (via website messenger and email) with several reps, none of which seemed to communicate the previous conversation to each other. They all seemed to think I was having issues with the epilator turning on or something, and kept telling me to send it to the warranty center to get a replacement of the same model. I suppose that would help temporarily as it would provide me with a new beginner cap with fresh razors. But I would have the same problem a month from now when the razors are all dull and rusted again. I wasn't trying to scam anyone and I didn't want anything for free. I just wanted the money I spent to be put towards a product that actually worked and wasn't so outdated that they stopped making the only part that worked for me.