Braun Silk-épil Xpressive 7781 Wet & Dry Rechargeable Body & Face Epilator

This really is an excellent product, but the first time you use it be sure to allow plenty of time, and be prepared for plenty of pain!
Once you've got the initial run over and done with, repeat treatments will of course be pulling far fewer hairs, and I promise will hurt far less too.
I think with hindsight it might have been better to wax first, and then start using this epilator a few days after to catch any missed hairs and then of couse to strip the regrowth. That might have made it much easier.

I've used this in and out of water, and not really noticed much difference to be honest, but the convenience of being able to wash the unit and attachments under water is a definite plus.
If anything, I found it harder to use on wet skin in places (ie under-arms where the skin is not as tight), as it tended to snag the skin more rather than gliding. (I haven't tried using shave/shower gel with it as suggested in the manual, so maybe that would be better.) Fine on wet legs though, but no better/worse than dry to me.

The smartlight is a great addition - even in what I consider reasonably good light, it shows up hairs that I would otherwise have missed.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this, but would suggest lots of short, quick strokes for the first attempt rather than long sweeps, and start with lower legs rather than anywhere more delicate! Keep skin taut while using, move fairly slowly and take your time.

Expect redness too - especially for first use. I looked like I'd been stood knee-deep in red paint for an hour or two after! Having said that, repeat uses have hardly produced any redness at all.
Invest in a good, gentle moisturiser, with as little rubbish in as possible, for using immediately afterwards to soothe (I use Lush's Dream Cream, but a plain unscented cream/lotion with a drop or two of tea tree or lavender oil in would work fine to cool and calm the skin.)

I owned a previous model of a Braun epilator and got rid of it as I remembered it to be so painful and not a pastime I thought I'd ever continue. However....I've really had it with hair removal and I've tried the lot. Tired of the mess, stress and money disappearing down the hair-removal drain, I researched into epilating once more and decided, after reading all the great reviews, to give this model a go (annoying now significantly cheaper on Amazon only days after I bought it.) At nearly £100, this was a lot of money for me but, I concluded, was about the cost of four or five waxing appointments without the hassle of waiting for the hair to grow and walking around looking like The Gruffalo.

So, is it any good and how much does it hurt? I epilated my legs first and did them dry. The smart light was very good at showing up the hairs and the epilator removed them very efficiently. I did have to go over areas a few times in different directions to ensure all hairs were caught but it says you have to do that in the instructions and considering hair grows in different directions I would say it's reasonable to have to do that. As for pain, I didn't think it hurt that much at all. It was more an uncomfortable pulling/twanging sensation than pain. My legs did come up with mild red raised spots, but this went down within a couple of hours. Hair-free legs in 15-20 minutes! Result! One thing I would say is that if you're expecting the smoothness you get with shaving you'll be disappointed. The nature of shaving means every hair is taken off at skin level so you're inevitably silky smooth (if only for a day or so.) Epilating plucks hair from the root and does miss teensy-weensy hairs that you can't necessarily see but you can feel when you run your hands up your legs. Anyway, hair-free legs - very pleased indeed! Then I tried my underarms...

Oh. My. Giddy Aunt. I figured I was more hardy having experienced childbirth since my previous epilating days so forgot about all that and gritted my teeth. And I continued to grit my teeth and soon found myself using the breathing techniques they teach you in antenatal classes to now deal with epilating, panting my way through the searing pain as I saw my skin being drawn towards the machine like paper into a shredder. And shredded was exactly how my underarms felt when I finally finished. And finish I did because I was determined I was going to get my money's worth from this machine and epilating was the way forward. Disappointingly it did not remove the hair as well as on my legs. Before I blame the machine, this could've been down to my method not being great as I do remember blurred vision caused by the sweat from my brow as it trickled into my eyes; probably not optimum conditions for effective hair removal. Anyway, I did one underarm then braced myself for the second. Double the fun! At the end my underarms were, what's the word..? Oh yes. Raw. I think I may have removed the skin in addition to the hair as it was red, sore and I had actually drawn a tiny bit of blood. I found applying Aloe Vera jelly and later some Savlon really helped and they were fine again after a few hours (though still blotchy the next day.) Results were not as pleasing as with the legs though and I found this quite a disappointment. Felt I deserved totally hair-free underarms after all that at the very least. To be honest I felt I deserved a congratulatory slap on the back and a large glass of wine.

So, after this rambling, what do I think? Firstly, don't expect miracles. I was excited after doing my legs but the underarms were a disappointment. Secondly, how much epilating hurts you will depend on the length of your hair, the sensitivity of your skin and obviously your pain threshold. I'd say epilate at least 24 hours before you intend to expose your bits to allow for any redness to go down. I also haven't tried epilating my underarms in/after a bath, so maybe that'd help with the pain. As for regrowth, I can't comment on that yet, but when I used to get waxed my hair would start growing back after 10 days or so and I expect this'll be the same. Don't be tricked into thinking you'll be hair-free for four weeks - you probably won't be. That said, 10 days is surely better than the measly one or two you get with shaving! Also, it's good you can do in-between-days touch-ups. The hair does come back finer. I'm hoping the underarms will get easier as I get used to it and the hair gets finer. Here's hoping anyway! In the meantime, I'm sure there are some good sedatives out there.

Update - 6th Sept 2010:

Legs are a breeze and having persisted with epilating the hair does come back significantly finer and more sparse.

The good ol' underarms? Well, thanks to the many kind people who took the trouble to comment on this review, the underarms are now bearable to epilate. This is not because they have come round to my house, sedated me and done it for me, but rather shared their experiences and given me valuable tips. However, they are bearable only if you religiously follow these tips:

1. Do not leave epilating until the hair has got too long or it will hurt like hell. It doesn't matter what's going on in your life, make the regular epilating of your underarms your number one priority and grab those hairs when they're a few millimetres and not a few feet.
2. Exfoliate regularly to lift the hair and minimise ingrowing hairs.
3. Try to stretch the skin as you epilate. This will grab the hairs better and give a smoother result.
4. Use talcum powder. This really does make a huge difference as it makes the epilator glide over the skin and prevents Skin-Being-Pulled-Through-Paper-Shredder scenario where the skin is pulled into the machine and snagged and cut. I epilated using talcum powder for the first time today after reading someone's comment and had the best result to date. My underarms are now totally hair-free and silky smooth.

I would not go back to shaving now having persisted with epilating; the finer hair, the lack of underarm hair 'shadow' and longer lasting results make it worthwhile. I even took it on holiday with me along with the charger as I was not prepared to shave even for two weeks. I didn't watch my skin being shredded and see blood drawn all those months ago just to go back to square one, you know!

And the bikini line...?

Are you mad?

I've been using a Braun epilator for about 12 years, so I am used to the pain. This model had a number of features which made it much much easier to use than the old model. I loved that it is rechargeable, so you can use it easily and quickly anywhere, and the epilating action seems to be more efficient than my old one. Being able to use it in water as well makes it less painful, easier and very convenient - you can quickly "touch up" an area in the shower. I also loved the light - my main problem before was getting enough natural light on my legs to see the hairs, close enough to a power supply - these problems are solved! The massaging head genuinely reduced the pain as well.

All together, a great product and well worth the money when you think about all the areas you can de-hair and what that would cost you in wax.