Philips TT2030 Rechargeable Bodygroom

It has to be said when I was fairly sure I was going to be unimpressed (and probably seriously injured) trying this gadget. I've thought about getting a trimmer/razor for a while, but kept putting it off.

The whole kit arrived in a nice display box, which, for a change these days, didn't require hacking it to pieces with a pair of scissors to try and open the thing. A big plus straight away!

You get the main unit, a trimming head with two adjustable length guides, a shaving head a cleaning brush and the back of the charger opens up to store all the bits keeping them all neat and tidy.

You have to charge it for about 8 hours for around 50 minutes of use, which seems a bit poor, but it is a very strong motor, so I suppose you have to make allowances.

I decided to start with the trimmer, mostly because it recommended trimming hair prior to shaving anyway. There is a sensitive guide for delicate areas, such as the groin and under arms, and a larger guide for large expanses of skin such as legs, chest etc. I tried both and found that the smaller, sensitive guide seemed more convenient all over, but that may be down to personal tastes or body shape, I'm not sure.

I was a bit surprised when I first turned the unit on, the motor is so strong the whole unit shakes and the noise was far louder than I expected, it's about double the volume you'd get from a standard facial shaver (or at least it seemed twice as loud as my Phillips facial shaver). It certainly does the job very quickly though. Within a few minutes I'd used the trimmer on my chest, under arms and groin. Now I'd never consider myself particularly hairy, but looking down at the shower tray I wondered who had let the Yeti in!

I tried the shaver while I was at it, again lots of noise and a lot of vibration, which put me off even attempting to shave the groin area. The instructions specifically mention the trimmer for the groin region, but it doesn't actually say whether you can or can't use the shaving head. I decided to play it safe and not even attempt it, just for the sake of a review.

The shaver head was equally surprising, it took longer than the trimmer, but mostly just going over some areas where the stubborn hairs wouldn't quite go into the cutters. I've tried razors before and ended up with razor burn for weeks afterwards, and hair removal creams don't seem to remove more than half of the hair, and wax is just plain scary, so I wasn't holding out too much hope...

But it was quite surprising.

For an electric razor there was very little stubble anywhere I had used it, and no apparent razor burn. I did find that I got a touch of shaving rash by the next day, mostly where my cloths had been rubbing, such as around the waist where my waistband had been rubbing the skin, but it wasn't too bad and cleared up after a couple of days. The instructions also mentioned that it may take a while for the skin to adapt to being shaved, but with regular use (and more practice at manoeuvring it) that should stop.

The design of the handle took a little getting used to as it's quite different to a facial razor, but it's perfectly suited for using on the body, and didn't take all that long to get used to it, and then after a few uses it felt perfectly normal.

Well worth getting, but don't be surprised to find more hair than you expected laying on the ground once you're done!

I got this for my husband and waited with baited breath while he went off and used it, hoping that he might come back looking like the guy on the box - with a tan, a six pack and drum-tight muscles (see pic, above). Sadly, this was not to be...

However, he did come back SMOOOOOOTH. And he said this about the Bodygroom:

It was easy to use and didn't pinch or cut anything. It zipped off the hairs painlessly and left the skin very smooth (I can vouch for that). The instructions were easy to follow and 'the thing' was easy to use, he said. He also said (rather bashfully) that he had used it 'everywhere'.
When pressed for more detailed information he demured (tetchily), suggesting I let Amazon readers draw their own conclusions about the areas into which the Bodygroom had strayed. He assured me that it never hurt or pulled or did anything that would make him refuse to use it again, and he concluded by saying it did exactly what it said on the box and he would give it five stars.
Now please could he go and watch the telly.

So there you have it. It works and it works well. My husband is very critical and picky and would not have awarded 5 stars if it didn't deserve it. I've had a feel and his smooth parts are still smooth several days later, so it seems to have done a long lasting job!!

Let me come clean in the beginning and say that I'm not a man and clearly this is supposedly a male grooming product, however so far as I'm concerned skin is skin and hair is hair, and I've been looking FOREVER for a shaver for my legs which wouldn't irritate my (ridiculously sensitive) skin. Having tried this, all I can say is hallelujah! :-)

Seriously, the shaver on this is wonderful. I've tried multiple ladyshavers and whatnot in the past, and they've all given me rashes, this doesn't. It gives a close shave, obviously not as close as you get with a razor but no electric shaver ever will. I haven't done much with the trimmer attachments but I experimented a bit and they do the job great too, lots of control over the length you get and no injuries to report!

The idea of having a charging base which also holds whichever head (shaver or trimmer) you're not using at the time is brilliant, means you don't lose parts and you don't damage the heads in storage. A full charge takes 8 hours and gives a lot of shaving/trimming time (it says 50 minutes in the literature, haven't timed it precisely but it certainly is very close to that in practice, if not longer). The blades are self-sharpening and lubricating (no idea how but I'm sure they're telling the truth....) so there is no need to oil them or anything, just clean the heads with water and the little brush provided after use and you're done.

The only tiny quibble I have with it is the curious omission of a protective cover for the shaver foil/head (I've never known a shaver to come without a plastic cap for there), which means that I would worry about damaging it if travelling with it. Other than that it's really great and I recommend it wholeheartedly to both men and women.