How Much Exactly Does An Epilator Hurt?

The Braun Silk Epil

Are you tired of your daily shaves or biweekly waxes? I know I was, when I decided to look up epilators. Yes, epilators, the miracle of scientific equipment that offered people all over the world with a less time-consuming, less sticky, less icky and definitely less periodic hair removal solution. 

Yes, like a lot of other women, I am a measly, ‘knees shaking, heart-rate climbing’ coward when it comes to envisioning a pain that has no known parameter. Like for example, I do know that birthing a child is a pain worse than hell and getting stitches without an anaesthesia hurts like hell. So in the definite measurement of ‘hells’ how exactly does the depilatory action of an epilator measure up? 

No website, forum or review could give me that exact estimate of how much hell, oops, I meant pain, can I expect from the use of an epilator. This was actually more of a deterrent than someone just coming full on and telling me, well, it sure hurts like hell!

One fine day, after years of going two steps forward and one step back on the issue, I drove myself to the nearest Vanden Borre and bought myself a Braun Silk-Epil for about 75 Euros. From all of my research, which spanned over a half a decade (I am not ashamed to admit), I did know that Braun is just about the best when it comes to epilators. 

Being a daring gal, once I had decided that I would give it a try, I did not mind risking the 75 Euros (much to the silent disapproval of my hubby, who might have preferred me trying out a cheaper Panasonic or something else first, but generously kept his own counsel on the issue), despite knowing that if the hair removal process really did hurt like hell, there was a really high likelihood that the machine would never see the light of day outside my bathroom closet ever again after the first time! 

Yet, I can confidently say now, that my epilator does see light almost every week. I am so happy with the product that I use it even when there is hardly any hair to clear. So voila, there you have a genuine user’s verdict. 

I won’t lie to you, this epilator does hurt, but once you see the phenomenal results and once it lets you wear all the ‘short’ shorts and ‘little’ skirts just about whenever you want, it is a pain you wouldn’t mind readily accepting.

So, back to the actual question though, how much exactly does an epilator hurt? Well, an epilator does indeed pluck out your hair strands right from the roots, so you can imagine that it must and does hurt. But the pain is really manageable. In fact, you probably won’t even shriek out at the sheer atrocities that this machine works on your person.

There might be a few pauses in between two hair patches in order to manage the pain and there may even be a few intermittent ‘ouches and aahs’, but really, nothing you cannot handle. And definitely something I find to be a little better than waxing actually. But of course, that is a personal pain preference and may indeed not apply to you.

Epilating also gets easier as you go. For example, the first time was more painful for me than any of the subsequent times (probably because in my head I was judging the first time pain and logging it into memory for this review). Also, the pain in certain areas such as the legs and arms was almost nothing, like an ant bite; but the pain in the more sensitive areas such as the upper legs, around the belly region, the under-arms and other sensitive parts hurt much more than a couple of hells.

Actually, after the first time, I still cannot bring myself to epilate my underarms, relying instead on my trusted razor. Epilating there probably hurts me more because my hair is pretty rough and I have razored it for just so long that it no longer responds to epilating very well. And no matter which hair you are trying to remove, if you are running the epilator over the area again and again repeatedly, it does hurt! If you go slow and wait for the epilating action of the machine, most hair on flat and smooth surfaces (such as the arms and legs) comes off with just one drag though. It is just the curvy parts that give you trouble as well as pain. 

Also, you can try epilating after a shower. Though I didn’t notice much difference in the pain, I know people who swear that the pain eases off once your hair has been softened after a good shower. Well, whatever works for you, eh!

I am sure the other epilators such as the cheaper alternatives of Panasonic and other brands also work just as well. But I just wanted to share with you all, how fantastic my Braun epilator really is. I urge you to take the risk and plunge onto the bandwagon of epilator transitions too. You will never look back on other hair removal options ever again.