Review updated: July 17, 2009
I don't know what to say...this is a great product! I remember back in the '80s, we had this crude epilator with a curved rubber tube with tiny slits in it that would open up on the bottom and then close as the tube rotated. Well, it didn't work worth a crap and it hurt like the devil when it did grab a hair. So a couple decades later and there's finally a epilator that works the way you'd expect it to. And the greatest thing is, is that it doesn't hurt in the long run. It'll hurt a bit at the beginning, especially when you're doing thick patches of hair, but subsequent sessions it actually feels good. Basically the density of the hairy area you're doing, the more it'll hurt. Think about it...the more hairs you're pulling out at any given time, the more pain you feel...makes sense, right? But when you're just going afetr a afew strays or the sporatic regrowth, you'll hardly feel it.
Anyway, here's the deal. Hair grows in cycles. Not all hair is above the surface at any given time. So when you epilate and you think you're smooth, don't be suprised when you find new stubble a day or so later. But don't worry, that's not hair you missed, that's NEW hair. Because when you pull it out, it's just as long as the other hair that you pulled out before. And how long is the hair under your skin? You'd be amazed. The pieces I measured were typically 5-6 mm long. And hair typically grows 1 mm per 5-7 days. So if you do the math, once your skin is totally epilated, (usually over the course of a week), expect the advertised 3-4 weeks of smooth skin. And the thing is, is that if you epilate every month or so, over time, your hair will become finer and thinner. You may even experience total hair loss if and when any given follicle gives up producting hair. EDIT: I haven't found this to be true yet, but who knows...
The epilator drum or roller is very unique. It contains 40 metal flaps (tweezers) that move against plastic edges which grabs and pulls out the hairs as the drum rotates away from your skin. It really doesn't take much of a hair above the surface for the tweezers to work either. That's probably one of the greatest thing about this epilator. ie. you don't have to wait days for hair to grow to a certain length to epilate them. You can do it with 24 hours or so.
This epilator comes with several different heads and attachements. It comes with the epilator head with two snap-on attachements that supposedly alleviate the pain for new users. I found out that the one with the rollers wasn't really necessary. The advanced user head makes you use the epilator at a 90 degree angle from your skin. It also helps keep the RPM at a high rate. But it hinders fine placement in those hard to get areas. At which point, it's just as well if you don't use an attachment and go with the bare drum. The other head is a oscilating razor with foil grill as seen in many other razors of this sort these days. However, being a Braum product, it works really well. The razor also has a leading trimmer for those long hairs that won't go into the foil. There's also an attachment that supposedly cuts long hair at the preferred length for optimal epilation.
The spotlight on the on/off switch is excellent. It's one of those little LED bulbs that are used in those multi-LED flashlights, so it is pretty bright. It is kind of necessary in non-flourescent lighting as I notice that if I go outside in sunlight I can see a bunch of hairs (stubble) that I didn't know I had.
Anyway, if you want the very best of modern epilators, get this one. It'll save you tons of money in disposable razors and/or waxing. It'll pay for itself in just one month.
EDIT: The new
Emjoi AP-18 Emagine Dual Opposed 72 Tweezer Head Epilator is supposedly more efficient, but it has mixed reviews. Some say it's wonderful, but others say older models of different brands work better.
