A few years ago, I bought myself a
Braun 5270 Silk-épil X'elle Body System Epilator, which I've enjoyed using for the past few years, but for the fact that, in order to keep the massaging roller clip in place, I have to hold it on with my hand, effectively blocking much of the ingenious Smartlight's beam.
This new Braun Silk-Epil 5280 is the EXACT same model; all that Braun's changed here is the color (although, strangely enough, the color of my new SE5280 looks to be the exact same shade of pink of the epilator pictured on the instruction manual for my old Braun 5270. Curiouser and curiouser...). They've also added the Ice Glove, which, while it does cool the skin nicely, doesn't make for enough of a difference for them to have re-released the exact same product for around eighty bucks.
I've used epilators for years. Back in my middle school days, I was all too thrilled to get my hands on that first of epilators, the instrument of coiled torture that was the Epilady. Since the trauma that I endured at that implement's coils, I have happily acquired three more epilators over the past two decades, all of the Braun brand. Post-Epilady, I actually had forgotten about epilators and thought that their popularity had died out, until I saw that Braun was selling them throughout France & Italy during my last trip there. After I saw that model, Braun's Silk-Epil eversoft 2350/2370 (in a lavender and lilac color scheme), I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on that little 26 tweezer head model. I've kept it, because it never gave out on me, and it's been my take-it-on-trips-as-my-backup model ever since I got my newer 5270.
I was, therefore, all too excited when I got the chance to try out this new 5280 with its nifty ice glove. I just KNEW that Braun was going to have made even more improvements on its great line of epilators with this new one! ... uhm, no - it's the same thing they put out two to three years ago, just with a new accessory added in. : [
Don't get me wrong; I LOVE my Braun epilators. I've used them regularly for years, and on just about every area of my body that has hair, but for my head (no, really!): upper lip, chin, underarm, forearm, lower leg, thigh, and... higher. And very thoroughly there, at that (IF you start thoroughly epilating your bikini area, as I wrote in an older review for my Braun 5270, for the love of God, don't stop! If you try to go back after letting it go for a few months, it is absolute AGONY getting yourself back to it. I've been trying to get back for months, and just haven't made it all the way back there. YET. But I'm not giving up. The payoff is WORTH it).
Over the course of the years, I've come to find that yes, once you've acclimated to epilation and given it a few weeks, your hair DOES grow back in finer and softer. The pain DOES decrease, but you WILL still feel the hairs being plucked out. By the time you've acclimated to epilation, that plucking sensation is less painful, and more a simple awareness of the hair being removed. It comes out much easier, thus much less painfully. Ingrown hairs DO occur frequently if you don't exfoliate regularly, and they CAN be/become unpleasant. But the silky smooth skin that I get to enjoy for days at a time (up to 7 to 10 days for me, and my hair tends to be a bit on the coarse side), TOTALLY makes it worth it to me. I LOVE finding that my skin is just as silky smooth on post-epilation Day 3 and Day 5 as it was on Day 1.
As for the shaver/trimmer head, regardless of the model, I've always found that my skin stays smoother and silkier when I've epilated the hair away, as opposed to simply shaving it with the shaver head/s. The shaver/trimmer heads ARE great for getting your hair down to the proper epilation length, but if you're not a fan of stubble, the shaver head isn't really the way to go.
Comparing how silky & smooth my skin feels using either a Braun shaver/trimmer head, Venus razor, or Braun epilation head:
* the Braun shaver/trimmer end result is good. Hair is removed, and skin is smooth. Trimmer gets hair to perfect length for epilation.
* Venus is better. Skin always feels silky & smooth for the next 24 hours, but needs to be shaved again one, or most definitely two, day/s later to completely avoid stubble.
* the Braun epilation heads give me GREAT, long-lasting results for many days. Skin is silky, smooth, and lower maintenance.
So, overall, this Braun epilator IS a good one. I've found that, so far, the massaging roller clip DOES stay on, so I don't know if I was stuck holding it onto my old 5270 because I got a defective clip, or it just wore out over time, but I suspect it's the latter, as I epilated pretty much every week for quite a while there (always Sundays, when I had PLENTY of time to take care of the regrowth that I wanted to quickly be rid of). To do all of the areas that I wanted to get hair-free, it probably took me about an hour, hour and a half. Less, if I was epilating fewer areas. But it was all worth it to me. Still is, and after this many years of epilating (relatively consistently, I've been doing it for a good five to eight years), I know what to expect, pain-wise, when restarting, and I know to hold my skin as tight and smooth as possible when moving the epilator over it. Areas that have more curves require more attention, and that I make SURE to hold my skin as tight as possible in order to avoid razor/epilator burn. In sensitive, extra curvy areas, I HAVE drawn blood, and the tweezers HAVE gripped sensitive, nerve ending-laden parts that I really did NOT want them to grip, but the pain and discomfort have never lasted more than a day, even with the worst incidents.
Overall, if you're just making your way into the world of epilation, keep in mind that it WILL hurt until you acclimate to it, which may take up to two to three months, but once you've pushed through to that point, you're on easy street. I never bothered with the high efficiency clip, because, more often than not, when I use them over more curvy, sensitive areas, the speed of the rotating barrel and the minimal coverage provided by the clip painfully dragged the skin in and under the clip, causing epilator burn, if you will. Over legs and arms, that clip will most likely be just fine for you, but it doesn't work for me on all the areas I epilate, so I've always just stuck with the massaging roller clip. As this updated version's motor seems to move even faster at setting 2, I'm pretty positive that that would only be worse. Probably good for legs and forearms, maybe even thighs, but since I intend to use mine all over, it's not for me.
Epilation is a great, longer-lasting alternative to shaving, but it's not for everyone, and if you don't have a decent pain threshold, you might not give yourself the time needed to really get used to the discomfort. At about eighty bucks, that just might not be very cost-effective for you. Looking at all of Braun's options out there, I'm seriously considering buying one of their new
Braun SE7781 Silk-Epil Xpressive Epilator Body System, Rechargeable, as it has TONS of attachments, and will address all of my needs. As far as brand goes, I'm a big fan of Braun's epilators, and I don't feel the need to try another brand, just another epilator that will function well on areas both big and small, flat and curved. Once you're hooked on epilation as your preferred method of hair removal (as I am!), I'm sure you'll understand why I feel that way!
* Update *
I DID decide to go ahead and buy myself a 7781, and ALL of the extra epilation heads and caps that I didn't get with the 7781, and I LOVE it! The caps snap and stay firmly in place, and have grooves on the side to grip for removal. The release button for the heads (found on the back of the unit) pops them off cleanly, and there are four different heads that I've got for my epilator in total now: the original wide 40 tweezer epilation head, the narrow underarm epilation head, the precision epilation head, and the shaver/trimmer head. The precision head has the fewest tweezers, and the narrowest epilation area (as you would expect) with only 8 tweezers in a narrow, staggered single row, on a ball-like head. The narrow underarm epilation head has 12 tweezer heads on a broad, but more slender, barrel head - good for getting into tighter places, as is indicated by the categorization.
Overall, there are many options on Braun's website and the suppliers' websites that they direct you to for order placement for additional replacement parts, including epilation heads and caps that aren't sold standard with many of their epilators (just don't bother trying to order with The Gourmet Depot - their link has been broken for nearly a month now. They must not want our money). One problem that I've experienced with my orders for said replacement parts with multiple vendors, however, is that these parts appear to be shipping from the Braun factory with the packaging seals broken, leading me to believe that Braun is shipping out replacement parts that have been returned without even bothering to inspect them, sanitize them, and reseal them. If that IS the case, it's disturbing to me that Braun may, indeed, be sending out unsanitized, uninspected returned parts that are used in such private areas of the anatomy...
Outside of that issue, considering all of the epilators that Braun has on the market right now, I'm happiest with my new 7781. SO many options for hair removal!
If you want more bang for your buck, I think the 7781 is really the way to go! Either way, happy epilating! ; )