Ok, really, I'm not ready to dump my shaver as I'm still scared of trying the underarms. :)
I bought the rechargeable Braun Epil system 2 weeks ago. It charged for a week as I tried to get my nerves up to try it. A week ago I took the plunge. I'm not going to lie, it was not nice. I'd say it felt like taking hot sandpaper to my lower legs. But it did get easier I I persevered. I did my lower legs and some of my upper legs. As I have researched hair removal in the past, I knew that it's impossible to stay hair free for long as the cycle of air regrowth has it's three stages. At best you're removing 1/2 the hairs as the other half are in the resting stages. So I decided that I would do the epilation every Sunday. And every week I'd go a little further up my inner thigh (I'm a good 5 inches below the bikini area. I doubt I'll make my easing into the most sensitive areas until after swimsuit season but I will get there. :)
Anyway, the product is great. After one week my legs felt still pretty smooth but I could start to see a couple hairs and it wasn't as silky as the week before. So I think my plan of weekly until the hairs grow back slower is a good idea.
Like the other reviewers I have very sensitive skin. I can not shave without using a cortisone cream afterwards. That was the only way I found to stop the rash. Because of that, I chose to use the cortisone cream with aloe afterwards as my skin was really itchy (very dry skin as well). The first time the red bumps disappeared after about 3 hours. This time they left within 30 minutes. Very cool product.
Eventually I will toss my shaver out. I will get to the point of epilating the underarms as well as the bikini area but being that I don't like pain, I need to work up to it.
Time it took to do the lower and most of the upper legs: the first time it took about 40 minutes. That was with me turning it off to convince myself this was a good thing. This week took only about 12-15 minutes and I only turned it off once between doing each leg so that I could tap out the pulled hairs.
So far I'm using the Olay wips as they cam with it. I'm not sure what difference they make bust since all is going smoothly (pun intended) I'll keep using them. I believe I saw them sold separately here on amazon.
Before I bought the product, I did research it and appreciated EVERYONE'S reviews, here on Amazon and just googling the web. If you're nervous or hesitant, I highly recommend going to YouTube and searching for Braun epil. There is a young lady that did a 10 minute video introducing you to the epilator. It was very good and pushed me towards the purchase. I really liked seeing a demonstration of how it worked.
Truly this is a great product and I will be recommending it to my daughter as shaving has been a source of literal irritation. :)