Customer Reviews

Braun 5180 Silk-Epil X'elle Easy Start Epilator

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this epilator in preparation for my wedding--for which I have found myself doing all kinds of things I never bothered to do before. In terms of hair removal specifically, throughout my life I have tried shaving, plucking individual hairs (SOOO time-consuming), and waxing. This is the first time I've ever used an epilator, and I have to say, all things considered, I'm extremely pleased.

Being blonde, I have relatively light body hair, but I still find it quite irritating--especially in light of the fact that I will be spending the majority of the honeymoon in a bikini, and the idea of running back to the room to shave is not one that pleases me.

Probably the thing that most concerns people about the idea of an epilator is the potential for pain: I mean, what seems like a billion hairs at once will be simultaneously ripped out of your skin by the roots. Ouch. Considering, though, that that's what happens with waxing anyway, I would say it feels about the same. Actually, on the legs, I would say it hurt less.

I did take advice I read beforehand, though, and used it on legs I waxed relatively recently--so the volume of hairs there was relatively low. Even so, I would liken it to the feeling you get when an electric shaver accidentally grazes your skin. I did NOT use the provided cooling glove.

On the UNDERARMS, however, I experienced the greatest, most cripplingly unholy pain I have ever experienced in my life. The only thing that I can think of that even comes close is getting pierced--with a needle, not that stupid gun at the mall. It's that same stomach-dropping, light-headed, don't-forget-to-breathe-or-you-might-faint all-consuming-death pain. (Incidentally, I am a big baby with things like this--I just do them anyway.) Seriously, I had to keep checking to make sure it was just the hair--not tattered pieces of flesh--being ripped off. (For those of you wondering, no, I have never given birth, so that may very well be worse--but I DID find myself needing to employ everything I have ever seen on TV about breathing through the pain.)

Because of this, I skipped the "beginner" head (which hurt just as much but accomplished far less in the same time), and went straight to full power with the advanced head to get it all over with ASAP. BUT, now my underarms are delightfully hair-free!

SO, in conclusion, I definitely recommend this product for anyone looking to win the war on annoying body hair. IT REALLY WORKS, removing hairs I could barely even see, and the little light is awesome.

I would also recommend that, if you are worried about the pain, you take some VERY deep breaths and begin with the underarms...because next to that, legs, and yes, even bikini area, seem downright pleasant. :) Good luck!

I've never used one of these types of machines to remove hair, but I tried waxing and it is not for me, plus you have to wait until hair grows out about 1 cm before you can do it again, so that fact and the mess of it plus the ongoing expense just didn't seem logical to me. Better to just get the expense over with in one shot, plus no mess (except for the stray hairs flying all over the place, not a big deal, better than gooey strips and messy hands any day).

I am kind of a nut, so I thought I would do my underarms. I am not a really hairy person in general but my underarms and my pubes are pretty bushy and I just wanted the hair gone without the 5 'o clock shadow for once and for all. The epilator includes an ice pack and a nice sleeve to put it in and I have to say that really helped with the numbing of the area. In fact I couldn't imagine using this w/o it. After chilling it, you're supposed to rub the hair so it stands up a little (a very quick movement), hold the skin taut and move the head against the direction of the hair. It hurts like a beast. I didn't use the "trainer" head because I wanted to get as much hair out as I could. The trainer head has less tweezers on it. Unlike the old coil, there are multiple tweezers that rotate around a barrel and open and close, catching the hair and yanking it out. And there were spots of blood, but the hair is dark and thick and it's never been pulled so of course. It was very red under my arms and very tender, but it only lasted for a couple of hours. The light helps immensely. You can really see what you're doing. I found my left side is more sensitive than my right. After my underarms I did my pubes. It hurt, but not as much as my armpits. I only did the sides...I'm scared to go further -maybe later. By the way the sound of this is loud, like a hedge trimmer LOL

Overall I really love it, I won't shave again. Well worth the money. I bought mine at a store that is abbreviated BBB with a 20% off coupon. Thanks for reading.

I hate shaving my legs and so I often feel gross because I'm... well... hairier than I'd like. I had an Epi-Lady back in the 80s and it was a torture device, I just remember it hurt so badly I never really used after the first failed attempt. Well this Braun Silk-epil Xelle is a whole different animal. Sure it stings a bit but its almost a good sting because I knew the first time would be the worst, and it will be all uphill from here. And it didnt hurt bad, really. This system provides a cooling glove and a whole beginner system to make it easy for beginners. I jumped right in and went for the full-on high speed settings, and it was fine. Its a great thing.

I haven't tried an epilator since the days of that ancient 80s torture device - the Epilady - which as I recall was the most painful experience I have ever had with hair removal. Before and after that, I shaved my legs and always wound up with stubble, ingrowns and countless missed hairs - my legs looked like I hadn't shaved them at all even right after shaving! This has gone on for decades and as long as I can remember I have always been embarrassed to show my lower legs.

Frustrated, I turned to professional waxing five months ago thinking that would be the answer. I was spending $140 each visit and having to go back every three weeks for legs, underarms and bikini - and I would leave the salon with prickly stubble on the lower legs from hair that was being broken off above the skin's surface and not coming out at the root. Further, after one week I would have such noticeable regrowth I was embarrased to wear shorts but didn't want to go back to shaving and have to start the whole process over again, or start waxing even more frequently and paying even more.

At that point, sick of spending big $$ for unsatisfactory results, I began to consider going back to epilators and hoping that they'd improved in the last two decades. I knew that when I tweezed regrowth by hand I ended up smooth. But tweezing an entire leg, not to mention two, with a tweezer was not something I wanted to waste countless hours if not days attempting to do.

When I saw the reviews of the Braun epilators I decided to go for one. I decided on the 5180 as they didn't carry the most highly rated 5270 in stores and I wanted to buy a device like this locally in case I needed to return it.

It comes with two epilating tweezer heads - a starter head and a standard head, and a choice of plastic attachments (clips) that fits over it. You choose which clip to fit over the head depending on whether you're just starting out at epilating or are more advanced. These attachments snap in and out extremely easily and don't fall out while you're working. The starter head is for those who haven't epilated before, and I thought I should start there.

That one did absolutely nothing - seemed to pick up no hairs at all. Before getting discouraged I realized that since my hair has been waxed a half a dozen times it is finer and perhaps I was ready for the standard head. I was. It pulled out every hair just by gliding over the skin very lightly - I was not applying any pressure and simply pulling the skin taught in the areas I was working on. The light on top helped me see if I was missing anything. When I was done - voila! I had smooth legs with none of that irritating stubble I always felt right after waxing. I had even epilated over not-yet-healed areas of skin that were damaged from botched attempts I made at waxing myself a week ago with absolutely no discomfort.

What about the pain? There was virtually no discomfort at all on the lower leg - almost the same sensation I got when using an electric razor, only with a hint of a tingle. On my upper leg the tingle was a little more pronounced but in no way comparable to the pain I had back in the days of the Epilady.

The other huge plusses with this is that there is no recharger stand to have to find space on your bathroom counter for. You just plug it in and go. A battery would probably die out fast anyway. It is also easy to hold, lightweight and compact and will be great to bring on travel. Even if I do get fast regrowth - I guess I'll have to wait and see - I love knowing I can just whip this thing out and get rid of it without waiting for a waxing appointment or wasting money.

If you have waxed at least a few times before and you're sick of the cost, results, messiness, and inconvenience, I'd highly recommend this as a far better alternative and I don't think you'll experience pain. I have extremely sensitive skin and think that if I am handling it very well, so will most people. If you are a shaver who has never waxed you might experience discomfort, but I think it's still worth a try.

What are the cons? It is a bit on the loud side but this seems a small price to pay. The hair also drops wherever it drops - but my hand held vac picks it all up in an instant so I don't find this to be a deterrent. I haven't tried this on my underarms yet - not sure if I am ready for this as I think the skin is a little more sensitive there. I also haven't tried on my bikini and think I might just stick to waxing there because that's a bit tricker and more sensitive than the legs.

After waxing I follow with Parissa's azulene oil to soothe skin. If I experience any issues with this product I'll post a follow up note! In the meantime I am assuming I can kiss leg waxing goodbye and am absolutely thrilled about that!

I like the product and I think it's working exactly as it should but now I've been using it for a while I have four tips:
1. fast speed setting but slow movement up the leg IS better
2. shower (and dry off completely) BEFORE you use it to soften your skins grip on your hair
3. Exfoliate with a scruby a few days after so you don't get ingrown hairs
4. don't use on armpits/upper pubic area if you can help it (very very painful..I was sweating AND crying trying to do it) - it finally worked but I had to do it in 3 stages over 2 weeks.

this product helps me understand the "beauty=pain" adage.

positive note: it gets a LOT easier/less painful after the first few months

I bought this intending to save some time by not having to shave my legs everyday, but that's not working out for me. I'm not even that hairy but after more than a year of use it seems my hair growth cycle refuses to play nice and synch up. The result is that my legs are never smooth like when I was shaving. If it's not stray hairs, then it's ingrown hairs - just bumps all the time, even after daily before and after exfoliating. I have a fair completion and that may be why I'm also left with little red dots where the hairs used to be, and these never disappear either no matter what I try. Even using tendskin didn't help. Also, it only took me 2 minutes max to shave in the shower, and this takes considerably longer. The fabulous little light is a big help but you still have to go over and over the same areas - it probably takes me 15 minutes to do both legs well; and it's every other day, not every one or two weeks as some people have claimed on here. Additionally, I haven't noticed the hair growing back in any lighter or softer either. I'm beginging to think I'm some kind of freak bc reading the majority of posts on here no one else seems to be having these problems.

Lastly, unless you are majorly into S&M, don't ever try this on your armpits. Terrible! God bless the women and their intestinal fortitude that could stand to see it all the way through. Even after reading all the ways to physically (and pharmaceuticaly) prep for it I still almost passed out 1/4 of the way through. My underarms were red and raw for days afterwards. I have waxed under my arms before without incident and found that to be WAY less painful than this thing. I don't consider myself to have a low threshold for pain either. I haven't had any kids but I've had quite a few kidney stones so I'm familiar with horrible, prolonged pain. Kidney stones are a walk in the park compared to this thing against under arm hair. It didn't hurt at all on my legs or bikini line, but that was just the line mind you. After the armpit fiasco I didn't dare take it in any closer.

It might not seem like it but I do like this thing as I still use it, sadly, almost every day. FYI If you're buying this for smoothness or saving time you might want to save your money.

Surely I'm not the only one to have discovered numbing spray?!! You can buy it here on Amazon! I wouldn't be able to epilate without it! I also take a couple of ibuprophen about 30 minutes before. I got the idea from a hair removal technician back when I was trying laser hair removal, which didn't work for me. As for the spray, they use it for waxing, you can get creams like Dr.Numb too. Anything that has lidocaine (sp) in it seems to work, and it's all over the counter stuff! I actually got mine at Sally's.

If you are letting a little thing like excrutiating discomfort stop you from the joys of being hair free, then get rid of the excrutiating discomfort, not the epilator!

This product has totally rocked my world!!!

I've always been frustrated with my shaving results. I swear I shave and by the end of that day I can feel stubble already, and I have such dark hair that even when it's below the surface you can see it.

So I decided to try something new. I think I imagined the epilator was going to be this magical tool that whisked away hair in a breeze. Well it's not quite that. The results of this machine are fantastic, but not for those with a low pain tolerance. I got this machine to get the hair on my thighs (gross, I know, that's why it had to go). Thighs hurt..BAD, but I couldn't argue with the results. After that, I tried my lower legs, and it was so much better. I'm not gonna lie, you feel every hair being yanked out, but when you finish it's totally worth it.

I actually got up the courage to do my underarms last night, and from what I'd read this was the worst spot. It actually wasn't. I psyched myself out.

Just some advice: do it after you shower, use the ice pack, and use an aloe-vera sun burn gel (it soothes and helps make the redness go away).

This works great on the little chin hairs, I thought it would hurt more but it is quite tolerable. Of course it works great on the legs.

This is the first epilator I have ever owned. I read a lot of reviews and decided to try this one as my first. It's pretty much like everyone says it is for the "things that suck" list. But it beats all the money I spend on waxing. You have to understand that I wax pretty much my entire body. I wax the upper lip, underarms, forearms, legs, and full brazilian bikini. So basically I spend a lot of time and money getting hair ripped out. Why I wanted an epilator was simple... save money on waxing and keep results for longer periods of time. I'm tired of doing the 6 week growth cycles that leave you looking like the wilds of africa for at least the last two weeks or so. Plus I was having more hair break than pulled out all the way so I was getting ingrowns like no one's business.

I started with my forearms because the hair is very thin and blonde. If it can't get this hair out then it won't get the rest. The pain was on par with waxing. It hurts for the first two runs and then I'm use to it. Underarms sucked for the simple fact that they were hard to do. I had a hard time getting the right angles to get an effective run. Took longer than I expected but the results were good. Then I moved onto my bikini line but did not attempt the full brazilian. This was the least painful of them all because I've been doing this the longest. I didn't attempt to do the full area because its close to my next wax and there is way too much to cover. I figure one more wax and the maintenance should be a breeze. My legs on the other hand were the worst but I also hate lower leg waxes the most. There were areas where I had a tear or two squeeze out but it's also like that when I wax.

Over all the results were about on par with waxing except I have a little more stubble here and there. I think that's only because hair grows in patchy cycles. I think some of the stubble was too short to begin with so I have to wait for it to grow out a little more. I think I will be able to get use to the epilator the more I use it. I mean it won't ever be totally painless especially on sensitive areas like the "golden triangle of pain" brazilians are known for.

I liked the interchangeable heads and other gadgets. I used the "beginner" head for overall epilating and then switched to "big girl" mode for finishing & better results. Pulling the skin tight also helps a lot in reducing pain and getting better results.

This is definitely not for everyone. If you don't like waxing because of the pain... then I suggest not even looking at epilators. If you are a veteran waxer then I suggest starting off with this one just to see if you like it. From there you can always work up the line and see if you find anything better. Good luck! =)

**UPDATE**

It has been a couple months since I bought this epilator. I recently bought another one - Panasonic ES-WD51-P Epiglide Ladies Wet Dry Epilator, Pink - which has dual heads. I use the panasonic for the first run just to get most of the hair then I go back with the braun for detailing. I use the braun more than the panasonic because I still think it does a much better job at getting every thing. Also a lot of the hair has stopped growing back ever since I started epilating unlike when I waxed. I think the waxing just broke the hairs off in the end.

I also learned a very helpful tip which is to epilate in a circular motion. It helps the process go faster with better results plus it hurts a hell of a lot less too.

Also I stopped doing my full brazilian bikini fun. Not because I gave up... oh h*ll no! Its because I won! I ended up paying a little over $300 for three treatments of laser hair removal. I don't have to wax or epilate that area ever again. I highly suggest this treatment if you have the money!