45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great product-, September 3, 2007
This review is from: Emjoi AP-10L Light Caress, Corded (Health and Beauty)
I was so excited to get this- must be truely nuts to be excited to come home & rip the hair off of my body by its roots- but I was!
This is a very efficient product. Its small, light weight and really does the job right. I have done my underarms, my bikini area (most of it- not 100%- I may still use some wax here) and started my legs today. I just didnt have the time to do my whole legs today.
Does it hurt? Yes. Like any hair removal process- you are ripping the hair out of your body- of course it will hurt. BUT its pretty fast and the pain doesnt last at all. It hurts the very second the hair comes out but not afterwards. I also found that it hurts less if I'm not watching- I had been watching it- but now I just use it like an electric razor- and just go with it.
Does it work? Yes. I figured there was a chance it was just going to snap the hair off at the surface- but it yanks the whole sucker out in full.
I wish it got more hair out - thats one of my two wishes with this machine. I would love something that would just yank every single hair out with one try. You do need to go over the same spot a few times. I realize there is probably no such product even waxing leaves hair behind....
My other wish is that I wish there was some way to contain the hair removed. My own stupidity caused me to stand on my bare bathroom floor and use this on my thighs, bikini area and underarms. When I looked on the floor it looked like a barber shop floor... If you use this - please have the sense to stand on a towel or in your tub if the cord will reach.
The cord is very long- and I was able to plug it in, and stand in the tub while using it today. I did think about buying a cord free one- but I figured it would be like the cordless drill versus the corded drill- I wanted something that would last and not lose power after 10 minutes....
PLEASE NOTE- THIS IS NOT A RECHARGEABLE DEVICE- IT NEEDS THE CORD TO WORK. THE CORD MUST ALSO BE PLUGGED IN...;)
I remember the days of the epliady- and was afraid that this would be the same- I was thrilled to see its so much smaller, faster, works better and I'm thrilled. I think I'm buying one for my sister for christmas.
Tip for ingrown hairs- try tea tree oil. You can find it at Trader Joe's and many health food stores- just get some on a cotton ball & swipe it over the area you just removed hair from- its my faithfull ingrown hair prevention tip!
And all this for much less than I usually pay for one full leg wax.
**UPDATE OCTOBER 07**
I still love this thing- I am amazed how smooth & hair free I've stayed. My legs need a touch up once a week- and its not my whole legs- just the odd patch- I havent had the patience to wait & see if the whole legs grows back in. I am thrilled with the purchase- and am ordering one this wek for my sisters christmas gift.
I have noticed that since the initial use- there is virtually NO Pain using the product. I dont know why- the first time hurt like a SOB. The next times- not so much.
**UPDATE MAY 08***
Still loving it. I took it with me on vacation- and touched up in the hotel. its super easy- my best friend was watching me in horror when I began to do my legs in the room- so she had to have a try with it. I think she's already ordered here.
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42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An honest review for the undecided, May 4, 2011
This review is from: Emjoi AP-10L Light Caress, Corded (Health and Beauty)
This reivew may be a little long, but I'm hoping it will help those out there like me. I almost gave up on trying an epilator again because of too many chioces, too many mixed reviews, and too many bad memories. I, too, started out "back in the day" with the original: the late-80s rotating metal coil of torment that just twisted the hair out--those it actually grabbed hold of. The pain, time, and myriad of ingrowns turned me off, and I put the epilator out of mind. Since then, I'd heard about newer products that used tweezers and discs instead of coils, but they were still fairly new and pretty expensive. After a few more years of trying pretty much every hair removal method available, I finally decided to try this product. First I'll explain why I chose this one (because choosing one was the hardest part), then I'll share how it went. Here goes:
Background info:
-I am dark brunette with a fair/medium complexion. So I have dark, tough hairs and lighter skin--and I'm very prone to ingrown hairs. Wax and sugars take off my skin and leave the hair. Depilatories burn my skin instantly--but still leave the hair, and what is removed grows back just as quickly as shaving stubble. The old epilady only removed the weaker hairs and left me with more in-growns than pulled-outs. All the above methods were very painful for me, either from burning or pulling (hopelessly) at hairs that wouldn't budge.
-Shaving has to be an every day thing for me. I also have some sideways, confused follicles (probably from years of twisting, yanking, and burning) that grow many different directions--so even when I shave, in some places I am still not completely smooth, no matter which direction I turn the razor. Repeated attempts to achieve smoothness just leave me with tons of red razor bumps. Even the parts that are smooth to the touch still look stubbly because the dark hair just under the surface is still visible through my skin.
-I've always found waxing more painful than tattoos and piercings. I don't enjoy pain, but I can live with it if the benefit lasts longer than the torture.
-I'm on my feet 12 hours a day, so my legs have some mild varicose and spider veins.
-I can't afford to waste time or money.
-Item arrived very quickly from Amazon, new, sealed, and clearly never opened or used.
WHY I CHOSE THIS PARTICULAR MODEL:
-There is a dizzying array of these things available now, in a broad price range. After a lot of looking, I noticed that the ones with the best reviews from all the different brands have a few key features in common:
*30-40 tweezer heads
*a light for spotting stray hairs
*a cord (whether permanent or optional) to avoid charging first or having batteries die halfway through
*a hand/palm size and a curved shape
-This model had all those features and fell in the middle of the price range, around $50. Some were over $100 dollars, and looked to me like they were just charging for unnecessary extras like 72 tweezer heads, "ice gloves" and massage attachments. More tweezers does not automatically mean it's better. Razors went from single blade, to double, to triple...and now some razors actually have 5 or 6 blades that cost $30 a pack, and work no better than $7 double blade razors. The tweezer part of this model where the hair will be removed is about as wide as the head of your standard razor.
-A similar Braun model is a little more pricey because it includes an "ice glove." This raised my eyebrows and some red flags. First, the product must be painful if they encourage you to try to numb yourself with ice before using it. Second, and most important, using ice BEFORE you epilate makes no sense. Most products encourage a hot shower or bath to open pores, making the process less painful. Ice will just tighten the pores and give you goosebumps--making the hair hold on tighter and the tweezing a lot more painful. Then they charge extra for the privelege. Since I know better than to give myself goosebumps and THEN pull my hair out, I saved that extra money and bought this model.
-Less expensive models had too few heads or poor reviews for plastic parts that broke quickly, cords that were too short, or tweeezing heads that didn't grab hair very well. All the above factors considered, this model made the most sense to me.
HOW IT WENT:
-I started with 600mg ibuprofen just prior to starting, not for pain control, but because it is an anti-inflammatory--which is what all that redness and irritation is that tends to follow our torturous beauty regimens. Pre-medicating with an anti-inflammatory can lessen that angry, red reaction (as long as you are medically able to take them).
-I skipped shaving for 3 days. (I wasn't going to spend an hour or more trying to pull out hair that wasn't long enough to grab.) I did not take a hot bath/shower just prior, but I did exfoliate during my shower the night before. The product arrived early the next morning.
-Down the middle of my leg, right over the shin bone is usually one of the most painful parts--so I started there. If the worst area is tolerable, then it's a given that I can handle the rest. I started at the lower speed, in the direction of the hair growth, and braced myself for the pain. The first couple passes felt like little pin-pricks, that's it. Pleasantly surprised, I made a few more passes and then turned it up to the higher speed for my coarse, dark hair. After several prickly-feeling passes, the sensation changed and it began to just feel like vibrations. I would freely admit if the process was very painful, because to me pain is okay when it pays off, but it still hurts. This doesn't. The first couple minutes feels like quick needle-sticks, then there's no pain at all.
-It took 47 minutes to do both legs from the top of the knee down the first time. After I did one whole leg in the direction OF the hair growth, I went back over it real quick-like in the opposite direction to grab the few stubborn hold-outs. My legs were almost as smooth as after shaving (and smoother in some spots since the entire hair was gone) with very little redness thanks to my pre-epilation motrin. It actually got the wiry knee-hairs, though they do require extra passes in different directions. There are no raised red bumps and no 5 o'clock shadow appearance under my skin. Both legs are left with an all-over tingling, "awake" sensation that is actually pleasant. Seriously. And it gets quicker each time as more and more hairs are removed entirely.
-I had no negative effects on areas with minor varicose or spider veins. (Instructions for all methods that remove hair from the root include a warning about using near varicose veins.) I cannot comment on the effects of this product on severely varicose or prolapsed vessels.
-The amount of ingrowns remains to be seen. I find it pointless to talk about rate or amount of re-growth in a product review, because that will vary by individual and has more to do with genetics and biology than the quality of the product.
Conclusion: This model to me made the most sense for the money. Long cord, "spot" light, ample tweezer heads, and comfortable feel in the hand. Makes about the same amount of racket as an electric razor. You'll need to turn up the TV or stereo a little. The cord makes more sense to me than cordless-only models, because your first few times will take a lot longer than a quick shave, and who wants to stop mid-flow to recharge batteries?
This is way less painful and actually pulls OUT far more hairs than waxing. You will have to make several passes to get all the hairs--at least at first when they're coarse and blunt from shaving or using depilatory. Do the deed in a room with a comfortable, ambient temperature--not cool enough to give you goose bumps, not warm enough that you start to sweat (which can cause itch and irritation on skin with freshly pulled hair). Put down a towel or sheet to catch the hairs. Only time will tell how well the unit holds up, but so far I am very pleased and much relieved after my 80s epilation horror. I sincerely hope this helps someone out there who is still trying to decide whether or not to give it a try.
Update 7/12/2011: This unit is still working great. Even my mom got hooked on mine and now she and my sister both have their own. My legs are smoother than they ever were shaving because there's no stubble below the surface, and now I can get away with a quick touch up once every two weeks or so. Epilating now takes about 10 minutes for both legs. I exfoliate beforehand and three times a week with a good salt scrub, and it's kept me from having ingrown hairs. You can't expect to feel completely smooth right away with this method. Since hair grows at different rates, individual hairs will be different lenghts; so you'll need to epilate every 2-3 days at first till you get them all pulled out. Then they'll grow back at different rates, so you keep doing every few days a little while longer. After a few weeks, things sort of even out and you can feel a real difference and start epilating every couple weeks instead of every few days. The longer you use this method the less the hair will grow back. If you can get past the first few strokes that feel like little needle-sticks, and be patient enough to stick with it for a little while, you'll probably never shave again. I don't intend to ever pick up another razor, and now use this method for underarms and bikini line, too--with the smaller EpiSlim model. More delicate areas definitely take getting used to, but it's worth it.
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