I have a secret confession to make – I have been an epilator fan for years.

While my friends gripe about their waxing appointments and regrowth I simply don’t have any appointments to attend to keep my legs smooth. Regrowth can be taken care of in 5 minutes after my shower whenever I like.

Plus, an epilator must be the most economical way of keeping legs smooth. After the initial modest outlay for the machine you keep smooth and hair free without any additional cost (unless you count a little recharge from the electricity supply now and again). I probably save the price of a foreign vacation every year because of that little machine.

I started with the original Epilady which used rotating spirals to trap the hair and I can honestly say that after I got used to the sensation I had no problems with it at all. But after years and years of faithful service it finally gave up the ghost last year and I had to choose a new epilator.

I would have bought the same Epilady model if i could but it was no longer to be found. After reviewing all the available models, I chose the Philips Satinelle epilator with massaging device which is designed to reduce pain.

I didn’t really think that the massaging device would do very much but I was interested enough to try it out and I trusted the Philips brand enough to know I’d be buying a good product. But the massaging attachment had to be a gimmick to make more sales I thought and as I was used to the sensation of the Epilady (which didn’t have any pain reduction mechanism at all) I wasn’t really that worried.

But I was very pleasantly surprised – even amazed by – the difference it made. In fact the massaging device is easily removable so you can instantly see the difference – there is simply less of an “ouch!” factor with it than without it!

The Philips Satinelle model works with a kind of multiple tweezing motion which I was worried would be less effective than the rotating spirals of my trusted Epilady but I find it is every bit as effective (if not more so) at trapping even very short hairs. So with a quick 5 minutes once a week I am back to having completely smooth legs all year round.

If you are thinking of getting an epilator then give the Philips Satinelle epilator a try.

The Verseo Epen permanent hair removal system is well advertised around the web and on TV but it’s not my favorite home electrolysis product. You may question why that is the case as almost everything you read about the Epen seems to be quite glowing.

The ads will tell you that it removes hair permanently and without pain, it is clinically proven, it is simple to use and safe.

If all those facts were true then I ought to give it a wholehearted recommendation especially as the cost is very low when you compare it to professional electrolysis services.

However, from what I understand of the facts, the Epen electrolysis system uses a process that has NOT been proven to remove hair permanently and plain old does not work! It is supposed to destroy hair follicles by sending an electric current down the hair shaft but the electric current applied in that manner will not destroy anything. As hairfacts.com says “E-Pen should be avoided by all consumers”.

You see any home electrolysis system which promises to permanently remove unwanted hair without pain or needles cannot be telling the truth in my opinion. If you are destroying hair follicles which are right next to nerve endings, believe me you are going to feel it and you should be glad when you do because that means the treatment is working – whether it’s electrolysis or laser hair removal. You may feel more or less discomfort from different processes. You may be able to mask the pain with some anaesthetic soothing cream but you will feel it.

The Epen promises pain free hair removal at the touch of a button. It says it is clinically tested and proven but do you know I have received so many ads about every miracle under the sun for everything from hair removal to wrinkle reduction to weight loss that clinically proven seems to mean nothing any more. And lo and behold the same company that sells the Epen for hair removal also seems to sell products that make your hair grow back and remove your cellulite too! Miracles abound! And if that isn’t enough to put you off then read the reviews here of the people who did buy it.

Alternatives to the Verseo Epen

If you want professional results from electrolysis then I’m afraid you have to either pay for professional electrolysis services or use a home electrolysis system which is similar to those used by professionals – where the probe or needle is in contact with the hair follicle when the current is applied. And whether you choose one or the other you will know that the treatment is working on your hair because you will feel it.

Best results will be obtained if you go to a reputable salon for your electrolysis treatment of course. If that is not possible for you either because of budget or time constraints then there is a home electrolysis product – the One Touch – which has real buyer reviews – balanced between those who had good results with the product and those who did not get on so well with it. See our One Touch review for more details. The One Touch may not be for you either but in any case, save your money on the Verseo Epen.

The Finally Free hair removal system is a home electrolysis type product which is supposed to kill hair by gripping with special tweezers through which you send a weak current before pulling it out.

Apparently you have to grip the hair with the tweezer for around 30 seconds. This is going to be a long slow process especially as you have to catch hair during its growth phase to kill the follicle and prevent it growing back. This means you probably have to treat many of your unwanted hairs more than once. (It’s the same for every method of permanent hair removal including professional electrolysis).

The Finally Free system is advertised as permanently removing hair in two to four treatments. They say it is a painless and clinically proven way to permanently remove unwanted hair and that it uses radio frequency to deaden hair at the root and is “as effective as electrolysis”

Not according to the buyers on Amazon it isn’t and it seems that the company have stopped selling there due to low ratings and so many scathing reviews such as

“Do not buy this product. it does not work, and it is a pain to think that this product got my hopes up to permanently remove embarrassing hairs. All I have to say is, Finally Free will be be Finally Chucked in the Garbage for me.

Don’t believe anybody who writes that this product works, because it does not and cannot – the whole concept of killing hair roots by electric current is false and utopic because it’s been proved that the hair is not an electric current transistor (even if it’s completely wet, the electric current won’t penetrate below the skin surface).

Note that the probe/needle used in true electrolysis has to be inserted beside the hair follicle for the current to do it’s job.

According to the FDA, there is no statistically significant data available (even from their “published trials” which I had no luck in locating) to support claims of long-term or permanent hair removal through use of tweezer-type epilators. Bottom line…check the advertiser’s claims before you buy their product because obviously these claims don’t hold water!”

See all reviews of the Finally Free system

Bottom line is, don’t buy the Finally Free hair removal system because it won’t work for you or anyone else. Home electrolysis is not ideal. I would much prefer you attend a professional but if it is the best solution for you take a look at our review of the One Touch Permanent Hair Remover system – still not perfect but it seems that genuine buyers have had some success with this one.

Revitol hair removal cream is another product with mixed reviews. I really start to wonder how results can differ on these kinds of products so much and I suspect that some of the few positive reviews in this case are by those with a vested interest in the success of the product. Giving it the benefit of the doubt (their own website has a number of glowing reviews which seem quite genuine) however let’s look at this in a bit more detail.

Revitol is basically a gentle hair removal cream containing many natural ingredients as well as the usual ingredients that remove hair and also ingredients which inhibit hair growth. (All the ingredients are listed on their website and include Aloe Vera, Glycerin, Chamomile Extract, Water, Calcium Hydroxide, Calcium Thioglycolate Trihydrate,Cetyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Palmitate, Pro-Vitamin Antioxident Complex (Vitamins E & A, Vitamin K, Pro-Vitamin E, Herbal Extracts, Green Tea Extract) Forestal, Willow Bark, Butcherbroom Extract, Hydrolized Milk Protein, Calendula Officinalis, Hydrolyzed Yeast Protein, Hydrocotyl, Horse Chestnut Extract, Phenoxethanol, Licorice Extract, Fragrance (Green Tea Extract).

Despite the instantaneous hair removal claim on their ads you seem to need to leave the cream on for up to 20 minutes (which is far longer than products like Nair hair removal cream) and unfortunately this is still not long enough to remove hair in some cases with this product but if you have fine hair then it probably does work as a hair removal cream. Giving the benefit of the doubt here instantaneous means you don’t have to wait weeks for the hair to fall out. You can remove hair as soon as you carry out the treatment.

How about inhibiting hair growth – the important factor which makes it worth shelling out a bit extra for this product than standard hair removal creams? There are no studies to show that this cream has ingredients like Vaniqa which are clinically proven to reduce hair growth (Vaniqa is only available under medical supervision). In any case (and Revitol make this clear in their advertising) you need repeated use even if the claims are correct.

As Revitol hair removal cream (at around $20 a bottle!) is so much more expensive than other hair removal creams and requires so much longer to work (if it works for you) I believe you are better using something like Nair or saving your pennies for something more permanent like laser hair removal or electrolysis which will prove far cheaper and give you better results in the long term.

Although the manufacturers of Revitol hair removal cream don’t make too many outrageous claims on their site. (They are not claiming permanent hair removal for example) I really think there are better ways of removing hair.

Cost can mount up when you have regular appointments at the beauty salon for waxing away your excess hair but waxing is still a great solution for long lasting hair removal.

If you are on a limited budget, you can cut the cost of beauty waxing considerably by using home waxing kits which are exactly like the professionals use.

Once you know how waxing feels and you know you would like to try it out at home, you can save time searching for a great home waxing kit by choosing one of the following best sellers which will all do the job just fine:-

	This GiGi professional waxing kit is a best seller as it contains a whole heap of elements for a small price including a wax warmer. Some of the reviews were not so happy with the wax for bikini waxing so you may want to use a specialized kit for that (although this one is certainly suitable for most people). Missing from the kit (but nevertheless good value): talcum powder for dusting the area before waxing and wax remover for removing wax residue from your body. Get details and buyer reviews here
	This GiGi Bikini Waxing kit is a better kit to buy if you just want to wax your bikini line. The only issue with it is that the strips you need to use are not included so you need to purchase these separately. It beats me why they don’t include them to be honest but this is still a great kit. Get details and reviews here.
	Now this waxing kit, the Satin Smooth starter set DOES contain everything you need (including strips, warmer and wax remover). That makes it great value. Although the wax doesn’t have the same reputation as GiGi wax (which you hear about all the time as being the best) the buyers seem to love it more than GiGi so this looks like a great buy. Get all the details and buyers opinions here.
	The Clean and easy Waxing Spa Kit is more expensive than other kits (around $100 as opposed to around $40) but that’s because it has a unique patented roll on system which make the wax easier to control. It includes a wax warmer (which gives you constantly heated roll on applicators and they ensure that wax goes on in a perfectly smooth thin layer) and you get everything else you need so you may want to consider this one if you want the best and tend to get in a mess with waxing. Full details and more information here along with buyer reviews.

All the waxing kits you see here will give you professional results. If you are used to paying the prices at beauty salons they will pay for themselves very quickly and you will be able to remove hair whenever it is convenient for you. If you’re not sure how how to wax all the kits contain full instructions but it may be worth having a salon treatment first so you get the idea if you’re nervous about using these a waxing kit at home.

The Rio hair removal system is another home laser hair removal machine widely available on the market and again with mixed reviews, unfortunately many of them extremely negative along with those who have had a great experience with the machine.

There are three laser machines in the Rio hair removal range – one targets individual hairs, one 20 hairs at a time and since 2009 one which deals with 60 hairs at a time but a lot of people seem to struggle to target their hair with the system as it can be quite an art with a small laser beam. (From that point of view the 60 hair laser is definitely best). It also seems that the head on the Rio machine is very light and the laser may not be powerful enough to destroy hair follicles for some – although a few have given it a glowing review because it works for them.

A lot of people seem to lose patience with the Rio laser machine and you think that maybe they are unrealistic in their expectations but there are quite a few saying that though they understand the process they have made repeated attempts without any reduction in their hair growth.

For example this lady who used the Rio 60 machine

“It’s an absolute waste of money. I used to have laser hair removal treatment in a skin clinic in my country so I am completely familiar with the process and how it works. When I called Rio customer service to tell them how useless it is they answered me in a way like it is a new technology and I don’t know how it works. But believe me after several treatments even a single hair didn’t drop. (after each treatment the hair whose folicol is destroyed drop). Now I have put it somewhere out of my sight because every time I see it I like to smash it.”
Amazon.co.uk (see more reviews to get the full picture here, here and here)

So though on the face of it the Rio laser system seems to have a lot going for it with all the features listed such as a safe 808nm diverging laser, secure skin contact check, hair targeting light, digital power output control and great instructions via manual or DVD and a number of people report excellent results you may want to think again about how you spend your money if you are on a limited budget. Although there is a 2 year guarantee I believe this only covers faults with the product (ie break downs) not the product failing to remove your hair.

If you are willing to take a chance on the Rio hair removal system and see if this is the answer for you (in the full knowledge that you may be disappointed), then you can buy on Amazon in the UK here and on eBay in the USA or elsewhere.

The Emjoi Tweeze (or officially the Emjoi AP 9T tweeze tweezer) is the baby of the Emjoi epilator range. It is a small epilator that runs on batteries and works (in theory at least) on one hair at a time. You run it in a circular motion over your unwanted hair and it traps the hairs and plucks them out one at a time as it goes. As the hair is removed from the root it does not grow back as quickly as it would if you shaved or used a depilatory cream, both of which cut hair off at the surface.

Like any method which pulls hair from the root it can be painful and by dealing with one hair at a time you can prolong the agony a bit but one hair at a time may be all you can live with especially if you use it (as most people do) as a precision epilator for your face.

I have to say I am very fond of my usual epilator, which I have had for years – it keeps my legs smooth all year round no trouble at all but I would never put it anywhere near my face as it is both too big and I got rid of any facial hair a long time ago with electrolysis. But I can see the advantages of having a mini version if you want to deal with your unwanted facial hair like that and Emjoi epilators are well respected in the industry. Just don’t buy an Emjoi tweerzer contraption for your legs as you will take forever and a day to go over them.

The Emjoi Tweeze reviews I have seen are a mixed bunch. They range from those who are very happy with the product and would hate to be without it and those who think it is a waste of time and you might as well pluck with tweezers. It has to be said that is usually the way with hair removal products because there are so many differences in hair toughness and pain threshold as well as differing expectations. I do think this is a particularly good device if you struggle to grasp the odd hair on your face with tweezers. It can be very tricky to grasp the little devils especially if you have poor eyesight.

Rather than regurgitate all the reviews here I’ll send you to where you can see over 100 of them in one place and make up your own mind based on your own requirements. There are also quite a few tips there about how to make the most of your Tweeze epilator should you buy one. My view is that if your budget is not too limited and you’re not ready to opt for electrolysis it’s probably worth trying this or the REM Spring facial hair remover we talked about already (or both) to see how you get on because you might find your answer with them for just a few dollars.

See Emjoi Tweeze Automatic Tweezer System reviews here. If you’re interested in the REM Spring you can read reviews here.

I thought about doing one of those award ceremonies for the best hair removal products of this year but then I don’t quite have the resources to make a splash about it like the Oscars so I’ll just make a quiet blog post instead. If you have ideas about anything you love to use then feel free to nominate your best hair removal product in the comments.

A few products have poked their heads above the parapet this year which I had not seen before. With some of them time will tell whether they are good or great or just scams or also rans but the signs are quite promising for some.

One newcomer I’d like to nominate is the Silk’n laser hair removal system. As all such systems it has mixed reviews but more positives than you might expect for such a tricky, patience needed home hair removal procedure so I nominate that as the Best Laser Hair Removal product this year.

On the electrolysis front there has been nothing to beat the One Touch for many years and I nominate that again. It’s still annoyingly slow and tricky but at least this electrolysis machine does work once you get the knack of it. More patience and practice required I’m afraid.

As for the best hair removal products for men I have to nominate the electric back shaver for men the Mangroomer (see it here) because never before has it been possible for a man to shave his own back. Full marks for ingenuity. And although these have been out for a while I like that the traditional hair removal companies have their products in male packaging. We don’t want our poor men to get traumatized buying stuff in pink tubes do we? So Veet for Men and Nair Hair Removal for Men get half a vote each.

When it comes to the best hair removal cream, I haven’t a clue at the moment – so please nominate your fave. It’s the summer since I tried to use hair removal cream on my bikini line. It was a generic drugstore brand (which will remain suitably nameless) and nothing happened. Probably because I’ve had the stuff in my closet for over year. That will teach me to do those “Buy Two Get One Free” offers!

As for the best facial hair removal products as usual there are scams aplenty and too numerous to list here but I do like that little REM spring face hair remover tool that I just noticed this year. A bit like threading without having to learn how or twiddle with bits of cotton.

Finally no award post would be complete without a mention of my favorite hair removal product of all. My trusty epilator. I’d be lost without it and leg hair removal would take up so much more of my time. The models here don’t include the one I have as I have had mine for many years but they are essentially the same product. Years and years of smooth legs is just so worth it – and you get used to the sensation of pulling out the hair if you persevere.

If you’re looking for an effective permanent hair remover then you’re in good company. It is what we would all like to see but there are only a couple of processes that can really be described as having any sort of permanence (electrolysis and laser hair removal) and neither are that easy to translate into a product that you can use yourself to remove hair permanently.

Having said that there are a few products which will do the job although none of them will turn you into a permanent hair removing wizard overnight. Just take care about the products that promise the earth and don’t deliver. There are many more of those “miracle” products around than products you will have a realistic chance of success with. The effectiveness of the product is generally in inverse proportion to the hype about permanent hair removal in the advertisements however. If you’re worried about buying a product check out the reviews on this blog and if you don’t see what you are looking for please ask in the comments. I have probably seen all those scams in my time and I wince when I read a lot of the ads because I know people will be taken in by them and waste their money.

So which permanent hair removers would I recommend? Well, recommend is maybe too strong a word because you will definitely need to be the right kind of person to have success with them. These products are simply not for you if you think you can zap your hair in half an hour and be done with it forever. These are tools which, if used with a bit of skill and patience, can give you permanent results.

The important words of course are skill and patience. To get the skill to use them takes both time and practice but if you’re highly motivated to get rid of unwanted hair you will be able to gain whatever techniques you need to succeed. Patience comes in because apart from the time taken to learn to use the hair removal equipment you are also going to need to spend time on each hair (in the case of the electrolysis product) or each small group of hairs (in the case of the laser hair removal product). And you will probably need to treat the hairs more than once as you have to catch them at the right stage of growth.

If you have read this far however you probably have the patience to make a success of using home equipment like this so here are the products, which are both available at a discount through the links:-

One Touch – Click Here

This is the only permanent facial hair remover I recommend and also the only one which is suitable for dark skins or fair hair. The laser product below cannot be used on the face or on those with coloring other than fair skin and dark hair.

Silk’n Laser Hair Removal System – Click Here

This is the only laser hair removal machine I recommend.

The ultimate hair removal machine is one that you can use yourself in the privacy of your own home to zap your hair until you never see it again. It cause no pain or discomfort at all, it doesn’t make a mess, is easy to use and you are done with it in a few minutes.

Does such a magic hair removing machine exist?

Well, not quite! But we are getting close with some of the newer innovations on the market these days although lets face it, removing hair from the root which is surrounded by nerve ends is never going to pain or discomfort free unless you are anesthetized.

So what are these new permanent hair removal machines? Unfortunately you will hear about many more machines in advertisements than can actually do the job so you do have to be careful not to believe all you read about every “permanent hair removal machine”.

Here are the two that I have looked into quite a bit. They have, it has to be said, mixed reviews but in many cases that is due to the unrealistically high expectations of some customers rather than a fault with the machines. Permanent hair removal is always going to be a slow process needing plenty of patience but if you are willing to learn the skills and techniques, these machines will do the job.

1. Laser Hair Removal

The laser hair removal machine which seems to have the best reviews from genuine customers is the Silk’n. It is only for those who want to remove body hair and who have dark hair and fair skin but if you belong in that category you should take a look at this. Unfortunately home laser hair removal machines have not been developed which deal with darker skins (although there are some machines in clinics which claim to have success with darker skins even professional laser treatment is not as effective with darker skin coloring). Also the machine is not considered safe to use on your face so do not buy it for that purpose.

2. Electrolysis

There is a permanent hair removal machine which has been around for years and which is the only solution in my view for treating facial hair at home for permanent removal. This electrolysis machine gets little attention because it takes a bit of practice and patience to get used to it and make it work for you but it is effective if you are determined to deal with an unwanted hair problem at home. It is the One Touch electrolysis hair removal machine. Whereas the home laser machines cost a few hundred dollars this little machine costs little. Just don’t expect miracles unless you are prepared to work with it. And it probably not wise to practice on your face until you know what you are doing and are happy with the results you are getting from working on a leg or arm!