Philips Satinelle Essential, Compact Hair Removal Epilator for Legs, HP6401/50

FINALLY!!! I have tried EVERY SINGLE hair removal method out there. I've tried everything from laser hair removal to creams to masks to just about every gadget on the market. Laser hair removal is great and all if you're someone who can constantly spend thousands of dollars--because let's face it--as much as they want to tell you that it's permanent--it isn't. It reduces it fairly well but if you don't keep up with it, it's not permanent. So of course, I had to opt for a cheaper alternative. I tried waxing and that was a disaster on my face. The next day I had disgusting pimples all over my face and some of my skin would rip off and it was always just so messy and frustrating for me. Epilating is simple, clean, not messy, and doesn't rip my skin off and make me break out like crazy. I tried creams and those burned my face literally leaving what looked like rug burns on my face. I tried threading, etc etc. You get the point.So after trying everything I just settled for shaving. Yup. Cheap. Quick. Easy. And left my face smooth for almost a day. I've had to shave my face for over 10 years and as embarrassing as it was and even though it left my skin irritated in certain areas, I really had no choice and just eventually accepted that this was a part of my routine. I always wanted to try an epilator but just couldn't narrow it down to the best one--up until now.If you're anything like me and someone who absolutely hates the fact that they have to deal with this issue every single day--then you really won't care how much pain this is (and it realy does get less painful over time I promise!!!) because I'm the happiest woman alive to know that this handy gadget is going to remove my hair from the root and keep my disgusting hair issue at bay for longer than a day!!! I will say that this thing HURTS LIKE HELL the first few times (I use it on my face, and yes, it works wonders on my face, much better than the ones that are designed for facial hair. Because let me be honest, I am not trying to remove peach fuzz that most women are so embarrassed about--I WISH I HAD PEACH FUZZ!!!--I am an Italian woman and my facial hair is dark and thick like my damn leg hair (I'm SO lucky! NOT.) So I wanted the best of the best. If it claimed to be a BODY epilator then you bet I was going to get it for my FACE that resembled BODY HAIR! UGH! SO GROSS. Whatever, I've accepted it now. Things could be worse.)I absolutely LOVE this product and I am the happiest woman in the world right now! I can't believe I waited this long to purchase this! And for this price too!? I am SO ECSTATIC like this is seriously changing my life and increasing my self esteem dramatically. I don't care how painful it is, I don't care that there is a ton of redness and bumpiness after using it, I don't care that I have to plan my day accordingly (like having to skip exercising for 2 days since sweat can bring in bacteria and cause irritation and pimples...or that I have to skip wearing make up and basically be anti social for 2 days to let the irritation die down) I JUST DON'T CARE because it is WELL WORTH IT!!! I want to make it VERY CLEAR that this gets better over time! I promise! The redness subsides the more you use it because if you haven't pulled out this much hair all at once before, your skin is going to react, and the more you do it, there will be less hair to pull. The reason for this is because unlike shaving, you are completely removing the hair follicle at the root and it takes much longer to protrude out of the skin than with just shaving, which is only cutting the part that is showing and not removing it. Also, PLEASE remember NOT to be discouraged for several weeks when there is hair still showing up! All hair has different life spans! So the ones you remove today, will NOT be the ones you remove tomorrow. Be patient. Stick with it. This has absolutely changed my life and I used it for about a month so far and I have absolutely loved it. I can't believe I don't have to shave my face every day anymore! I can't stress enough to BE PATIENT with this process. You will have to endure some painful redness and bumps for a little bit, but it contiues to get better and better over time. If you can get through the beginning stages (as with anything in life) than this will be life changing like it has been for me. I think I am on the last couple of stages of hair growth for all follicles (like I said, each individual follicle is on their own stage of growth) so once you can kind of get through that begining stage of getting all of them out, over time you won't have to do much maintenance anymore!For anyone who has been suffering for a while with embarrassing facial hair, I want to leave you with some amazing tips for your before and aftercare to help you reduce all that irritation and inflammation and ultimately shorten the amount of time it takes to heal. I have sensitive skin so if this stuff works on ME then it will definitely work on YOU!I'd like to point out that I do not use the cap on this when I am epilating. I have a feeling that this may be why some reviewers are saying that this thing doesn't work. This thing definitely doesn't work if you put that efficiency cap on it. The cap is optional to put on and it is more for people who haven't ever used this before and are a bit timid of having the blades so close to the skin. I don't use the cap and this thing works PERFECTLY.Before you epilate:1. Plan to epilate at the end of your day when you know you won't be going back out and can have as much time to recover as possible, so your recovery period can be overnight during your sleep. For me, I can get away with doing it midday on a Sunday where I know I'll be relaxing at home and where I know I don't have to go to work the next day on Monday.2. Make sure to wash your face and EXFOLIATE your skin. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP because it reduces the risk of ingrown hairs and those pesky little white heads!3. Epilate with a DRY face. You can add BABY POWDER to your face so that the epilator catches ONLY the hair and NOT your skin. If your skin is even slightly damp, it will catch your skin.After you epilate (CRUCIAL STEPS!!!)After epilating, it is imperative that you take certain steps to reduce your risk of irritation, redness, and getting bumps. If you're like me, you totally will get all of that, but it's okay because it is well worth it and if you plan it well, it won't be that big of a deal and just be a necessary part of your routine, just like everyone else has certain routines for their care as well. However, I just started using this product so I'm sure the amount of irritation will die down, as I have read with many people's experiences with epilating in the long term.After I finish epilating, I gently wipe my skin with a damp, warm towel, just to get off any excess hair and really just clean up the area. Then I apply Tea Tree oil to the epilated areas to keep the now open pores clean. This combats bacteria very well and it doesn't sting. Next, I cut off a piece of my aloe vera leaf (which is nice and cool because it is stored in the fridge) and rub it on. THIS WORKS WONDERS! Aloe vera is the most amazing natural medicine for skin issues like burns, cuts, wounds, irritation, etc. It is amaaaaazing! You can get a whole leaf at Whole Foods or Sprouts or other natural grocery places. I prefer the leaf because I KNOW that it's 100% aloe! Then when that's about halfway dry, I put calamine lotion right on top of that. You can honesty skip the calamine lotion but I just wanted to take extra precaution. The aloe is the main star of the show here and if you don’t want something noticeable on your face, just stick with the aloe. I leave it on for as much time as I can. So some days it's just on all day. At least try 20-30 mins if you can't do that. Watch the magic happen!I also make sure to take a NSAID right after as well to help reduce the pain and any swelling. A NSAID is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory which is a fancy word for ibuprofen (Advil) or aspirin. The reason why you wouldn't want to opt for an acetaminophen (Tylenol) is because it isn't anti-inflammatory. It helps with reducing pain but it is not considered a NSAID and we want to reduce inflammation after the skin has been tugged on a lot during epilation and thus causes an inflammatory response of the skin.Although this seems like a lot to do and sounds as if you're getting pretty beaten up, I mean, epilation is pretty brutal on the skin so I know that I want to do the best that I can to reduce as much irritation as possible and this definitely does the trick. One thing to keep in mind is that all hair has different regeneration periods so don't be discouraged when the first time you do it and the next day there is some hair coming in--this is simply the other hairs that were not protruding enough and/or not protruding out of the skin yet. They are NOT the same hairs that you just epilated, they are the other ones that are on a different hair growing schedule. Just go back over these or tweeze them if there aren't a lot. Hope this helps some of you.

I've had this since August, 2012. I got it mainly to reduce skin irritation that I got from shaving and to save a little money by not waxing. I've been using it regularly since then, it still works great, and it reduces skin irritation while saving me money.Here's the low-down:I'm assuming that if you're a person who has hair, you understand that yanking your hair out is not a pleasant experience. Is using this epilator more enjoyable after a glass of wine and NSAID of your choice, at least at first? Yes, but so are a lot of things in life, so I don't consider that a big mark against it.Furthermore, it starts hurting less and less the more you use it. I don't know if that's because my technique has improved or because my pain tolerance has, but either way, I no longer require the aforementioned glass of wine and NSAID. Doing my legs isn't my favorite sensation, but I would no longer characterize it as painful. My underarms are a bit more sensitive, but I can do them both in one sitting without any major discomfort.Beyond that, this thing does the job without irritating my skin. I threw out the guard I got with it within a month because it just isn't necessary, but it was nice at first because I was a little leery of it pinching me (it doesn't pinch, by the way. That was me being silly). I can do my legs and underarms in 20 minutes flat, and they stay smooth for a week. The epilator itself has never shown signs of breaking, slowing down, or becoming less effective. I do keep a pack of razors on hand for emergencies when I just don't have time to epilate, but I've used one pack in the past year and a half.I haven't had issues with ingrown hairs with this--if anything, I have far fewer ingrown hairs than when I shaved regularly.It does take a while to get all of your hair growing on the same schedule. I live in Florida and wear a lot of skirts, so if there's a special occasion coming up, I'll epilate or shave what stubble I have, which means I'll be yanking some hairs out when I epilate next and leaving others, but even with my lack of commitment I only have to epilate every week at the most. I've been going a week and a half without looking unduly stubbly, lately, and I'm hoping to be able to go two weeks before too very long.I've noticed the areas I regularly epilate seem to have slowly lost some hair, and the hair that remains is finer and lighter. I am very pale (despite living in Florida) and have dark body hair, so this development is a huge relief and lets me go longer between epilating.As to getting this thing to work maximally well, here are my tips:+Hold the epilator in one hand and hold the skin tight in the other. No, hold the skin tighter. Tighter! Like you mean it! Does it hurt to epilate? Yes? You're probably not holding the skin tight enough.+Take some NSAIDs and/or glass of wine the first few times. Do the epilating in patches--this gives you time to relax and troubleshoot your technique.+Technique is important and you will get better with time. This is a skill and is frustrating at first, just like shaving your legs was (I mean, I still can't shave my legs without nicking the back of my ankle or my knee). Give it a few tries before giving up.+Legs are the least painful areas to epilate, at least for me, followed by underarms. Bikini line is doable, but legitimately painful. I tend to get ingrowns there even if I epilate, so I've just cut my losses and opted for swim shorts.As I said, this product has led to less skin irritation, saved me money, and is still working after a year and a half. It costs less than getting your legs waxed and it does the job just as well with a little practice. I recommend it!ETA: I've had this product for two years and counting. I can go for two weeks (more, if I'm not wearing skirts every day) between epilating my legs or underarms, and I have reached the level of epilating expertise where I can do my bikini line with only a little discomfort. As I said, it takes skill, which takes practice, and also persistence. This gadget costs less than a single leg wax, has lasted two years, and is still going strong. Does it hurt a little at first? Yep. So does waxing (or shaving, if you're clumsy like me and accidentally cut your knees or ankles). Does it work, get easier/less painful with time, and last a while? Absolutely! I have and continue to recommend this product very highly!