Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I will update this review as I continue to use this product but after the first use on various body parts: I've never used an epilator before, but I've heard they can be painful. This one is too...don't fool yourself into thinking it won't be. Ultimately it's still pulling out the hair. Ironically enough however, I found that longer hair (1/4 of an inch to 1/2 in) on the bikini area and a few other areas hurt a whole lot less than hair on my legs shaved a few days ago that was much shorter. It was so painful on my legs I couldn't use it for more than a few seconds at a time. In other areas I pulled through. However, that aside, I do like the product overall and even if the epilator function isn't a first choice over the old Shick Pro Glide, a lot of the other features are nice. Many attachments. There are two main heads - the epilator and a shaver. You can also surround the epilator with various massage heads. I have to admit the massage heads seemed like they'd feel nice, but really they do nothing to ease the epilator for me. They do however help guide the head (the roller one anyway) so you can get smoother more controlled motions. The real gem here is the shaver though. My boyfriend has a Panasonic shaver (for men) with a very nice head...this is smaller but fairly comparable in function. It takes more passes over a hairy area than his does (we compared) but it also has smaller holes and less overall surface area. With its nice edge comb and all though I found this a FANTASTIC shaver...an worked on the legs just great! I don't know if I'd use it all the time, but with the really bright light and ability to shave dry, I could really see the usefulness for when one needs a quick clean up on the legs or pits but doesn't have time to properly hop in the shower. Pros: 1) Luxury tweezer. It's ridiculous I know, but I love the tweezer. It's in a little lipstick like tube and has a super bright LED for plucking. As much as I'd like to reserve it for eyebrows, the sucker is a great tweezer and just seems so darn useful I might keep it in my purse for general use (hey, LED flashlight!) 2) Bright light on the shaver/epilator. At first I thought this was ridiculous, but really wow it's nice! You see so many hairs that would get easily overlooked otherwise. 3) Power. It's quite powerful and has two speeds. More than enough power on the epilator for sure and the shaver seems pretty decent too. 4) Locking feature. There is a way to "lock" the shaver so you don't accidentally turn it on when storing it. 5) Can use while charging. 6) Plug in adapter is very tight...at least it won't fall out by accident. 7) Look. Really the whole thing just looks nice. It feels expensive...and very female oriented frankly with all the smooth lines, white and flowers. 8) Two year warranty and 45 day return policy. Nice if you paid for it and weren't sure if you'd like it or if you are concerned about it breaking or wearing out. 9) Shaver vs. epilator option. Even though I'm most likely to use this as a shaver, I like that the epilator is an option. As much as it pulls hair out my understanding is that epilation lasts a lot longer like waxing. It is indeed much smoother I can attest. Not sure I'll ever be able to use it on my legs though...I will try it again some time when I have longer hair on my legs and see if that helps or makes it worse. (See edit...longer hair is worse) 10) Smooth...I'll admit that in an area where you can stand to use it, the epilator does a fantastic job of leaving behind a very smooth surface...nearly as good as waxing. Just slower. 11) Easy to use. Other than the obnoxious instruction sheet (discussed in Cons) it was pretty intuitive. You can figure it out yourself very easily. 12) Very understandable charging indicators. Blinks brightly while charging, turns off when done (well actually turns solid and then turns off after a while, but unless you're watching it like a hawk...) 13) Seems very safe. I got confidence with it quickly and even though I didn't go out of my way to try cut myself, it seems very unlikely to injure you even when you're pressing hard or at angles (on the shaver). The same is true of the epilator really...it never seemed to present any danger other than yanking out hair. Cons: 1) Not waterproof or safe to use in the shower. 2) Ridiculous amount of instructions. For something that seems like it should be so simple, the instruction sheet is huge and confusing. There are 32 pictures to refer to and numerous steps. I skimmed most of it, but kept having to try look things up to make sure I was doing it right which was hard. It's not even a booklet. It's a fold out...the kind that never fold back as nice as they were before you unfolded it like an unruly old style map. 3) Can pop the head off while it's in use. The head comes off with a release on the side. Unfortunately if you hit this while it's running, the head comes off anyway and makes a partial connection. I don't know if you can damage the shaver this way but it seems like a real possibility. 4) Pain. Up to you...if you get used to it, I'm sure it's not so bad, but seriously, ow! It feels like an electric shock...that keeps shocking you until all the hair is gone. 5) Kinda messy...I admit seeing all the gross little hairs on the head and around where I was experimenting was unappealing. Shaving in the shower negates all that mess. 6) Not very fast. Honestly, a regular razor is faster even if you can't (or shouldn't) use it dry. 7) Tweezer batteries. As much as I like the tweezer I don't have anything else that uses coin cells that size. When it runs down it will be obnoxious to replace them. End verdict...I'll keep trying it and updating this review...I would probably never use the epilator on the pits but it's good on other areas you want super smooth. However, for an electric razor I'm very satisfied. Short of one that could be used in the shower like my boyfriend's the shaver portion is pretty much exactly what I was thinking of looking for at some point. As to whether I'll prefer it over the Shick in the end, I'm still on the fence. The tweezer sure is nice though. :) Update: No, longer hair doesn't help at all. It's worse. Hot shower beforehand doesn't help either. Ice packing does though...numbs it out. It closes pores so it probably does more damage, but it also makes the hair stand up so whatever. Seriously though...this hurts. It hurts worse than getting a tattoo. However, I've been trying to hold out...it might be getting better. There are people who epilate all the time so I imagine you develop a tolerance. What would be useful would be to know how to compares to other epilator options. In the meantime, I'm going to leave my rating as is...the rest (shaver, tweezer, etc) is very nice, I still like it as a shaver and will keep trying the epilator a few more times...I have yet to manage to completely sit through an entire leg session, but we'll see...what I have done with it looks very nice. Bottom line: if you want it as an epilator you need to read other reviews that compare it to other epilators. Having only used this one, all I can say is this one is super nice in every way except that it hurts like crazy.