... (If you survive this trial by pore-nibbling fire ants - you'll appreciate epilators)
The Braun 5580 Silk-Epil Xelle is a mouthful of a title for a product that isn't even Braun's top-of-the-line epilator (for that you'll need the 5680 which comes with a trimmer and comb attachment to shorten ... Read review
The new epilation head comes with 40 tweezers for long lasting incredibly smooth skin with ... more
convenience and efficiency. Active massaging rollers gently stimulate the skin with micro pulsations before and after the hair is removed. to minimize the pullin...
Advantages: No mess, easy clean and cheaper than salon waxing. Disadvantages: Most of the multi-heads are ineffectual, no trimmer attachment, pain and a whole pile of skincare things that they don't tell you in the manual.
...epilators)
The Braun 5580 Silk-Epil Xelle is a mouthful of a title for a product that isn't even Braun's top-of-the-line epilator (for that you'll need the 5680 which comes with a trimmer and comb attachment to shorten hairs to optimum epilation length). I bought mine from Boots on a £10-off Braun products deal for £55. This does sound expensive but when you consider the products an epilator really replaces:
Sugaring ... ...slack to trip over later. Braun have also added a so-called SmartLight to every Silk-Epil Xelle which is a good idea, see the hairs before you epilate them or see the ones you've missed later. It's not so good in practice as it doesn't work in natural light. There are also two speed settings - fast and very fast - and it is recommended in the manual that beginners use the first speed setting. This 'recommendation' is, frankly, a load of rubbish. ... more
Let's get this straight; ignore the what the advertisers will have you think: Epilators are NOT an alternative or substitute for electric shavers/wet razors! Electric shavers/wet razors remove hair ABOVE the root by trimming - epilators remove hair BY the root. If you're considering moving from a shaver/razor to an epilator of any brand or make - DON'T. You'll be in for a whole world of disappointment, and by 'disappointment' I mean PAIN.
If you're really thinking of switching from using a shaver/razor to an epilator, try using wax strips or have a professional salon wax FIRST. (If you survive this trial by pore-nibbling fire ants - you'll appreciate epilators)
The Braun 5580 Silk-Epil Xelle is a mouthful of a title for a product that isn't even Braun's top-of-the-line epilator (for that you'll need the 5680 which comes with a trimmer and comb attachment to shorten hairs to optimum epilation length). I bought mine from Boots on a £10-off Braun products deal for £55. This does sound expensive but when you consider the products an epilator really replaces:
Sugaring Salon Waxing Home Waxing Wax Strips
I've found, after two months, it's already paid for itself because I haven't:
1) Scalded myself with boiling water. (Sugaring) 2) Wondered if I'm buying double glazing or trying to get my hairy bits waxed off as I disappear under a sea of quotations. (Salon Waxing) 3) Taken a paint scraper and metal spatula to the bathroom floor. (Home Waxing) 4) Vowed to slap the conceited nitwit off the telly if she ambushes me and sneers 'are you a wax virrrrrgin?' as I've seen Mr Men sticking plasters remove more hair. (Wax Strips)
I am a disaster in this respect. I can, and frequently do, turn the simplest of routines into a Jackass stunt. Which is where the 5580 comes in - there is no one on the planet more incompetent and incapable than me. If it's going to blow up, saw someone's legs off or cause a city-wide blackout - I'm going to be the one responsible! The fact that it didn't is testament to how idiot-proof this thing is! I've never owned an epilator before - let alone one with half a dozen different heads and attachments - but I had it set up and ready to go, out of the box and without instructions in 5 mins. 15 mins later, after I'd read the instructions, it was ready to use.
Though the Silk-Epil range remain corded, mains operated devices the lead on the 5580 is long enough for me to plug it in outside the bathroom and reach my brow line (I'm 5' 10") with plenty of slack to trip over later. Braun have also added a so-called SmartLight to every Silk-Epil Xelle which is a good idea, see the hairs before you epilate them or see the ones you've missed later. It's not so good in practice as it doesn't work in natural light. There are also two speed settings - fast and very fast - and it is recommended in the manual that beginners use the first speed setting. This 'recommendation' is, frankly, a load of rubbish. If you're a beginner use the fastest speed - it'll save you having second thoughts (especially if you're a former salon wax-addict and used to someone else doing the ripping). These are the basics that you get with every Silk-Epil Xelle, no matter which model you buy, you're guaranteed a light (for reading the instructions), a power lead, two speed settings, 'massage' rollers that don't, EfficienyPro head that works like a dream, a pouch to keep it in and a brush to sweep all of the debris off it.
Specific to the 5580 pack you also get:
- Narrow epilation head - 'Easy Start' epilation head - Facial set
And this is where the issues start.
1) Both the Narrow epilation head and Easy Start head have fewer tweezers per roller to 'ease' the process for beginners. This doesn't ease anything, it just prolongs the initial shock and causes more skin irritation because you have to repeat-epilate an area to be sure you've got all of them.
2) The 'Facial Set' consists of a plastic cover which clips over the Narrow epilation head, so you're doubly handicapped in trying to remove hairs that are shorter than 5-10mms. It lacks the precision needed to prune unkempt eyebrows quickly and though the Narrow head is a charm for sorting out an impending unibrow/omnibrow because of its width, but it'll only grab every other hair so you've got to repeat it a couple of times and risk getting a pink 'landing strip' effect.
3) There isn't a trimming head included so trying to use the 5580 on an untrimmed bikini area WILL result in EXTREME PAIN.
4) The Easy Start cool pack. It is possible to freeze this and hold it over the area you want to epilate until the area is numbed. Sadly, this will happen to your fingers before it happens to anywhere you WANT to be numbed. As a post-epilation treatment the cool pack works much better and takes a lot of the sting out of the first couple of epilations.
The best thing about the 5580 is the EfficiencyPro epilation head - which is standard to ALL of the Silk-Epil Xelle range. This has the maximum amount of tweezers per roller and it really does make the 5580's other shortcomings pale into insignificance. The rollers give excellent coverage and get every epilation job done super-fast. I only need to repeat epilate on large areas - e.g. my legs - and then only very selectively where a hair has broken instead of beeing fully removed. I've also discovered that turning the EfficiencyPro head sideways covers exactly the same area as the Narrow head so it'll do brows and bikinis to perfection in ONE SHOT.
The plus side I've discovered with epilation is that the hairs do grow back thinner and lighter. I don't get the clumping (where hairs grown back in different directions) that I did with waxing and sugaring either. It's also a thousand times less messy than using home waxing or sugaring kits, burns less than depilation creams and elecrolysis and I don't need to jump back in the shower to rinse off any persistent residues. Top marks, definitely, on the process itself.
CONCLUSIONS
The Braun Silk-Epil Xelle 5580 is, ostensibly, a very nice and extensive kit. On closer examination the MAJORITY of the additional heads are useless for the tasks they've been designed to do. It doesn't have a trimmer attachment which is essential for cutting longer hairs down to a length where removing them isn't going to hurt. The 'Facial set' NEEDS to be rethought and improved to include an eyebrow shaping head.
To conclude, £65 (RRP) for an 'extensive' kit that doesn't function as extensively as it is intended is a waste of money when you can get the best epilation features of the set in the 5280 WITH a trimmer (but without the Narrow head) for £5 less. OR buy a cheap trimmer for a couple of quid and get the basic 5180 model for £10 less. The 5180 or 5280 are the models I recommend on price and performance because you get all of the advantages of the 5580 without any of the disadvantages.
WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU
1) Shaving rules apply. If you use an epilator on cold skin, the pores are tightened - this makes for more resistance and it'll hurt more when you epilate because of it. Having a hot shower to open pores up and saving the cool pack for a post-epilation treatment works much better and hurts less.
2) Using a body/facial scrub to wash with first to loosen latent dead skin and ingrowing hairs. This will stop the rollers getting clogged with skin flakes and let the tweezers get closer to the base of hairs.
3) You can cut the post-epilation pinkness to 24 hours or less by filling a new spray bottle with a mixture of skin toner or witch hazel and water. Misting the mixture over the epilated area - and letting it dry in before you go to bed - should reduce a lot of the pinkness by morning on your first few epilations and within a couple of hours the more often you epilate.
Advantages: Removes hair from the roots Disadvantages: The Ouch factor, not cheap
The lovely summer days, sun, sand surf and hairy legs. Not a beautiful image is it? I have been through most types of hair removal in my time, from waxing (ouch), to sugaring (expensive), and plain old shaving (where I usually forget to do a strip at the back of my legs). So this summer I decided to treat myself to an epilator.
~ How does an epilator work? ~
Essentially an epilator looks like a ladies shaver except for the head, which has a series ... ...moved across the skin the tweezers rotate and pull the hairs out from the root, meaning that hair regrowth is slower than after shaving. Unlike shaving the hair re-growth after using an epilator is not stubbly, it tends to be softer and finer. Furthermore the amount of hair regrowth becomes reduced if you regularly use an epilator.
~ How to Use ~ This epilator is extremely easy to use. First you plug it in. Then select the appropriate attachment ...
ciaomeister1 20.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Braun 5580 SILK-ÉPIL X'elle Body+face EAS
Advantages: Effective and long lasting Disadvantages: Painful!
For some reason, despite being blonde and fairly dainty in other respects, I've been cursed with leg hair that belongs to someone else - someone like my big grizzly bear of a boyfriend! It grows so fast that I usually have to shave my legs every day in the summer, which is a right pain. I've tried hair removal creams and found it just took longer, smelt horrible and didn't last any better, and waxing which brought me out in nasty bumps and didn't ... ...give this a try as I had nothing to lose other than the 50 quid it cost me from Argos (although it's probably available cheaper online), and I've probably spent that loads of times over on razors and shaving foam... I was drawn in by the promise of smooth legs for 4 weeks - too good to be true?... The Silk-Epil looks rather pretty and is definitely designed to appeal to girls, with its tasteful pastel colours and smooth lines. As gadgets go it looks ...
d10an9 10.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Braun 5580 SILK-ÉPIL X'elle Body+face EAS
I was jus wondereinng if you have to replace an epilator after so long, ive had mine for about a year and a half now which i have used every other day. It now seems to be getting a little blunt it doesn't seem to work as good as it used to, should i get a new one? I have the bruan silk epi one which cost me £70. I would recommend it tho, i went to work aroad for 6 months last year and could not have gone without my epilator, i wouldnt of gone without ... ...day to keep the hair away, i am quite hairy so need to use it every other day, i can only use it on the bottom of my leg and my underarms, i cant do it on the tops of my legs as really hurts and gives me a real bad rash. Should i get a new one of can u buy the attachments seperatley??? ...
suem2924 14.02.2009
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Review of Braun 5580 SILK-ÉPIL X'elle Body+face EAS
Advantages: Keeps legs smooth for longer Disadvantages: Painful!
I had been undecided for some time about whether or not to buy this product. Eventually, having read other reviews I decided to get it. There was an offer on on Amazon at the time and as I also had some vouchers it ended up costing £35 instead of £64 as is the price in most shops. With hindsight I'm glad I didn't pay the full price. I'd picked up on the idea that epilating was going to be painful, and so when I first did it I made sure I'd had a ... ...take away some of the pain! It was painful. The set comes with starter head and then standard. Having tried the starter head I soon decided to just use the standard. The starter is designed with few tweezers in to get your skin used to it; this means the process is even slower and so the pain goes on...! The first time I did it it took about 30 mins to do each leg. Luckily the second and subsequent times have been far less painful, to the stage that ...
becks1005 20.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braun 5580 SILK-ÉPIL X'elle Body+face EAS
Advantages: leaves area smooth for 3-4 weeks at a time Disadvantages: slower than shaving, you need a little stubble to use this
...mitt too!
The people at braun have really thought this one out well, the unit is more comfortable to hold, less brutal to use and the LED "headlight" on it makes it easy to spot stray hairs that would have been missed otherwise. I noticed that I didnt have as much of the "plucked chicken" look after using it as my old one gave either, so its much gentler on the skin.
It isnt cheap at just under £70, but it is worth upgrading from the next one down, ... ...price. Given the years of service my old one gave me, you could easily spend that on razors, wax strips, depilatory creams etc in that time. Plus the brand is a good one, my old one got retired not because it was faulty, I just wanted to upgrade to a newer model. ...
technopanic 15.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braun 5580 SILK-ÉPIL X'elle Body+face EAS
