Remington EP 5000

...months ago I spotted the Remington EP500 on a half price offer (it was reduced to £15) in boots so I used my Advantage Card points to buy it and went home to try it for free.

===What Do You Get For Your money?===

This epilator looks like the old-fashioned style lady shaves in size. It has an attractive pearlised pink front with a faint flower pattern. The other side has a white pearlised finish. It is quite a comfortable ...
...its size. The on/off switch is a sliding switch in the middle of the epilator. It is very easy to move whilst using it. This switch also operates the two different speeds. I did not realised when I purchased this that it comes with both an epilating head and a shaving head which are easy to change with a quick flick of a button to release one and then swap for the other. The epilating head is like a row of tweezers that whizz round and grab the hairs ... more

Dealing with unwanted hair seems to be a permanent battle in my life. I am lucky in that my hair isn’t dark but I really dislike hairy underarms and legs so have to find ways of dealing with it. I always used to shave as salon wax treatments soon get expensive and then a work colleague suggested buying an epilator as she thought hers was great. I looked at the prices and thought they seemed a little dear so forgot about it. However about six months ago I spotted the Remington EP500 on a half price offer (it was reduced to £15) in boots so I used my Advantage Card points to buy it and went home to try it for free.

What Do You Get For Your money?

This epilator looks like the old-fashioned style lady shaves in size. It has an attractive pearlised pink front with a faint flower pattern. The other side has a white pearlised finish. It is quite a comfortable size to hold although it is actually quite heavy for its size. The on/off switch is a sliding switch in the middle of the epilator. It is very easy to move whilst using it. This switch also operates the two different speeds. I did not realised when I purchased this that it comes with both an epilating head and a shaving head which are easy to change with a quick flick of a button to release one and then swap for the other. The epilating head is like a row of tweezers that whizz round and grab the hairs as they run over the skins surface. This epilator is rechargeable and there is a good hours use after a charge of a couple of hours. It can also easily be used when connected to the mains. I often find that the charge seems to last much longer than the expected hour. The epilator, the heads, the charger and a cleaning brush are all supplied in a bright pink purse that is a good size and accommodates all the pieces without a struggle.

Does it Work?

After charging this the first time I read the instructions and settled down to use it. The mechanism is to pull the hairs out of the skin, bringing the root with it and this should allow up to 6 weeks before there is noticeable hair regrowth. The hairs should be about quarter of an inch long before you start. It is recommended that you use the machine in small circles over the area and that you should pull the skin flat. It does warn that there may be stinging during the process. I started on my shins and I must say that it was remarkably easy. Most of the hairs came away first time and I felt it was quite pain-free (and I am not a brave sort of person!). Moving it around my legs I found it quite comfortable until I got near my ankles. Here the skin was definitely more sensitive and it did sting a little but certainly not enough to make me stop. The process is quite slow, it probably took me about 12 minutes to do the two lower legs but I was very pleased with the results, my skin was soft and smooth.

Feeling quite impressed with this gadget I decided to have a go at using it under my arms. This was much trickier as you need to hold the skin taught as you run the epilator over it. After mastering a degree in contortionism I eventually managed to get the skin fairly taut and started to attack the hairs. This was certainly an ordeal, I found it extremely painful and I seemed to catch my skin a little although it didn’t draw blood! Once again though the results were excellent when I had finished.

Eventually I plucked up courage to go for the bikini-line, this was not as uncomfortable as the underarms in my opinion and gave a nice result.

Any Problems?

Drawing the hairs out in this way can lead to an increase in ingrown hairs. It is suggested that you exfoliate regularly to prevent this. I use exfoliating mitts in the shower and I have not had any trouble at all on my legs, the underarms require more thorough exfoliation to prevent ingrown hairs there and I have had several unfortunately. My bikini-line also suffered ingrown hairs as well but probably no worse than when I have shaved or used creams.

Did The Results Last?

Regrowth was really slow which was what pleased me most. It was probably about 4 weeks before I noticed very much and probably about 5 weeks before I had to thank about doing it again. With each subsequent use it has been less painful although I must admit I have given up using it under my arms. This was because although the results were good the ingrown hairs were uncomfortable and shaving the underarms in the shower is very quick so epilating was not really worth the bother.

The shaver attachment is useful if you have some very short hairs left that you want to be rid of. I am lucky that my hairs are pale so not easy to see but this would be particularly useful if you have dark hair.

Would I Suggest You Try It?

Overall I have been very pleased with this little gadget, I love using it before I go on holiday knowing that I will have no hairy horrors for the duration of my time away. The shaver attachment is useful for short hairs or for speed if you are in a rush and the recharge battery seems to be working really well. I am glad that I took the plunge and I have heard that the more you use these things the finer the hair regrowth will be so I am definitely sticking with it!
 

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