Hair Removal : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Daily Beauty Bytes: The Gillette Venus Razor Embrace

I have previously reviewed the Venus Embrace Razor myself (read review). Here is another opinion on it.

Rated a 9 by TotalBeauty.com Editor Kristen Oldham Giordani

If you are a fan of the original Venus razor, you’re going to want to upgrade to Venus Embrace. It boasts five blades instead of three, which seems to offer a closer, smoother shave. …More

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Long-Term Hair Removal With The Braun Silk-Epil Expressive Epilator

Last week I sat down with the Braun Silk-Epil Xpressive Epilator in hand, wondering why the heck I agreed to test something that I knew would hurt and generally expecting the worse in terms of pain. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the discomfort was quite bearable, and the results were so good that I love the thing!

Before I write more on how much I like this product, let’s get one thing straight. If you are not familiar with how an epilator works, it essentially pulls your hair out a the roots. Therefore, it cannot be painless—that is impossible. So anyone who complains that an epilator is a bad product merely because it hurts is usually focusing on their own sensitivities and not the quality of the product. It also means that if you are squeamish or particularly sensitive, you probably shouldn’t try one.

With all that said, I actually am a bit squeamish, but I was surprised to find that the pain was less than waxing for me. Not much less, but a bit. I was expecting more because of the slower use of the product. But the Braun Silk-Epil Expressive has the option of using a beginner head with little massage type rollers and a smaller surface area, which seemed to make a difference. I also found that I actually kind of liked the sensation. It one of those satisfying kinds of pain, knowing that it will lead to weeks of hair free legs. One note though–I briefly tried using the epilator on the bikini area, and that was a lot more painful, so I’m not sure I will be using it there. Although I plan to try again.

In terms of hair removal, the epilator worked very well. It can remove hair once it is about 2-3mm long, which isn’t all that bad to grow out. The hair came off completely which each swipe of the device and it stayed gone for well over 3 weeks—the same as waxing for me. The Silk-Epil has a little built in light that is nice for spotting missed hairs, and because it is rechargeable, there is no annoying cord. A corded version is also available for about $30 less.

The epilator comes with heads for legs, underarms, the bikini area, and face, along with a razor attachment and case. Cleaning is easy. My only complaint is that the instructions are a bit hard to read. The English instructions are in the middle of a thick booklet, while references to the parts come from a picture at the front, making page flipping a requirement. It also is a bit on the expensive side for a hair removal appliance, but well worth it in my opinion, assuming that you are the type who can handle the sensation of the device.

The Braun Silk-Epil Expressive has become my hair removal option of choice. If you are willing to put up with a bit of prickly pain and discomfort for weeks of hair free legs, this is a great item to try.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Schick Quattro for Women Razor

I don’t care for shaving. But I dislike waxing even more! So I do it. I also am more than happy to test razors because I am always looking for the perfect one. The Schick Quattro For Women Razor was sent to me to test, and it turned out to be one of the better razors that I have tried. I’ll be keeping this one around!

As the name suggests, it has four blades, which is plenty. Yeah, you can buy some with five, but I seriously can’t tell a difference. I do fine with anything over 2 blades.

Something I particularly appreciate about this razor is that it has a nice hefty feel to it. I have managed to shoot some of the light plastic razors right out of my shower when they got slippery, but this one is heavy enough to stay put. It also has a good rubber grip, which helps in that department as well. As with many razors, the blades have conditioning strips and the head pivots.

I had good results using the Schick Quattro. The shave was very close and slightly better than my general favorite, the Schick Intuition (Read Review). I also did not experience any issues with pulling or cutting, which I obviously appreciate! Overall, I liked this one and plan to keep using it, so it gets a thumbs up!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Every Man Jack: Great Value Skin Care For Men

Why is that guys have a tendency to insist on using cruddy products, while simultaneously complaining about their razor burn, ingrown facial hair, wrinkles, or what have you? I don’t completely have the answer to that, but I do know that if you give them decent, affordable products, targeted to men, that they can find at the local big box retailer, they will often actually use them!

Every Man Jack is a great brand for that. The products are available at Target stores, don’t have any sort of cheesy or girlish packaging, and are basic good quality, yet affordable men’s products. What more can a guy ask for? I tried some of items myself and also left them lying around for my husband to come across and try. Yes, I sometimes try to trick him into sampling products for me!

Right off the bat, I have to rave about the citrus body bar. Forget about the men’s product part of this–ladies if you want a fairly heavy leg scrub for use before sunless tanning, give this a try! This bar soap has a nice citrus scent, albeit a bit manly since it is made for men after all. It also contains wheat bran as a scrub. This is a bit strong for facial skin, but as a body exfoliant, it rocks! My husband liked it as a general soap, and I love it as a very affordable body exfoliator. By the way, it is also oil free and paraben free.

We also gave the Face Lotion and Shave Cream a try. The lotion is a nice basic moisturizer that is oil and paraben free. It is available in both scented and fragrance free versions. The shave cream is also quite nice. My husband prefers a gel (which Every Man Jack also makes), while I kind of liked the lotion.

Every Man Jack is available online through the links above, or at Target stores nationwide.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Venus Embrace Razor and Satin Care Shave Gel

Gillette has come out with a new version of the Venus razor, the Venus Embrace, which ups the blade count to five. I’m not sure that more is better when it comes to blade numbers, considering that I like my regular three blade razor just fine. But I will note that I found the Embrace to be a big improvement on earlier versions, none of which worked well for me. The new Embrace was functional for me and did not cut or irritate my legs, so perhaps those extra blades do add something?

In any event, I want to focus instead on a shaving cream that came with the razor that I was sent to try for review. I was pleased to find that I really liked the gel. Normally no single gel stands out much above any other for me, but this one did.

The Gillette Satin Care Shave Gel in Alluring Avocado is a pretty darn nice shave gel. With aloe, jasmine, and orange blossom, it has a fresh scent that I prefer over some of the more floral scented gels. It also has avocado oil, which has always worked well for me as a skin and hair conditioner. I think it is the combination of avocado oil and aloe that is the key. The gel seems a bit smoother, a bit more soothing, and definitely more moisturizing and conditioning for me than my regular gel, which also contains aloe, but not avocado. So this gel, gets a big thumbs up from me.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Schick Intuition Plus Razor, Shaving Gel Built In

I have bad luck with razors. Well….. actually, I am a clutz. Hmmm, I suppose I really am a clutz who also has bad luck with razors. I also really loathe getting waxed (effective, but ouch!) and can’t stand the smell of depilatories.

After slicing my legs up several times in a row with razors that are supposed to be some of the better ones (I hate the Venus Razor by the way), I went searching for something new.

Enter the Schick Intuition Plus Razor. This one is pretty unique. The razor has a soap/gel cartridge “thingy”–sorry, I have no idea what to call it– that surrounds the razor blade. this eliminates the need for shaving cream or gel. Instead, just wet it and start shaving. It keeps everything nicely lathered and soapy. It also moisturizes pretty well.

The blade itself is fine. I didn’t shred my legs with it anyway. The cartridge wears down at about the same rate as the blade, so they tend to give out about the same time. Adding a refill is simple, albeit a bit more expensive than replacing normal razor blades.

The razor also comes with a suction cup holder for the shower wall and a cap to keep the soapy thingy dry. I thought it would fall off pretty quick, but weeks later, it is still stuck there just fine.

This thing has saved my life.

OK, that is exaggerating…… It has saved my legs though!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Review: Epil-Stop Hair Remover and Neutralizing Wash

After seeing magazine ads for Epil-Stop Silky Creme Hair Remover, Cosmopolitan Berry Scent, I ran out and bought it thinking that perhaps there would finally be a decent smelling hair remover. I was wrong.

Unfortunately, this stuff does not smell at all like a Cosmopolitan, or like berries. Instead, it has that same old chemical depilatory smell and perhaps smells even worse than most. I also did not have great results with it. It says it should work in as little as three minutes and no more than eight. I gave it four minutes on the first try and it didn’t do much. I gave it 7 on the second and it left my skin very irritated, and still also left spots of hair. And my hair isn’t particularly course or hard to remove. Nair has always worked fine for me in about 5 minutes, with minimal irritation. Nair also smells bad, but not as bad as this stuff. So needless to say, I threw out the rest of the can of Epil-Stop and won’t be buying it again. I also can’t recommend it.

I fared better with the Epil-Stop Perfect Finish Neutralizing After Wash, which is kind of an interesting product. This body wash is designed to neutralize the irritating chemicals in the hair remover that can stick around on your skin after rinsing. It also is supposed to turn pink when the chemicals are still present so that you know when they are still there. I only had a sample of this and I used it up the first time I used Epil-Stop. My skin did not get really irritated that time, while it got very irritated the next time, so the neautralizer might have worked. But I also left the Epil-Stop on longer the second time, so that is not entirely clear. The neutralizer also did not really turn pink for me, or not enough to see well anyway. I also put it directly on some of the Epil-stop before I rinsed it off and it still barely turned pink. So I am skeptical about that claim with the product. As a basic wash though, it seemed fine.

One thing I did find from the whole experiment: Vita Amazonia Linden Plus Gel really does soothe post depilatory irritation!

Popularity: 4% [?]