Review: Braun Silk Epil 7 Dual Epilator

If you want an epilator predominately for your legs and underarms, then this is the latest device for you from Braun's Silk Epil 7 series.

Braun Silk Epil 7 Dual Epilator

Silk Epil 7Dual Epilator with protective cover and accessories

This latest epilator comes with a pivoting smoothing cap for efficient epilating and shaving in one go. Yes, you read right, it is an epilator plus a shaver on one. I’ll go into more details about its use later.

Compared with the Silk Epil 7 Xpressive 7681

Left: Silk Epil 7 Xpressive with high frequency massaging cap; right: Silk Epil 7 Dual Epilator with smoothing cap

Device wise, It has the same body as the previous model, the Xpressive 7681, but this silk epil comes with mini facelift with a removable turquoise accent cover over the body and turquoise dial making it heaps prettier than its sister. It also comes with different and fewer attachments. Let’s take a look at them.

As mentioned, the main epilating head is the smoothing cap with protective cover that has Gillette Venus razor blades on top. The other accessories it comes with is a regular epilation cap for normal epilating on all parts of the body and a charging stand (which the previous model did not have and is handy not only during charging but putting it away on the vanity when not in use).

Silk Epil 7 dual epilator with accessories list

As I’ve reviewed about the functions and features of the Silk Epil 7, I won’t go into too much details again in this post. Instead I’ll concentrate on its unique feature: the dual epilator smoothing cap.

What you are meant to do is use this epilator with some shaving aid and in one slow stroke, you epilate the hair, then the two razor blades will closely shave off whatever the epilator didn’t manage to grab.

Results-  faster epilation because the shaver help to speed up the job removing 96% of hair in one stroke with smoother silkier skin.

I tried it without and without shaving cream. Without any lubrication for dry use, the razor blade irritated my skin and left me with razor bumps. With a shaving aid, you must choose your products carefully as it works best with a non or low lathering gel or cream so the epilator can still grab the hair with ease. I recommend the Trishave 3 in 1 Shave Creme , Gillette Venus Satin Care Avocado Shave gel or using it in the shower where water will help to lubricate the skin

With this smoothing cap, you won’t be epilating all the hair in one session and will need to epilate during the first 4 weeks once a week to make sure that you actually grab and pull out all the hair. And as your hair actually grow at different cycles in any given time, you will achieve a smoother and more effective with this intial frequent epilation.

Once you’ve epilated all your hair after it grows back from the shave, follow up maintenance will only be required every 3-4 weeks afterwards, and you can swap to the epilator cap for full epilation to give long lasting fuzz-free results.

PROS

• Smooth silky feel of legs for the first day after using the dual epilation smoothing cap. Wet use with the silk Epil epilator makes it a more comfortable epilating experience.
• Great if you have a lot of hair, or your hair is very long and it needs trimming before epilating. For me personally, I didn’t find the epilator as effective to use with the razor blade add-on as I now have sparse hair after a few sessions of laser hair removal and I ended shaving half of it instead of epilating all the hair.
• Gets the job done in 10 minutes on legs and is great for last minute grooming that is better than just shaving alone.

CONS

• You’ve already invested in an expensive gadget so forking out more for replacement dual epilator smoothing caps (the razor blades will get blunt over 6 months' use and the blue lubricating strip will change colour to white to indicate wear of the blades) can become expensive.
• This model has fewer attachments than the Silk Epil Xpressive. I missed using the high frequency massaging system when just epilating which helped to dull the pain alot more (and if was included in this model, it would be the perfect gadget). 

If you are new to epilation and just want to use mainly large areas like legs and arms and don’t mind not having a massage head to use for more sensitive areas, then you can’t go wrong with the Silk Epil Dual Epilator.

RRP A$229. There is currently a A$30 cashback offer until 31st January 2012 from Braun so shop around your local stores (The Shavershop, department stores and other good electrical stores) to get a good deal.

This featured product was provided for consideration.

Review: Braun Silk Epil 7 Expressive Pro

During the cold winter season when we all rug up, it's easy to forget about our grooming needs as we hide our hairy body and legs under thick layers of warm clothing, leggings and tights.

This is all well and good until an unexpected event comes along that requires us to frock up and bare some skin as was the case recently for me. Whilst I'm not a hairy person, the dark hairs I have are very noticeable against my winter skin so when I had to rush with the razor to de-fuzz, the results were less than satisfactory to say the least. The lesson of my story is to always be prepared for the unexpected no matter the season by maintaining your regular grooming routine.

My preferred choice of at-home hair removal has always been epilation because it provides long lasting results comparable to waxing without the mess, skin irriations and unlike shaving, doesn't cause nicks, cuts or give razor bumps.

For the past 3 years, I've relied solely on my trusty Emjoi BareBody Go (and before that, its predeccesor the Emjoi Gently Gold for 4 years) for smooth hair-free skin but that went kaput on me recently and I was forced to hunt for a new epilator. I did some research and noticed that technology advancement had come a long way since I bought an epilator and the new devices now come with exciting new fang-dangled features which I'm always a sucker for. So you can imagine my excitement and heightened expectations when I was given the opportunity to try out one of these hi-tech epilators.

Braun Silk.Epil 7 Xpressive Pro (Model 7681 WD)

• I love that the device is fully charged within the hour and charging indicator lights change from blinking to staying on constantly gives you the visual cues to let you know when it's ready for use. Each charge gives about 40 mins of cordless use - more than enough time to work on entire legs and underarms for most. When it's running low on power and starts to slow down, it will start blinking on red on the (-) sign and when the (-) sign lights up continiously, then it's time for a charge.
• Comes with 5 inter-changeable caps including a shaver/trimmer head to let you to use the epilator on all body parts including your face. The Shaver head and trimmer attachment even allows you to trim and groom your lady bits to keep everything under control or help make epilation less painful by shortening the hairs first before removal. 

The interchangeable caps, trimmer/shave with comb attachment and high frequency massage system cap (below epilator)

• My favourite attachment is the high frequency attachment which vibrates and pivots to adapt to the body's contour for closer skin contact which really minimise the discomfort and pain during epilation.
• As I'm farily used to epilation after all these years, I barely felt more than tiny tugs during use giving me what is by far the most comforable experience I've had with epilation.
• I won't lie and say its completely pain-free, but it is something that is very tolerable and with use over time, you your skin numbs out with the high speed tweezing and don't feel it as much. I'm normally farily pain tolerant and would rate epilation using the Braun Silk Epil 7 at a pain level of 2 for legs and 3 or 4 on facial/bikini areas (with 0 being no pain at all and 10 being OMGWTF-searing hot, throbbing pain).
• The most important thing to remember is any discomfort experienced is generally very brief so if you can tolerate waxing (which I think is slightly more painful), you will definitely be able to use this. 
• Picks up hair a short as 0.5mm with the latest close grip technology meaning that you don't have to wait for hair to grow much to remove them and with results lasting up to 4 weeks, you will have silky skin for longer. Another plus is that there are less hair re-growth and any that do grow back are be finer and softer.
• Has a dial-style on/off switch that rotates to turn on and provide 2 speeds, 1 for gentle (slower) or 2 for efficient (faster) epilation. I always turn it to the higher speed as I find faster tweezing leads to less discomfort over time as any pain numbs out with the high speed.
• Very efficient - with its 40 tweezers that rotates to give up to 81,000 plucking movements a minute, hair removal time is lightening fast and I can finish both my lower legs within 20 minutes and each underarm in less than a minute each so all up I'm silky smooth and hair free in under 25 minutes. 

Tip: Epilation can sometimes cause ingrowns so be sure to keep up with the regular exfoliation to help the hair follicle break out of the skin when they grow back, ready for the next epilation session.

close up of tweezer head

• Another standout feature is the ability to use this wet or dry - yes, you can take it to shower with you and epilate under soothing warm running water to further lesson any epilation pain. This is especially great for sensitive areas like the bikini or facial area. In fact, I'm was so impressed with the epilator I even allowed it to go near my face (which I've never done with my Emjoi) to remove the hair above the sensitive lip area and although I felt slightly more pain in that area, the hair was removed in no time that the soreness didn't even havr time to register. 
• Cleaning this is a cinch as you just run this under running water to wash off all the hair and dead skin cells, dry it off and viola, ready for the next shave.
• Love the build-in ultra bright white smart light just above the controls that automatically turns on when you switch on the device to give better visibility and help show up the areas of hair you might have otherwise missed.

Switched on: The tweezer head is blurred due to the its quick rotation but check out the bright light to illuminate your epilating area . The red light at the bottom blinks to indicate power during use.  This one is getting low in power

• Is travel friendly with the compact universal voltage charger and a waterproof draw-string pouch to carry everything neatly so you can take it with you anywhere you go.
• Made in Germany and comes with a reassuring 2 yr warranty - longer warranty periods is something I always look for when buying gagets as its a sign of the device's quality and indication that it won't die within a few short months. It also means that if it does break down during the warranty period, you can always get a replacement or refund without any added costs (just make sure you keep that receipt handy when claiming). 

In a nutshell:
If are looking for fast at-home hair removal with lasting results that is gentle and comfortable to use or need to upgrade from your current epilator, you can't go past this high-tech gadget that has all the features you ever want want or need. It truly is the the best in its class and gives the ultimate epilation experience, surpassing all my epilating expectations. In fact, I can't see myself needing or using any other epilator. 

Update: Don't forget to read the latest model Silk Epil 7 Dual Epilator and its comparison with the Xpressive Pro model here.

Looking for more reviews: see it in action at Akisa's review here, Kimmi from PlasticDairies here or Ponikuta's here.

RRP A$208.95 at leading department stores, the Shaver Shop and selected electrical outlets.
This product was sent for consideration.