Photo: P.C Images / Flickr

Summer is here and miniskirts and dresses have been resurrected from their hibernation in our closets. But miniskirts cannot live up to their full potential if our legs are not silky smooth. Everybody knows about the pros and cons of shaving and waxing but not much is said about the epilator. One knows what it is but not exactly what is does. But many women such as singer Rachel Stevens swear by it.

What exactly is an epilator?

An epilator is an electronic device that removes hair; it works by grabbing many hair follicles and then pulling hair out, much like tweezers. Epilators have been compared more to waxing, though, as they pull out a large number of hairs out at once. But unlike waxing, epilators do not pull out the cells of the epithelium. Epilation has the reputation of being painful as it pulls hair out by the roots, but it only tends to be painful the first time that one uses an epilator so that is why many people choose to first have the area that they want hair to be removed from professionally waxed and then they use an epilator to remove the regrowth.

Different types of epilators

Photo: Braun

There are three different types of epilators: spring types, rotating disc types and tweezer types. Spring epilators are not electrical and are used mostly for facial hair where the hairs are caught between the coils of the springs and are thus pulled out. The rotating disc epilators work similarly to the spring type but rotating discs are used instead of springs. There is controversy surrounding the rotating disc epilator as it has been known to cause sleep apnea. The tweezer type epilator has become increasingly popular. This works by having the plastic head have a series of metal plates inside of it and as the head rotates it creates a tweezing effect. A downside to this is that it may cause hair to snap off instead of being pulled out and it looks similar to stubble from shaving.

The final say

Many experts have publicly switched to epilators as they are both cost effective and it is easier to get rid of regrown hair using them. Singer and model Rachel Stevens as even  gone as far as to take on a four week challenge in which she used the Braun Silk-epil Xpressive Pro to remove all the hairs on her legs and she revealed everything about her experience on a tell-all blog.

Tags: epilator, Shaving