Waxing vs. epilating: Which one is better?

Did you know that on average, women spend 59 days of their lives shaving? If you break that down into a ritual, it’s about four minutes per day, six days per week.*

That’s a lot of time you could be spending at the beach, rather than in your bathroom.

If you’re after a longer-term hair removal solution (that you can do easily yourself at home), epilating and waxing are the two options that probably come to mind.

So which one is better? We had bh’s Issy test out both – one on each leg – and you might be surprised by her experience...

LEFT LEG – Epilating

First up, is the epilator.

Issy used the Philips Satinelle Advanced Wet & Dry Epilator on her left leg. She had never used an epilator before, but after reading the instructions she found it really easy to use. “All I had to do was switch it on, select the level for the area (number two for legs) and run the head slowly and steadily upwards, from my ankle to my knee, as it caught the hairs.”

Issy was initially quite scared about the pain, having heard that epilators can be uncomfortable, but once she started, she found that it was tolerable. “Once I was used to the feeling, it was bearable, especially for long-term hair removal. I think it’s more the fear of pain, but once you’re passed that and try epilating for yourself, you realise it’s not that bad at all.”

As for the results? Issy was pretty surprised at how well it removed all the hairs. “I can’t get over how efficient such a small device is. I had some shorter hairs around my knees and it removed them so easily for such a small device, which is great because it means I don’t have to let my leg hairs grow too long before I can remove them again.”

Straight after epilating Issy said her legs were very smooth. “I had a tiny section of red marks from where the hair follicles were removed, but these disappeared within the hour and there were no hairs in sight.” It took Issy approximately 15 minutes to epilate one leg.

RIGHT LEG – Waxing

For Issy’s right leg, she used a microwavable wax with cotton strips.

“The thing that makes me nervous about DIY waxing is getting the temperature of the wax right, so I spent quite a bit of time making sure it wasn’t too hot, yet warm enough to spread.”

Issy applied the wax in the direction of the hair growth and then smoothed a cotton strip on top in the same direction, before pulling it back towards her. “It’s the anticipation of pulling the strip back that I disliked the most,” she says. “I’m quite tolerant when it comes to the pain, but I still get nervous before pulling the strip off.”

In terms of the results, Issy found the wax would remove most of her hairs on the first try, but she would occasionally have to go over an area twice to get all the hairs, which made the whole process a lot more time-consuming than epilating. “It removed most hairs, with some of the shorter ones left behind, mainly around my knee and areas where it was hard for me to pull the wax strip.” It took Issy approximately half an hour to complete waxing one leg.

THE VERDICT:

Issy found that both methods were nowhere near as painful as she first anticipated. “If I had to choose, I would say the epilator was better in terms of painlessness. Mainly because it’s a consistent feeling, rather than the stop and start of waxing.”

And while the immediate results were pretty on par, she found the Philips Satinelle Advanced Wet & Dry Epilator was faster to use. “When you combine the time it takes to heat the wax, remove all my leg hair and then clean up any sticky residue, it’s definitely more convenient to use the epilator.”

She also mentioned that a big reason she used to shave was because she could do it in the shower, so the fact the Philips Satinelle Advanced Wet & Dry Epilator can be used either wet or dry was another bonus.

*Based on a UK study by escentual.com

Were you surprised by Issy’s road-test? Have you ever tried epilating?