Best epilators in the UK for fuss-free hair removal

An epilator is an electronic device that uses rotating discs to grip and pull hairs out from the root, giving longer-lasting results than shaving or depilatory creams—up to four weeks, depending on how fast your body hair grows. Epilators also catch shorter hairs than waxing, and once you own one there’s no need to stock up on razor blades or wax strips.

I tested six epilators, covering corded and battery models, wet-and-dry devices and tools designed for face and body. Hair was allowed to grow to about 3mm and I followed recommended warming and exfoliating practices. For each model I timed treatments, noted comfort, checked for missed spots, ingrown hairs and post-treatment redness, and monitored regrowth; any items not returned to manufacturers were donated to Crisis.

The Philips 8000 emerged as the best overall: fast and relatively pain-free, it took about three minutes to treat the front half of a lower leg. Its head has 32 tweezer discs and a slight contour to grip hairs in one pass, plus an LED to reveal short or pale hairs.

United Kingdom

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