From everyone who asks about this epilator, I get the following questions:

1. Does it hurt?

2. Does it take a long time?

3. Is it noisy?

4. Does it last a long time?

And the answer to all of them is yes. Why, then, am I so enthusiastic about this little gadget? For starters, the pain factor, which varies tremendously depending on which body parts you want to epilate. If all you want to epilate is your legs, forget about the pain; it's negligible. It hurts a bit to epilate around and behind the knee, the outer thigh, and inner thighs, but this pain decreases with use and is not bad, feels more like a brief burning sensation.

If you want to epilate under the arms or around the bikini area, it hurts more. My first time doing both of these areas, the pain was so bad I needed a mouthguard to chomp down on, but after that first time, the pain was completely bearable. This epilator hurts a lot less than most others I've tried,... Read more

I love it... just get past the scary loud noise of the device and you'll have soft legs from now on. I've been using it for over a year now. I do it every week during winter, twice a week during summer. If you're just getting off of shaving, you might want to try waxing for a few times to deaden the sensitivity of your hair folicles. Then switch to the Silk epil. No more trips to the wax salon, no more shaving, no more prickly legs...

This product is exactly what I wanted and expected. It is more gentle than the original epilators of years ago. I hate shaving because the hair on my legs is dense and grows quickly, it seems like I have to shave every 12 hours. I waxed at home for awhile, but had to do it more often than I wanted for so much hassle. This is fairly quick and easy. It does prick a bit, but isn't too bad and improves with use. If you've waxed before you know what it feels like. I'd recommend waxing before first use, because any time you pull hair out it hurts more after shaving than after waxing/epilating. It would get five stars if it was completely painless or as fast as shaving with a razor.