When it comes to epilators vs waxing, these two hair removal methods clearly deserved to be compared.
In this article you will find that they might not have many things in common but what they have is fundamental and what sets them apart is just as important.
If you are still not clear on what exactly are epilators, read my post on what is an epilator.
1. Best Epilator Overall: Braun Silk Epil 7561
The Braun 7561 is a complete epilator, you get the sensitive area cap for the intimate area and the underarms and the facial cap for the face. It’s also fast and powerful and has a built-in light and the price is not bad. The fact that it’s cordless is its only con. But if there’s an instance where the battery doesn’t hold a charge and you can’t use it anymore, get the Braun 5280 because it’s corded and you can use those caps on this one.
2. Best Waxing Kit: Cirepil The Original Blue Wax Beads
If you’re looking for the best waxing kit to use at home, try first the Cirepil wax beads. This is hard wax and it’s one of the best. It doesn’t create a mess, it sticks to the hairs and not to the skin, making the experience less painful, more efficient, and it works on all types of hairs, which means that it can be used everywhere on the body by both women and men.
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Epilator vs Waxing: What They Have in Common
The most important thing that they share and why making the comparison between the two is essential in the world of unwanted hair removal is:
Both epilation and waxing remove the hairs from their follicles.
These are two methods that offer medium-term smoothness. On the other hand, shaving and depilatory creams offer short-term smoothness.
In the case of epilation, you would need to epilate once every 2 weeks on average for both the face and the body.
In the case of waxing, the hairs need to be a bit longer so you will end up waxing once every 3-4 weeks on average (once every 2 weeks for the underarms and the face).
Since both remove the hairs from their follicles, they’re both painful hair removal methods. Epilation a bit more so.
For women who strive for a smoother skin for longer than a few days, the pain is worth it and, in time, we become completely used to it.
Both can be used to remove hairs from the entire body and face.
In the case of epilators, you have two options for achieving that: you can buy a separate epilator for face or you can get an epilator for body that comes with a facial cap.
In the case of waxing, if you want to do it at home, there are also two options: using the same hard wax that you use on the body or getting cold facial wax strips.
Epilation is a completely at home hair removal method but waxing can be done at home (cheaper) or at a beauty salon (quite expensive).
The no-cost alternative to waxing is sugaring.
Epilator vs Waxing: What Sets Them Apart
Epilation is a cheap hair removal method if you consider that you pay for the device and then get to use it for years to come. No additional expense.
In the case of waxing, if you opt for the at-home approach, things turn out to be not that expensive either.
The major thing that sets them apart, in my opinion, is that epilators are easy to use by absolutely anyone. Check out my post on how to use an epilator if you want to know everything.
Waxing is a bit more complicated and slightly more messy but once you figure it out, everything will be a complete success. It’s easy to see why it’s such a popular hair removal option.
Another thing is that I believe that epilators can cause more ingrown hairs although I can’t say for sure since I’ve only epilated since I was about 19.
But if you exfoliate, both in the case of epilation and waxing, the chance of preventing ingrown hairs nears complete success. You definitely need to exfoliate.
Epilator vs Waxing: My Experience
For me, the first time I got waxed by a professional, was painful but I just stood there and took all that pain in without saying anything.
I couldn’t really complain because I was ashamed of making a fool of myself in the presence of the professional woman handling the wax.
That’s why I always say that it’s much easier when someone is handling everything for you.
All in all,
I was kind of satisfied with the result.
The downside was that I was left with tiny hairs, maybe the fault was with the professional doing the waxing but that’s what happened to me and my legs.
What I didn’t like was the pricing.
If I were to get waxed once every 3 weeks on average, I’d better had the money to afford it.
I decided that it was not worth it. I went back to shaving until one day a friend showed me her epilator.
And just like that, I was getting an epilator.
A major pro for epilators is that I don’t have to wait for the hairs to have the proper length.
I can plug it in whenever I want to because nowadays most epilators are really good at removing tiny hairs from their follicles.
With waxing, the hairs have to be a little longer so that the wax can grab them.
For me,
That meant that I had to wait for about 3 weeks in order to have an efficient waxing session. That’s not pleasant in the summer because the hairs were pretty visible.
On the other hand,
It’s nice to have someone doing things for you.
It’s nice to just relax and have a professional handle the problem of unwanted hair. I enjoyed that part of the waxing process.
When I use my epilator I have to do all the work, I have to hold it and move it slowly until there are no more hairs left and then move to another part of the skin and so on until my body is happily hairless.
Epilator vs Waxing: Which Is Better for a Beginner?
In the beginning,
Using an epilator can be quite time consuming. The same goes if you are just as inexperience with waxing at home. Professionals in beauty salons move really fast.
You have to be extremely patient but there are women who just don’t have the patience required so they decide that epilation is definitely not their hair removal method.
I utterly understand their point of view.
With either methods,
The hair grows thinner in time, at least that’s how I feel.
I know that hairs grow in cycles so if I were to leave it grow for many months in a row, it would be just as dense and as thick but the point is that I don’t leave my body hair to grow for months in a row.
That’s why for me it seems that thinner and fewer hairs are present on my skin.
Don’t expect it to be gone for good, only electrolysis is capable of that but that’s out of my budget by a long mile.
As your hairs go through many sessions of either epilation or waxing, the duration of having the hair removed through either of the two methods diminishes considerably.
In my case I also got accustomed to the pain in time.
Time and pain are the most important arguments brought against using an epilator or waxing.
These are valid arguments.
I remember when I used an epilator for the first time.
The pain made me literally sweat, especially when removing hairs from the bikini area and my underarms.
There were even a few specks of blood because the hairs are coarse in these two areas and mine have strong roots. It’s totally fine, just sooth the skin immediately after, use a very nourishing body lotion each time.
When removing hairs from the legs the pain was quite supportable, especially up to the knees. Above the knees you feel pinches that hurt quite a lot.
That first experience wouldn’t have been so awful if I hadn’t given up waxing for shaving and only then went on to using an epilator.
If I had used an epilator immediately after deciding that waxing wasn’t for me, then the pain would have been entirely supportable.
If you’re a beginner, expect quite a lot of pain whether you choose waxing or epilation.
If you want to try waxing at home, watch many YouTube videos or go to a beauty salon for an experience, to see exactly how things are done.
It’s much easier to switch from waxing to epilation than it is to switch from shaving to epilation.
In the end,
I believe that as long as you’re satisfied with your chosen hair removal method, there’s no point in changing it, whether it’s waxing, shaving or epilation.
As long as I keep ingrown hairs at bay, I’m a totally happy person with my chosen hair removal method.
Whichever you choose as winner from epilator vs waxing, even if it’s neither, the most important aspect is for you to be satisfied with your choice, even if that choice means not removing the hairs at all.
