Holiday legs. How do you deal with yours? I have to say I’m pretty shoddy until it comes to holidays and then I go full gusto getting rid of my ‘coat’…

INDEPENDENT REVIEW: Last year I had a good old hair removal chat with a friend. She did it all. She waxed, shaved, tweezered and epilated to create her beautiful, hair-free legs. When pushed to recommend the best method she said epilation was the bizz.

My epilator: Philips HP6481/02 Satinelle Ice Epilator

With her knowledge I trotted off and bought a Philips HP6481/02 Satinelle Ice Epilator from our local chemist and rushed home strangely excited by this new gadget. The one I bought has been replaced and updated with the Philips HP 6570/00

My epilator is mains only and has a removable and cleanable head. It comes in a neat, little white pouch that contains an ice pack, body buffer (to prevent ingrown hairs) and a mini brush. May I say that little brush is very useful for clearing off the head – my first ‘very hairy’ session could be likened to emptying the lawn mower! My advice would be to put some newspaper/towel under your legs to catch all the hairs.

For first timers it is recommended that you use the ice pack to numb the area before epilating. Philips also recommend that you epilate at a time when you are most relaxed like just after a meal and that you avoid stimulants such as coffee. However, I’m hardcore so I just went went for it. OK, I’ll admit I did grit my teeth and think of England but it was actually not that painful. To me it was just a tweaking sensation which after a while was hardly noticeable.

Picture thanks to Renato @ Mainland China @ Flickr.com

Legs done (you use the epilator against the flow of the hair growth) I stood back to admire my handy work – the only disappointment being a few very short hairs that I couldn’t get out with the epilator. Otherwise my legs were looking pretty good. They didn’t feel quite as smooth as if I had shaved but not bad at all. After time, when hairs are all the same length, you get a much smoother result.

A few days later and my legs were still looking good. The areas with shorter hairs had now grown long enough to be pulled out but elsewhere the hairs had not grown back. According to Philips: ‘Over time epilating can actually stop some hairs from coming back. Epilate every 4 weeks to eventually see 50% less hair growth.’

I now take my epilator on holiday and find that after a few weeks (I’m still too lazy to do it at home so have to start afresh on shaved legs) the hairs stop peeking through and my legs remain pretty hair free. Tidying up then only takes minutes and can be forgotten about.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I have attempted to do the bikini line which is fine albeit slightly more nerve-wracking but with good results. The only area I can’t cope with are the armpits. The combination of a tweak and a tiggle are too much for me to tolerate.

All in all a thumbs up for epilation and the Philips ceramic epilator.

ps: How satisfying is it when you look at a hair that you’ve pulled out and it has the folicle on the end? Is it just me?